Representatives of Harrington Health, a Wichita health insurance consulting firm, would manage Allen County’s plan for $12,500 a year, commissioners were told Tuesday.
Bob Langhofer, the company’s vice president, said Harrington Health did a broad swath of consulting services, including third-party administration of health insurance plans and claims processing for 40 companies, including Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Langhofer said he had a history of managing accounts for governing bodies since 1988.
“We (Harrington) work with a number government entities,” he said, naming Allen County Community College, the Kansas Turnpike Authority, Sedgwick County and Manhattan.
Harrington would seek “the best discounts we can get you,” through personnel and risk analysis, he said. The company also would develop a wellness program.
Rhonda Fernandez, another Wichita consultant, has managed the county’s self-insurance plan the past two years. She was paid $19,800 for the year that will end March 31 — the county’s health insurance anniversary date is April 1.
Fernandez also was at Tuesday’s meeting, to give commissioners the county’s third-quarter report. She made no proposal for the next year.
SUSAN LYNN, editor and publisher of the Iola Register, asked commissioners to retain the Register as the county’s official newspaper, status it has held for decades.
Cliff Ralstin, publisher of the weekly Humboldt Union, asked commissioners last week to make his newspaper the bearer of legal notices.
The Register’s daily circulation is 3,634, Lynn said, about six times what the Kansas Press Association lists for the Humboldt Union. Lynn also noted the paper’s distribution covers five counties.
She noted the Register also has a website that has a growing number of internet-only subscribers, garnering even more “eyes” to the publication. Ralstin said the Union hoped to establish a website, “soon.”
Lynn said public notices are published with two days’ lead time, which makes them available for viewing in a more timely manner than would occur with a once-a-week publication.
With Gary McIntosh absent, commissioners Dick Works and Rob Francis said they would decide the newspaper issue Tuesday.
