When the Kansas City Police Department decided to eliminate domestic partner benefits for its members, an internal memo emphasized that the cut would hurt only eight employees and save a much-needed $421,000 in a tight budget year.
That statistic didn't sit right with a coalition of local civil rights' groups, including the ACLU and PROMO. How could one person's health coverage possibly cost KCPD more than $4,000 per month? So after doing a little research of their own, the groups started an online petition this week arguing that KCPD used fuzzy math to justify cutting health insurance benefits for same-sex partners and unmarried straight couples.
"We're sure they've used inaccurate information as to the cost of coverage in determining to take away benefits from those people for their domestic partners," says Dan Winter, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri.
Memos and correspondence within the KCPD seem to justify his concern. Here's what they say.
Last year, the cost to provide health insurance for KCPD employees and retirees through Blue Cross Blue Shield carried a $27.4 million price tag. In a March 31 memo, Barbara Stuart, KCPD's acting commander of the employee benefits unit, explained that this year's renewal called for a 2.5 percent increase. But BCBS, she said, was willing to cut KCPD a deal.
"Blue Cross is also willing to give the department 1.5 percent off the rates for the elimination of domestic partnership benefits. The domestic partner benefit accounts for $421,293 of the overall cost," Stuart wrote.
But that wasn't the full picture.
According to a March 13 email from Carolyn Wolf, a senior underwriter for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, that $421,000 discount might have had more to do with customer service than the cost of domestic partners.
"As we discussed yesterday," Wolf wrote, "your rates were not actually increased at the time domestic partners were added. I checked with Jeff Berry regarding your request to eliminate the domestic partners to get the group to a 0% increase. I'm sorry, but we can't give the -2.5% for the request. We are willing to give a -1.5% decrease for the elimination of domestic partners coverage because of the long-standing partnership with the Police Department."
Based on that information, Winter says, ACLU has been crunching its own numbers. "What we determined is, of that $421,000 [in savings], $283,000 is a simple, arbitrary discount that Blue Cross Blue Shield gave in pricing to the police department," he explains. By the ACLU's estimate, the cost for those eight domestic partners is only $41,000 per year -- not $421,000.
I e-mailed Rich Lockhart, KCPD's spokesman, the ACLU's numbers and concerns. It's an admittedly complicated issue trying to tease out specific costs and, after a few hours, Lockhart didn't have a very specific answer. "The bottom line on all of this discussion is that it saves the department money by whatever figure you have," he responded. "Additionally, all of the 8 people affected by this change have obtained coverage so they are not without insurance. We are faced with a $15,000,000 budget shortfall and are needing to save money in many areas throughout the department.
"The Police Board will be discussing the issue further on Tuesday during the board meeting," he added.
Before then, the coalition will make their case to city officials, including Mayor Mark Funkhouser. And, thanks to action alerts and the online petition, police commissioners can expect a larger than normal crowd come Tuesday morning.
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