Managing healthcare bills for Miami-Dade’s roughly 31,000 county employees is big business, and that’s prompting a big fight at the County Commission.
At issue is a proposal by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to drop the county’s longtime healthcare provider, AvMed, for a national competitor, Aetna — something the mayor claims would save the county about $40 million as it faces a major budget crunch. The fight to win the county’s healthcare contract has gotten messy enough that commissioners are holding a special meeting Wednesday dedicated solely to picking a winner.
AvMed, based in Doral, argues Levine Cava is rushing the effort ahead of a fall open-enrollment period that’s bound to be chaotic if a new provider takes over. AvMed also points to high customer-service rankings as a selling point — particularly with management based in the Miami area…