by Krystal Paco

Guam - In the last fiscal year, the Government of Guam paid more than $55 million for health insurance contributions for employees and retirees. According to the latest audit from the Office of Public Accountability, the government paid more for 3,000 government retirees than it did for 8,000 GovGuam workers.

Public Auditor Doris Flores Brooks said, "On average, GovGuam is paying about $9,700 per retiree compared less than $3,000 for an active employee. So GovGuam, because of the law, we pay 300% more for retirees than we do for active employees. I think this information will be helpful to the health insurance consultant to show - hey, what can we do to drive down the costs of health insurance."

The audit also revealed that more employees and retirees opted to enroll in higher premium, lower deductable plans. The auditor recommended that reconciliations between the government and the insurance provider be performed randomly to ensure the accuracy of enrollment data and to ensure proper payments are made.

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