To the best of our knowledge, 100% of Texas school districts self-fund their group medical plans (TRS ActiveCare is a self-funded plan), yet 100% of Texas schools fully-insure their athletic insurance. We are wondering why. If districts save money through self-funding their medical plans, why cant they save money on student accident plans as well?
Basic student athletic insurance offers limited benefits. In addition to this basic cover, many districts purchase catastrophic cover starting at $25,000. It seems to us that it makes perfect economic sense to self-insure the limited benefits portion of the program and purchase stop-loss cover with a $25,000 retention. We have identified several carriers that will offer specific stop loss for student accident plans.
Districts can partner with area medical providers for the best cover at the lowest cost. After all, medical providers in the community are school district taxpayers too. They would support such a partnership.
One possibility to consider would be to fund an athletic insurance program through a captive with more than one school district participating through an interlocal agreement. Participating districts would then be able to participate in underwriting profits and maintain control of plan benefits and costs. An interlocal agreement would preclude districts from bidding out their student accident insurance every year.
