Insurance temporarily terminated for Bay St. Louis city employees

BAY ST. LOUIS -- Some City Council members took issue with Mayor Les Fillingame's administration Tuesday after they discovered city employees' life and dental insurance coverage was terminated in October for lack of payment.

Fillingame said the bill has since been paid. But it remains unclear whether employees' claims while the policy was not in force will be covered.

When Council Member Lonnie Falgout asked about the policy termination, City Clerk Robert Clark said the insurance company reinstated the coverage and assured him any claims made during the period in question would be covered.

However, Clark could not say if the insurer would guarantee that in writing.

"I don't know," he said, adding he would try to get the written guarantee.

During the meeting's public forum, Lana Noonan of the Hancock County Alliance for Good Government read what she said was the city's policy-termination letter indicating claims would not be paid. She said the letter is from Lincoln Financial Group, the city's life and dental insurance provider.

"This says from (insurance broker) Gary Yarborough that it will not be covered," she said. "If (money from employee withholdings) is not going to pay their insurance premiums, what is it being used for?"

The Sun Herald later obtained a copy of the letter. Dated Nov. 20, it says, "This letter serves as the cancellation notice terminating your insurance coverage. Please notify your employees immediately that we assume no liability for losses incurred after the termination date shown here."

It notes the termination date as Sept. 30 and says the city owed a past-due balance of more than $12,000. It also bears the city's "Date Received" stamp of Dec. 1.

Fillingame said Noonan did not go through the proper procedure of filing a public-records request to obtain the letter.

Council President Joey Boudin pressed the mayor further on the letter and said he wants to see an itemized breakdown of all upcoming liabilities.

The mayor said the original check was lost in the mail and the insurance was reinstated after the city paid the total amount earlier Tuesday.

"From here out, we're going to pay in advance," he said.

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Insurance temporarily terminated for Bay St. Louis city employees ."