DECATUR - The president of the firefighters union and a Decatur city councilman continue to push for an audit of what they say are runaway health insurance costs.

Adam Ruderman, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 505, commended the Decatur City Council for agreeing to have outside professionals review the city's health benefits package.

"Unfortunately, the city manager did not wholly cooperate with the city council and continues to contact city council members in an effort to divert the audit," Ruderman told the council Monday.

Councilman Dan Caulkins called in recent months for a study of the city's health insurance plan for employees.

"The council needs to know, the public needs to know, why our health care costs are so high," Caulkins said. "We can't do much about it until we know why those costs are high."

Caulkins' proposal met with resistance from city administrators, who feared such a study would sour negotiations with unions. But the city council agreed in a June closed meeting to have an independent review of the city's plan.

City administrators sent requests for proposals to six firms and reported to the council that no qualified firms provided proposals.

"They made a half-hearted attempt and said they needed more direction," Ruderman said. "They're doing everything they can to circumvent the actual audit from happening."

Caulkins said the request for proposals is too wide in scope. It sought to answer whether the city should remain self-insured, whether the selection process for a third party administrator was equitable and whether the plan is administered correctly.

Caulkins suggested narrowing the audit's focus.

"The important part is finding out why our current health care costs are so high," Caulkins said.

A 2004 city study showed Decatur pays substantially more on average for city employees' health insurance than do Bloomington, Champaign, Danville, Normal, Quincy, Springfield and Urbana. The city would pay nearly $5,200 more per employee over a year than the average for the seven other Central Illinois municipalities, the study showed.

City ManagerSteve Garman recently returned from vacation and did not attend Monday's council meeting.

"My understanding is there was a discussion of it, but no one came to a conclusion," Garman said.

Garman said the city's current health insurance contract expires in fall 2007, and the city will study in January many of the same issues that would be studied in an audit.

"We're maybe six months away from starting the process," Garman said. "It seems to me it makes sense not to pay someone for something we're going to do in a comprehensive manner."

Garman said he does not oppose auditing the current plan.

"I have no problem whatsoever with an insurance audit - none, nada," Garman said. "I'm concerned about the effect on collective bargaining."

Ruderman cited with disapproval a recent e-mail from Garman to council members.

The e-mail from Garman states: "Despite several public explanations to the contrary, some citizens insist that the reasons the high cost the city pays for health insurance for employees needs to be identified and corrected.

"There is no mystery about why health insurance costs are higher for the city of Decatur than in other central Illinois cities.

"In Decatur, public employees who are members of organized labor pay nothing for their personal single health insurance and only $23 per month for full family coverage regardless of the number of dependents."

Garman said the program "all but encourages" employees to overuse health insurance.

Ruderman said the benefits were negotiated, and employees have "every right" to use them to the fullest extent. Employees in some cases must get a doctor's excuse or sick pay might not be granted, Ruderman said.

"In other words, we must see a doctor when really, in some cases, it isn't necessary," Ruderman said.

Garman said in the e-mail that the relief of high taxpayer costs can come only through collective bargaining. The unions have put bargaining sessions on hold or avoided meeting with city administrators as a result of the council's decision to audit the insurance program and statements made about the audit, Garman said.

Ruderman disagreed, saying unions continue to negotiate.

"There is no truth whatsoever to the slowing down of negotiations until the audit is complete," Ruderman said.

Garman also said in the e-mail that taxpayers will see no relief of higher costs unless the collective bargaining process continues and cost issues are settled.

"I refute that statement as well," Ruderman said. "Our last contract negotiations took more than a year to settle. The time to conduct an audit is now."

Garman declined to comment on the e-mail Ruderman cited, saying he must be "very careful" not to discuss collective bargaining issues publicly.

Ruderman urged the council to move forward with an audit.

"It's 90-plus degrees outside this week; it's no time to fall for another snow job," Ruderman told the council. "The taxpayers inarguably deserve answers only the audit will reveal."

Mike Frazier can be reached at mfrazierherald-review.com or 421-7985.