Cape County gets back $11,889 in insurance dividend check

JACKSON, Mo. -- Cape Girardeau County has received an $11,889 dividend return from the Missouri Association of Counties.

MAC, based in Jefferson City, Mo., operates a self-insured workers' compensation fund to which 87 member counties and seven related health departments belong.

"This is the 10th year our fund has been able to return profits to the counties who belong to our self-insured pool," said Cape Girardeau County Clerk Rodney Miller, who chairs the statewide insurance board.

"The key is that the counties' dollars reserved to pay claims are sitting in their account. What is generally a profit incentive for an insurance company is now a savings for the counties who belong to the pool," Miller said.

Since 1990, the insurance fund has returned $5.17 million in tax dollars to its member counties and health departments including $646,663 this year. Besides dividends, the figures include money returned to members who had no claims and safety program awards.

Gerald Jones, Cape Girar-deau County presiding commissioner, said it's been a good program.

"What's so significant about this program is the emphasis on safety and loss prevention," Jones said. "It is our way of showing that we care for the well-being of our employees, not to mention the tax dollars that pay for it."