Uninsured firefighters unaware

D.C. firefighters say they are discovering during doctor visits that their health insurance has been canceled for nonpayment by the District, even though their paychecks indicate that insurance premiums are being deducted.

Lt. Ray Sneed, president of the D.C. Firefighters Association, said he has been contacted by five firefighters who discovered the problem after visiting doctors for themselves or family members.

“The five that have been identified isn’t the problem,” Lt. Sneed said. “We don’t know how many people are without insurance.”

Health insurance is not the only payroll problem city firefighters have struggled with recently.

Among 53 who have reported pay problems, two haven’t been paid for six weeks, Lt. Sneed said. In addition, two others have tried unsuccessfully to get the department to correct their checks because they have been getting paid too much money.

Others have earned step increases and promotions but have not been compensated accordingly. Some are owed extra money for performing additional duties. Some simply started getting the wrong amounts in their paychecks.

Chief Adrian H. Thompson said last night that the payroll problems can be traced to a new computer system at the D.C. Office of Personnel.

He said he was not aware of the insurance problems but pledged to take up the matter with the personnel officials immediately.

“That’s a guarantee,” he said.

During D.C. Council hearings March 7 and April 12, council member Phil Mendelson raised the issue of back pay with Chief Thompson.

Chief Thompson told Mr. Mendelson, at-large Democrat, that the payroll problems appeared to be originating in the Department of Personnel and that they would be resolved by April 29.

“If anything, they’ve gotten worse,” Lt. Sneed said.

Firefighter Edward Kauffman said he changed insurance carriers during an open enrollment late in 2003, and the new policy went into effect in March 2004.

He found out in November after an insurance claim was rejected that the policy had been canceled on April 1, 2004, and that he had been without insurance for seven months.

After Firefighter Kauffman contacted fire officials and the insurance company, he thought he had resolved the problem. However, he advised his wife to put their newborn child on a health insurance plan she had through her job — just to be safe.

It turned out to be a smart move. He found out this year that his insurance had been canceled again in December.

“I was having money taken out of my check, and I didn’t have insurance,” he said.

Firefighter Kauffman said fire officials told him yesterday they think they have corrected the problem.

Another firefighter, David Slye, said he added his wife to his policy during the same open enrollment. During a visit to a doctor about a month and a half ago, he noticed an outstanding charge of $4,500 on his wife’s account.

When he looked into the charge, he found out that his policy had been canceled in January, retroactive to its effective date.

“If we never had to go to a doctor again, we wouldn’t have known about it,” Firefighter Slye said.

Lt. Sneed said the union’s investigation indicates that some firefighters whose insurance has been rejected had changed carriers during the open enrollment in 2003.

He said the firefighters’ pay stubs indicate that the city has continued to forward the employees’ payroll deductions to their old insurance carriers.

Lt. Sneed said the problem appears to be specific to the fire department.