Beaufort County seeks savings by self-funding health insurance

In an effort to save about $700,000 a year, Beaufort County has changed the way it will handle government employee insurance claims.

Faced with the potential for rising costs in the coming years, Beaufort County Council voted unanimously earlier this week to self-fund its insurance program.

The county has paid roughly $12 million to Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina to cover more than 1,100 full-time employees.

The change will have no direct impact on employees, deputy county administrator Josh Gruber said earlier this week.

“The plan, networks and beneficiaries would all be the same,” he said.

But the county will now shoulder the risk of claim increases rather than the insurance company.

When employees go to the doctor, “the (healthcare) provider will be sending the bill back to the county” rather than insurance company, Gruber said.

In the case of one or more astronomically high medical claims, the county will maintain stop-loss coverage from Blue Cross Blue Shield, he said.

Insurance consultants with Wells Fargo informed county leaders last month that the many public and private organizations similar in size to the county are moving toward self-insuring.

While the county could choose to seek traditional claims coverage from an insurance company in the future, it will likely take several years for the county to realize the full benefit of self-funding.

“The intent (is) that this be a more a one year commitment. It should be a three to five year commitment,” Gruber said.

Open health insurance enrollment for county employees begins May 1.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Beaufort County seeks savings by self-funding health insurance."