Milwaukee County officials are calling for an “emergency action” after learning that the contract covering health insurance for thousands of county employees has lapsed. 

During a Jan. 29 committee on finance meeting, Milwaukee County Supervisors learned that the county’s health care contract with UnitedHealthcare expired at the end of last year. County Corporation Counsel Scott Brown said the contract is one of the “single most important contracts in the county.”

“I think there’s enormous risk to us operating … without this contract,” Brown said.

The county’s deputy corporation counsel William Davidson said there could be “catastrophic risk” if the county does not move to approve a contract soon. He said the ability for county employees to “receive and pay for services might be affected.”

Milwaukee County Supervisor Steve Taylor said he was angry, calling the situation “unacceptable.” 

“This is crazy,” Taylor said. 

In an interview with WPR Friday evening, Taylor said more than 3,000 county employees are covered by the plan. He said coverage for employees is continuing under the old contract. However, Brown said if an employee does have a large claim before a new contract is signed, the lapse could leave UnitedHealthcare “in a position to deny it.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who is running for governor as a Democrat, said Crowley has “directed administration officials to resolve the situation and work with the Board of Supervisors to approve the contract next week.”

During the Jan. 29 meeting, Milwaukee County Human Resources Director Tony Maze said he hired an outside actuary to do the request for proposals for a health plan for employees in an attempt to save money. When pressed about the issue by county supervisors, Maze said he did not follow the county’s rules for the request for proposal process. 

Milwaukee County Supervisor Anne O’Connor called for an emergency meeting Monday morning in response to what she called “damage control mode.”

“I feel like what I am hearing is extremely concerning, to the point where I think we have to consider some emergency action, ” O’Connor said. 

That meeting will be held Monday at 10 a.m.