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By John Sallade, Managing Director, Insurance Programs
 

Thank you to all the county officials who volunteered to serve on the CCAP insurance programs boards! We now have filled all the positions on our boards and committees.

Welcome to these new members:

This spring, four high school seniors will earn $2,000 for college from the NACo / Nationwide Scholarship. Winning applicants will have written a short essay describing why it's important for a public sector employee to start saving early for retirement.

This is the seventh year in a row that Nationwide and the NACo have teamed up to encourage high-school seniors to think about retirement.

Why spur students who haven't even started full-time work to think about retirement?

Three reasons - by applying for the scholarship the students:

1. Must consider the financial impact of their decisions about college and their career 
    and realize it is never too soon to start thinking about saving for retirement.
 

2. Begin to recognize the value perspective in turbulent financial times when often 
    difficult decisions are required.

3. Identify specific actions that help prepare for a financially successful future.

To be eligible, applicants must be graduating high school seniors who are legal U.S. residents, their parent or grandparent must be enrolled in and contributing to the NACo 457 Deferred Compensation Program and the student must enroll in a full-time undergraduate course of study no later than the fall term of the 2012-2013 school year at an accredited two or four-year college. Application and entry may be submitted on line between March 1 and April 16, 2012.

The NACo/Nationwide Scholarship is just one of the services arising out of a 32-year relationship between Nationwide and NACo. As provider of the NACo Deferred Compensation Program, Nationwide regularly reports to the NACo Deferred Compensation Advisory Committee on industry trends, updates statistics on the program and provides ongoing education on retirement issues. NACo receives from Nationwide Retirement Solutions payment for NACo's endorsement and license of its name and logo for use by Nationwide in connection with the NACo Deferred Compensation Plan Program and related products and services. These funds are used by NACo to enhance programs and services for the benefit of its members.

For more information about the scholarship

All of the information about eligibility, judging criteria and notification process are on the NACo and Nationwide Web sites. For more information, go to www.naco.org/retirementscholarship or www.nrsforu.com/scholarship.

ByJohn Sallade, Managing Director, Insurance Programs 

By Linda Rosito, Insurance Training Director 

The CCAP insurance Programs is offering a Maintenance Workshop on Tuesday, April 3 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, State College. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the workshop runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Topics included are:

• Lighting
• Weatherization
• Contingency planning
   

Registration is available online!

Please keep in mind that most of our training sessions are free (if sponsored by an insurance program in which your employer is a member) AND for PCoRP, PComp and UC Trust members you can SAVE MONEY off your insurance costs by attending training sessions.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Linda Rosito or

Jenn James at (800) 895-9039.

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OPEB's On The Horizon: Defining Other Post-Employment Benefits and Understanding Their Financial Effect
 

By John Molloy, CFA, Managing Director, PFM Asset Management LLC

The market meltdown of 2008 and the slow recovery from recession have changed the landscape for public employee retirement plans for decades to come. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, state and local public pension plans lost almost one trillion dollars in market value from 2008 through 2010, which compelled plan managers to raise employers' pension contribution rates by an average of three to five percent of payroll. As plan managers continue to deal with those losses while meeting required pension funding obligations, they have realized that pension funding is on track to squeeze out all other benefits programs.

Though pension issues have been well-documented, Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) offered to present and future retirees are growing as long-term liabilities on governmental balance sheets due to the rapidly increasing costs of healthcare. The cost of paying for OPEB benefits are increasing and, unlike pension trusts which are at least partially funded, most OPEB liabilities for local governments do not have any offsetting assets.

The challenge of OPEB

OPEB is a broad term that encompasses multiple types of benefits offered by employers to employees and spouses or dependents after the employee retires. The term "Other" in "OPEB" is used because for accounting purposes these benefits are segregated from pension and retirement costs. These benefits can include medical, dental, hearing, vision, prescription drug, life insurance, long-term care and long-term disability.
 

These contractually obligated benefits, like pensions, are locked in as part of employment agreements and collective bargaining agreements. Public entities were able to pay for obligations for current retirees, usually as part of quarterly or annual insurance premiums, for many years, absorbing the increased costs of any new retirees.
 

Retiree medical benefits, to use one example, face more budgetary competition for their employer contributions than ever before. Over the past two decades medical costs have risen dramatically, which has in turn increased the cost of providing these benefits.

Shining a light on these future costs

Recognizing the constraints that OPEB obligations could have on future budgets, in 2004 the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) released Statement 45, mandating that governments recognize these future obligations during an employee's current period of employment. The intent of GASB 45 was to better reflect the total liabilities of a government as part of its overall financial health.

Over a phased-in period, GASB 45 required governments with less than 200 employees to have an actuarial valuation of their OPEB obligations every three years, while larger employers had to have a valuation prepared every two years. The valuations calculate the accrued liability as of a certain date and determine the overall costs of these benefits over a longer period not to exceed 30 years.

In those calculations actuaries must consider a number of factors regarding the characteristics of employees as current and future plan participants, among them:

By Maureeen McMahon, Loss Control Specialist

Bath salts are designer drugs that typically contain mephedrone or methylenedioxypyrovalerone, also known as MDPV. The drugs' appearance is similar to that of cocaine. Bath salts are considered dangerous and mimic the effects of methamphetamines.

Why are they called bath salts? They are packaged as "soothing bath salts" to get around federal laws. They are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration because they are not marketed for human consumption and in fact are often marketed as plant fertilizer. Components of the drugs are marketed under names such as Cloud 9, Ivory Wave, Vanilla Sky and White Rush.
 

Until recently, there was no way to test for this new type of drug. Drug Free Pennsylvania, through their drug testing partner, Tri-State Diagnostics, now is able to provide the means to test for Bath Salts.

Due to the very specialized testing process for these synthetic drugs - the cost will be $169 per test. If you have the need for this test, please contact Drug Free Pennsylvania at (800) 533-3394 or via email: rau@drugfreepa.org.

PComp purchases membership in Drug Free Pennsylvania for all PComp members.

By Linda Rosito, Insurance Training Director

The CCAP Insurance Programs is offering some excellent educational opportunities this month. We hope to see you!

Please keep in mind that most of our training sessions are free (if sponsored by an insurance program in which your employer is a member) AND for PCoRP, PComp and UC Trust members you can SAVE MONEY off your insurance costs by attending training sessions.

You should have received your copy of the spring Glimpse by now! If you need additional copies, please contact glimpse@pacounties.org.

Registration is available online!

Here is a listing of workshops this spring:

Coverage Corner 

Reminders and Pointers about Insurance Coverage and Risk Management 

Property Properly Insured?

Whenever a building, vehicle or other property is purchased or sold, be sure to notify your insurance carrier as soon as possible. Your property and vehicle schedules need to be adjusted to reflect each change so that current schedules are on file and there will not be any questions about claims relating to those autos or property. One other important point is new rental locations - even though you may not own the building, you need to report the location so your contents (equipment and office furniture) are covered.

Questions or comments? Contact Karen Cohen, CCAP's Property and Casualty Programs Manager.

CCAP Insurance Programs
 PO Box 60769, Harrisburg, PA 17106-0769
Phone (800) 895-9039 - FAX (717) 526-1020
Claims Fax (888) 692-2368

 Click here to go the Insurance Section of the CCAP Website.

email: jsallade@pacounties.org 

Insurance Matters is published monthly by CCAP's Insurance Programs for the use of members of CCAP's UC Trust, PCoRP, PComp, PIMCC, COMCARE, COMCARE PRO, PELICAN, Health Alliance and other insurance programs, and insurance producers of these members.

Advice contained in this publication is not legal advice and members are encouraged to seek the opinion of their solicitor.

The information provided in this publication is not intended to take the place of professional advice. Readers are encouraged to consult with competent legal, financial, or other appropriate professionals. Statements of facts and opinions expressed in this publication, by authors other than Association staff and officers, are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent an opinion or philosophy of the officers, members and staff of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP). No endorsement of advertised products or services is implied by CCAP unless those products or services are expressly endorsed, or are owned or managed by the Association programs, or our affiliates. This publication may not be reproduced, modified, distributed, or displayed in part or in whole, by any means, without advance written permission of CCAP. Please direct your requests to John Sallade, Managing Director, CCAP Insurance Programs, jsallade@pacounties.org

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