County Commission | The Magazine August 2018 | Page 6

THE COUNTY LINE
H
Sonny Brasfield
Executive Director
At the
intersection
of ‘opportunity’
and ‘challenge’
Self-funded
insurance programs
taking services
to the next level
6 | COUNTY COMMISSION
ow many times have you
heard someone say, “We
have an opportunity ahead
of us,” when they really mean the
circumstances they face are going to
be a real “challenge?”
These terms are often incorrectly
used interchangeably. On other
occasions, however, the issue
someone calls a “challenge” is really
a meaningful “opportunity” if he or
she will simply accept the fact that
sometimes these terms intersect in a
most demanding way.
The Association is directly in the
middle of one of those occasions.
Most of you know that
almost all of Alabama’s counties
now participate in one of the
Association’s three insurance
offerings. And, in fact, more than
40 counties provide for all of their
major insurance needs – workers’
compensation, liability and property
– through the Association’s self-
funded pooling approach that has
well served the citizens for decades.
What hasn’t been on the front
of anyone’s notepad is the fact that
the back-stage services necessary to
make the programs tick – the safety
services, claims administration,
underwriting, financial services
and policy administration – have
long been provided by an outside,
private company. And, for a couple
of decades, that company name
has been synonymous with the
Association’s self-funded insurance
programs. County employees and
officials have worked hand-in-
hand with the employees in this
company’s Montgomery office,
establishing a very effective and
productive relationship.
Over the last year or so, an
opportunity has been knocking at
the Association’s door. And in April,
the boards of trustees overseeing
the insurance programs voted
unanimously to accept a challenge
that will, ultimately, enhance
and reform the insurance services
delivered to employees and officials
at the county commission level.
Beginning in 2019, the
Association will self-administer
its insurance programs through
a new nonprofit company
established exclusively for this
purpose. We’ll give you more
details on the changes that lie
ahead during the annual insurance
funds’ membership meeting at
the Association’s 90th Annual
Convention and Celebration.
Pushing down to the bottom
line, the “challenge” we’re facing
right now as we make this transition
will provide the Association with
a real “opportunity” to take the
insurance programs to the next
level. The staff, the boards of
trustees and everyone involved are
very excited about the enhanced
service counties will see once this
process is fully implemented.
As we move beyond 2019,
you will all come to associate this
newly-created nonprofit company,
County Risk Services Inc. (CRS),
with the Association’s insurance
funds more closely than you have
connected the current company
with the programs. The services that
allow the funds to respond to and
meet the needs of your employees
and officials will very soon actually
be delivered by employees who
will work exclusively on the
Association’s programs.
The Association’s employees and
those who will work for CRS will
all be housed on North Jackson