State agency erred in wage deduction

It might not seem like a lot of money, but $63 can come in pretty handy for Marc Cella, a divorced father of two who works two jobs while attending school.

"I could certainly use it to pay for one of my textbooks," Cella said.

So when the state Office of Recovery Services had that amount removed from the paycheck of his part-time job, he took notice. And when he couldn't get an assurance from the state to stop deducting the premium or refund the money, Cella called the Deseret News Help Line.

As part of Cella's recent divorce decree, he is required to provide health insurance for his two children. When the Utah Office of Recovery Services at the request of Cella's ex-wife opened a case on an unrelated matter not involving child support or insurance, the confusion began.

When the ORS opens a case and it is decreed one particular parent is responsible to provide the children with health insurance, the agency automatically sends out a National Medical Support Notice to the responsible party's employer. This notice asks the employer to withhold a monthly premium to cover the health care for the children.

But in Cella's case where he had multiple employers, the ORS computer system sent out notices to all three, said Catherine Taylor, an information officer at the ORS.

Cella said he was already providing insurance for his children through his full-time job at Convergys when the premium was also taken out of his paycheck from his part-time job at Wasatch Valley Pizza. When Cella noticed the $63.20 deduction on his paycheck, he tried to contact the ORS office to have them terminate the order for Wasatch Valley Pizza.

Feeling like he was getting the runaround from the ORS when he tried to get them to refund the premium Wasatch Valley Pizza deducted, Cella asked The Deseret Morning News Help Line for help. "I don't know what the reason is why I am not getting a refund, I just know I am not getting an answer," Cella said.

Help Line contacted the ORS, and the situation was brought to the attention of Taylor.

She said the ORS was not sending out cancellation notices in time to prevent the premium from being deducted.

"That was our error," Taylor said. "Obviously we needed to follow up."

After learning ORS did not terminate the notices in a timely manner, Taylor determined it was the agency's responsibility to refund the money to Cella.

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E-mail: jlarson@desnews.com