In less than 90 days, the elected trustees of the Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) will make a pivotal decision that could reshape not only the district’s employee health benefits but also its credibility with the public.
At the center of this decision is the $22 million-a-year health coverage contract—an immense figure that demands transparency, integrity, and accountability.
For years, RSCCD took a direct route in managing employee health insurance, working with providers like Principal Mutual, PacifiCare, and Anthem.
That changed nearly a decade ago, when the district outsourced coverage to the Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance Programs (ASCIP), a move recommended to the RSCCD trustees by then Vice Chancellor John Didion and the committee he led.
What followed was nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in payments to ASCIP. During that time, viable lower-cost options with comparable benefits were available. Twice, once in 2023 and again in 2024, the college district had the opportunity to save up to $3 million annually. Yet, the trustees remained with ASCIP.
Then came the June 2024 revelation—ASCIP had been retaining excess premiums in their own account since 2009. Immediately upon learning about this account, which at the time held $8 million, Trustee Phil Yarbrough demanded the funds be returned and called for a forensic audit of all monies held by ASCIP on RSCCD’s behalf.
The resulting report by accounting firm Weaver, presented in March to the trustees, exposed what many had long suspected—a culture of inherent conflicts of interest, and troubling governance practices resulting in a lack of public trust.
Chief among the findings was Didion’s dual role outlined by Weaver on pages 29-30. Not only did he lead the move to ASCIP, but he also held governance positions within ASCIP and served as a corporate officer of one of its subsidiaries, a fact he did not publicly disclose when policies were being voted on or approved.
Although no evidence has surfaced suggesting Didion personally profited, the optics of his overlapping roles raised serious questions and still do years after his retirement in 2016.
Perhaps most disturbing was that no one, not the trustees, not the auditors, not the employee unions, not the public, knew about the millions of dollars in excess premiums being held in an account controlled by ASCIP.
With the Weaver report in hand and the college district’s past missteps laid bare, RSCCD now stands at a crossroads. Will the trustees continue with the status quo or finally seek a better, more transparent path for managing its $22 million healthcare contract?
Public trust is on the line and the clock is ticking.
Dr. Barry Resnick retired in 2022 after 42 years as a professor of counseling with the Rancho Santiago CCD. He has resided with his family in Orange for 38 years
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