Supervisor Alexander Urges Structural Reforms Following Health Contract Lapse

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee County Supervisor Deanna Alexander issued the following statement in response to recent reporting regarding the lapse in Milwaukee County’s health insurance administration contract with UnitedHealthcare.

The contract lapse has created uncertainty for County employees and their families and raised serious concerns about oversight, communication, and internal controls within critical administrative systems.

Supervisor Alexander emphasized that while personnel actions have already been taken, effective governance requires deeper examination and sustained corrective action:

“The County is now navigating a difficult set of choices, balancing fiduciary responsibility, legal considerations, operational continuity, and our duty of care to employees,” Alexander said. “True accountability means not only responding to the immediate crisis but understanding how the failure occurred and why safeguards did not prevent it.

“Public service requires accountability and discipline, especially when systems as essential as employee health coverage fail. When breakdowns occur within HR and procurement processes, the consequences are not abstract; they impact real people, real families, and real access to care.”

Alexander noted that resilient public institutions are designed to prevent failure, not merely respond after harm has occurred.

“As policymakers, our responsibility goes beyond asking who dropped the ball,” Alexander said. “We must also ask why the system was not designed to catch it, and how we strengthen those systems moving forward. However, we can stand up for protecting our employees without normalizing failures in governance.”

Supervisor Alexander will be investigating the failures in the County’s procurement and contracting systems and will work to close the gaps that have left county employees and taxpayers exposed to unnecessary risks.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.