Concerns Over Part-Time Lawyers’ Healthcare Benefits in Plattville
For over two years, Gerald Cimis, a resident of Plattville, has been alerting the City Council about potential legal issues stemming from the city providing healthcare benefits to part-time lawyers.
Cimis warns that the city might be “playing Russian roulette.” He argues that if a catastrophic insurance provider discovers that these lawyers are not actually eligible for such benefits, the city could still be stuck with the bill.
Cimis brings more to the table than just his role as a concerned citizen. With 20 years as a dental clinician and significant experience as an independent medical consultant for both the Alabama Medicaid Agency and the Attorney General’s Office, he has investigated health insurance fraud at both the state and federal levels.
In February 2024, the Public Review Bureau issued a warning, stating that providing health insurance to part-time lawyers was an “unacceptable use of public funds.”
They conducted an in-depth review of the city’s personnel policy and insurance plan and consulted with the Attorney General’s Office, concluding that city prosecutors and attorneys should not be included in the city’s group health insurance plans.
The letter presented two options for the city: one, to contract with individuals for additional coverage, or two, to modify HR and insurance policies to allow for independent contractor coverage.
“Otherwise, continuing to compensate these individuals would represent an unacceptable use of public funds,” the letter noted.
In December 2024, the city chose to amend its policy manual. City attorney Andrew Odom, one of the part-time lawyers receiving benefits, expressed confidence that this update had resolved the issue. “We believe the update allows for limited health insurance benefits for clearly defined positions, including city prosecutors and judges,” Odom said. “The city is therefore compliant with the instructions given by the Alabama public account examiner.”
Cimis, however, views this resolution as only partially true. He points out that the HR manual revision suggests the city believes it can provide self-insurance to part-time lawyers, but there’s more to the story. “What the city isn’t willing to admit is that this is, in part, correct. These benefits are limited to the city’s self-insured health policies managed through Blue Cross Blue Shield, excluding contractor third-party health insurance,” he said.
Cimis further explained that Alabama Code sections 11-91-1, 11-91-2, and 11-91-3 permit third-party insurance only for employees, not for contractors. He noted that local government insurance contracts are also restricted to employees and their dependents, with flexible spending arrangements available to these attorneys. All profits are reported as taxable income on IRS Form 1099-NEC.
Despite this, Cimis claims that the city has issued W-2 forms solely to three attorneys among its contractors, a move that he believes allows them to avoid taxes on these benefits.
Moreover, Cimis shared emails from Prattville’s HR Director, Lisa Thrash, and various documents he provided to back up his claims, confirming that Odom, city judge Louis Corley, and city prosecutor Bradley Ekdahl were indeed contractors who received W-2s in 2024, not as employees.
Cimis also mentioned that he had yet to find another city that offers health benefits to lawyers who are contracted. He reported his findings to the Alabama Public Examiner, the Attorney General’s Office, and the IRS, sharing details of a conversation with someone from the Attorney General’s Office on August 6th regarding what he described as a “scheme.”
