A decision to change the way it handles employee health insurance has been a boon for the Bullhead City Fire Department, an assistant chief reported Tuesday.
Assistant Chief Scott Neal told governing board members that the department has built up a capital reserve fund of about $500,000 since becoming partially self-insured.
Neal said the department’s health insurance costs averaged about $1 million a year when it was insured by an outside company. Since the 2013 fiscal year, he said, the BCFD is spending about $915,000 a year.
One major difference: Neal said that regardless of the claim volume the fire department realized, whatever it paid to the insurance company, the company kept. Under the new setup, anything unspent stays in BCFD coffers.