Commissioners will use program

Special to The Tribune
Published: May 8, 2008

The Georgetown-Quitman County Board of Commissioners voted recently to secure the county employee health insurance through participation in the Association County Commissioners of Georgia - Group Health Benefits Program.
“The Group Health Benefits Program is among the most important benefits ACCG offers county governments,” says ACCG Executive Director Jerry Griffin. “It allows counties to provide much-needed employee benefits at very competitive prices.”
The ACCG Group Health Benefits Program was established Oct. 1, 1992 with an initial membership of nine counties.
Georgetown-Quitman will become one of 88 Georgia counties and governmental authorities to participate in the ACCG-GHBP.
Through the program, member counties and qualified authorities have a cooperative agreement with BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia (BCBSGa), the plan administrator, to receive health insurance and supplemental benefits designed specifically for local governments. ACCG and BCBSGa have jointly developed specialized coverage options and uniquely-designed benefit plans that are cost effective as a direct result of ACCG’s negotiated insurance rates utilizing the advantage of large group purchasing power.
In addition as a fully-insured program, neither ACCG nor participating counties accept any underwriting risks.
One of the reasons ACCG developed a health insurance program was the hardship counties experienced with the volatile and unpredictable rate changes prevalent in the private health insurance market. In an attempt to counteract this volatility, ACCG-GHBP has established a rate stabilization reserve fund feature. This feature is funded by any differences between premiums and expenses which in a traditional plan would go to an insurance company as underwriting profits. The fund may stabilize premiums by offsetting future increases.
Established in 1914 with 19 charter members, ACCG is the consensus building, training, service and legislative advocacy organization of all Georgia’s 159 county governments. ACCG links counties statewide together on matters of public policy that have special impact on local governments.