COUNTIES GET INSURANCE POOL MONEY BACK

The Missouri Association of Counties has returned $644,496 in dividends and other monetary rewards this year to counties involved in a self-insured workers' compensation fund.

Cape Girardeau County received a $13,911 dividend, said County Clerk Rodney Miller, who chairs MAC's insurance board.

Eighty-seven member counties and seven related health departments participate in the insurance pool.

The dividends, received in the form of credits against their 2000 premiums, were announced at the association's spring legislative conference in Jefferson City.

Seventy-five percent of Missouri county governments shared in the dividends, Miller said.

"This is the eighth year our fund has been able to return profits to the counties who belong to our self-insured pool," said Miller.

"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," he said Thursday.

Since 1990, the fund has returned a total of $3.9 million in dividends to its members.

Miller said the figure includes more than strictly dividends. It includes money that counties received for "no claims" and safety program awards.

In addition to the $600,000 in dividends/premium credits, "no claims" and safety awards totaled $44,496.

Miller said the counties work to keep costs low. The fund employs a loss-prevention coordinator who visits each county annually. The coordinator meets with county commissioners and conducts safety training seminars, mainly in the road and bridge departments where over half of all county workers' compensation claims occur, Miller said.

MAC formed the fund in 1987 with the goal of providing a service tailor-made for the needs of counties. It was designed to save millions of dollars in premiums that would otherwise be paid for commercial insurance coverage, Miller said.

Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones said the fund is one of the best investments the county has made.

"What's so significant about this program is the emphasis on safety and loss prevention," said Jones.

"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," he said.