Healthcare board's insurance perks 'excessive'

Three of five board members for the Desert Healthcare District took taxpayer-funded health insurance benefits for themselves, their spouses and in some cases their adult children worth more than $30,000 for each director last year, records obtained by The Desert Sun through the California Public Records Act show. The district is a health care grant-distributing organization in the Coachella Valley and owns Desert Regional Medical Center. The compensation made the desert district's directors the highest-compensated for any hospital enterprise or health care district in California. Until board action last week, district directors and its five staff members enjoyed the unusual perk of full reimbursement for all out-of-pocket co-pays and deductibles, according to records obtained by The Desert Sun.