The spring season of workshops held by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania Insurance Programs begins this month. We have a great spring workshop season planned for you! Registration is available, so please Register Online.

As with every workshop season we like to offer topics we receive from our attendees as well as hot topic items. This spring we have added a one-day training entitled Armed Intruder and Active Shooter in a Public Building.

Just a few other things to note - We have added two locations this spring. We are holding a Defensive Driving Course in Johnstown and a From Buddies to Bosses and Beyond session in Doylestown. We have also changed our Scranton location to the Radisson Lackawanna Station.  

You should have already received your copy of the spring Glimpse. If you would like additional copies, please contact us.

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.

Thank you for your continued support of the CCAP Insurance Programs trainings.

We hope to see you this spring!

In a significant victory for members of the CCAP Health Alliance and the Delaware Valley Health Insurance Trust (DVHIT), the IRS recently confirmed that self-insured public entity risk pools are exempt from the Health Insurance Fee (HIF).

DVHIT General Counsel Geoff Beauchamp testified on behalf of the Association of Governmental Risk Pools (AGRiP) before the IRS in June. AGRiP's principal argument was the fee did not apply to public employer health benefits pools as they are not commercial insurance carriers.

The IRS confirmation of the fee exemption is significant as it will save CCAP Health Alliance and DVHIT members an estimated $2.8-$3.1 million in 2014. Commercial carriers such as Blue Cross added 2.5-2.75% of premium for 2014 renewals to cover the HIF. The savings for CCAP Health Alliance and DVHIT members is projected to increase to $4.9 million in 2015 as the HIF fee is increased to 4%.

Exemption from the Health Insurer Fee is a significant advantage the CCAP Health Alliance has over commercial market carriers, an advantage which will increase over the next several years.

The CCAP Health Alliance has partnered with DVHIT to serve as the infrastructure and administrator of its health insurance pool for Pennsylvania counties and county related entities. Since 1999, DVHIT has helped its municipal members defy the trends by providing a remarkably stable health insurance platform with rates well below the commercial carriers', while maintaining benefit levels and even offering several plan enhancements. DVHIT is owned, managed and controlled by its public entity members, including counties and county related entities.

For more information on the CCAP Health Alliance, contact Julia Jackson, CCAP Health and Cooperative Programs Manager at (800) 895-9039 x 3305.

How effective is your Safety Committee? Is your committee proactive, reactive, a little or a lot of both? An effective committee must be both proactive and reactive. One without the other is only seeing half the picture. The goal of any effective committee is to reduce or eliminate exposures to loss.

Reactive Loss Control is analyzing losses after they occur. The committee should be looking for patterns in claims for frequency and severity. Near misses should also be evaluated as they can lead to future claims.

Accident investigations are for finding solutions, not placing fault or blame. When working directly on an issue, following these steps will help to reach a feasible, long-lasting solution.

• Identify and agree on the nature of the problem
• Map out the events to identify the fundamental or "root" cause
• Look for and rank potential solutions 

Select the best solution for the problem and develop an action plan (including implementation and follow-up evaluation).

Proactive Loss Control may be the most effective tool a committee has at its disposal, but is often overlooked. Its purpose is to identifying workplace and facility hazards and recommending corrective actions before an accident occurs. This is usually accomplished via workplace inspections. A check list inspection form and discussion with workers in the area being evaluated will help ensure you are seeing everything. Some thoughts for workplace inspections: 

• How often will the inspections be performed? Will they be announced or random?
• Who on the committee will do them and how will they be organized?
• How will you determine what areas to inspect?
• Will you do the entire workplace at one time or divide it?
• Will members be trained?
• What forms will you use? How will you report results, Will you use a checklist?
• How will you follow up? 

In order to establish an effective Safety Committee, accidents must be properly investigated after they occur, and hazards identified and mitigated before they lead to loss. Following these two Loss Control methods should lead to the reduction of losses, and subsequent cost savings.

For more information, contact the CCAP Loss Control Department at (800) 895-9039; or email us at:

Gary Nicholson, Loss Control Services Manager

Maureen McMahon, Loss Control Specialist

Andrew Smith, Loss Control Specialist

Dennis Cutler, Loss Control Specialist

If you haven't already taken advantage of the program this policy year, there is still some time left to apply for a PCoRP Loss Prevention Grant to fund a loss prevention project. Loss prevention grant applications for the current policy year must be submitted before May 31, 2014. This program was established to support PCoRP members' safety committees and/or the administration by awarding grants to help offset the costs of enhancing needed safety, or maintenance or risk management projects.

As previously announced the PCoRP board approved setting aside $600,000 to fund the loss prevention grant program this policy year. They also made two changes to the loss prevention grant program. The first change was that the PCoRP membership was split into two groups; 48 PCoRP county members and four PCoRP county related entity members. The grant is a different monetary amount for each group as well as the type of grant is different for each group. The following will explain the differences; 

1. Each PCoRP county member can apply for up to a total of $12,500 in loss prevention grants. This is a $2,500 increase over the prior policy year. The awarded grant still cannot be more than 50 percent of the cost of the project(s). Therefore, the PCoRP county member must contribute at least half of the cost of the grant project(s). However, the match can come from the county member's funds, other grants and/or in-kind work done by county employees.
    
2. Each of the four PCoRP county related entities can apply for up to a total of $6,000 in non-matching loss prevention grants. This can be for one or more projects, but the total awarded to a county related entity member for all loss prevention grants cannot exceed $6,000. This is considered as an outright grant not requiring any matching funds, but all the other loss prevention grant guidelines must be met. 

Also previously announced the second change is to clarify that the PCoRP Loss Prevention Grant Program is not intended to be used as the primary source for paying for routine maintenance expenses that a member normally encounters annually. This is not the intent of the loss prevention grant program. 

The comments and feedback received from PCoRP members about the loss prevention grant program has been very positive. The current status of grants awarded as of February 12, 2014, is the following; 

• 22 PCoRP members have submitted grant applications (21 counties/1 county related entity).  
• 31 loss prevention grant applications have been awarded.      
• $191,205 in grants have been awarded to PCoRP members. 

However, there are 30 PCoRP members who have not yet taken advantage and submitted a loss prevention grant application. Again as a reminder, those PCoRP members have until May 31, 2014, to apply for the loss prevention grants for the 2013-2014 policy year. This applies to both the $12,500 matching grant for the PCoRP county members and the $6,000 non-matching grant for the PCoRP county related entity members.

If you need a PCoRP Loss Prevention Grant Program application or for more information about the loss prevention program, email Gary Nicholson, Loss Control Services Manager or call (800) 895-9039.