State legislation requiring Pierce to pay up to $700,000

On August 21, 2014, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in favor Douglas L. Moore and others in a class action lawsuit against the Health Care Authority (HCA).

Moore and other workers, mainly those who were part-time with nonstandard schedules, felt that they had not received health benefits from the state that they deserved.

The HCA is a state agency that negotiates with insurance companies, sets eligibility rules for employees, and other such management.  The HCA then goes to other state agencies and colleges, informing them of what health plans are available for which employees, as well as what the criteria are for employees to be eligible for health benefits.  

Colleges like Pierce then use that information to implement health insurance policy as per the rules defined by the HCA.

The case had been ongoing since it was first filed in 2006, but in 2014 it came to an end with a settlement between the employees and the HCA, where it was determined the HCA would have to pay a certain amount for damages, as per a method decided by the class that the court had ruled upon being agreeable after finding that “the State wrongfully denied health benefits to a number of its part-time employees.”

In their 2016 session, state legislation needed to decide on a way to pay for the settlement, as the HCA is a state agency.  The legislature decided to provide the HCA with some of the funds, while the remainder would be paid by specific state agencies such as community colleges.  

According to the legislature, the logic behind this decision was that employees of organizations like colleges are paid by grants or other sources, rather than the state’s tax appropriations.  Therefore, the those employees’ portion of the settlement shouldn’t be paid for by the state’s general tax dollars.

Choi Halladay, Vice President of Administrative Services at Pierce, said that calling this payment a “fine” is incorrect, as that would imply Pierce itself had done something against the law.  The suit and settlement are solely regarding the HCA, as Pierce and other agencies would have been using the rules the HCA set regarding health benefits.

“Keep in mind that Pierce College wasn’t sued, followed the rules exactly as the HCA told us to, and is simply being used by the legislature as a tool to not have to fully pay the settlement at the state level.” Halladay said.  In fact, Pierce College seems to have little to do with the case, as it was not named in the lawsuit.

Halladay went on to explain that the exact amount Pierce will have to pay has not been made clear or official as of yet, but estimates that it will be somewhere between 600 to 700 thousand dollars.

When asked if the payment will affect school budgets or funding, Halladay said that there may be little cause for concern.  

“While it has not been finalized, it is highly likely that Pierce will be using a reserve account — sort of like a ‘rainy day’ fund — to pay for the settlement.”  Said Halladay.  “This would allow the college operate as normal and pay back that reserve account over time.”