Prince Frederick, MD – Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) recently received a $2.8 million retrospective settlement for FY2015 from the school system’s health insurance provider, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. The Board of Education has agreed to return all of the money to employees in two ways.
Approximately 25 percent will be disbursed through an employee and retiree health insurance premium holiday. For the two pay dates in December, no deductions will be taken for health insurance premiums for active employees who are covered members through the CCPS health insurance program. Similarly, those who retired from CCPS and are covered members through the CCPS health insurance program will not be required to pay health insurance premiums for January 2016.
Approximately 75 percent will be used to provide a one-time payment to active employees, with the exception of miscellaneous employees (i.e. substitutes, extra-pay, extra-duty employees, etc.) and selected grant-funded employees. Full-time active employees will receive $1,000 and part-time active employees will receive $500.00. These payments will be disbursed January 29, 2016.
Dr. Daniel Curry, Superintendent, said, “The Board is pleased to be able to offer this stipend as a token of their appreciation for all of our hardworking employees.”
The health insurance benefits provided by CCPS are self-insured, meaning they are funded by the employees and retirees who are covered members and the school system. As such, CCPS is responsible for all covered health insurance expenses incurred by its employees and retirees and their dependents. Because CCPS uses a self-insurance system, the claims that are paid may equal, exceed, or fall short of what is actually paid in premiums.
This atypical settlement was the result of our claims expense for FY2015 being substantially lower than the actuarial premium estimates generated by CareFirst.