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Mayor Doesn’t Qualify for Health Insurance Benefits and Now He Has to Pay the City Back

7/10/2009 10:44:00 PM  ,  

This is probably one of the dumbest stories I have heard with health insurance, shoot if you can’t get health insurance with the job, why run?  Besides the pay is not that good.  image

He can’t get health insurance as he’s not a full time employee.  He just quietly joined and somewhere along the line was approved though and he only makes 12k a year.  Now they want the 17k spent in medical expenses back and he has paid 3k thus far and the city says they need the money as they are having a hard enough time with enough money to keep the sewers up and running, so it appears in this case the sewers win when money is scarce.  BD

Some Park City aldermen have called for the resignation of Mayor Steve Pannell and are  demanding that he reimburse the tiny town for up to $17,000 in unauthorized medical insurance premiums.
During a time when health insurance costs have soared, the aldermen say, they believe it was no accident that the mayor quietly joined a plan intended for full-time employees.
As a part-time elected official, Pannell is not eligible for municipal medical benefits. An exception would require City Council approval, according to state law. He signed up for the coverage in November 2007, with the help of his daughter, Amy Sutton, a city employee, and his wife, Denise, according to a document obtained by the Tribune.
"It was a stupid, stupid, stupid mistake," said Pannell, who makes earns $12,000 annually as mayor. "I intend to make this right. I will pay it back."

Mayor urged to quit over health insurance -- chicagotribune.com

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