Texas Association of Counties

Workers’ compensation covers the cost of medical treatment and lost income for workers who are injured in the course and scope of their duties. By law, employers are liable for these costs when an employee is hurt on the job.  The TAC Risk Management Pool (RMP) offers several options for counties to finance these risks:

• Fully-funded (pooled) coverage — The Pool offers this option for those counties that want to completely transfer the risks and costs associated with injured workers. This is the most popular option because it offers a guaranteed cost.   
  
  
• High-deductible program — The Pool offers high deductible plans for those counties that are willing to accept some of the risks. A high deductible program is a great choice for medium or large counties that want to take on more risk and can tolerate fluctuations in monthly costs.  This type of arrangement can offer many of the advantages of self-insurance, without the associated administrative work that comes with being a self-insured employer. 
  
  
• Administrative services only (ASO) programs — TAC offers administrative services only programs for those counties that want to retain the risks and costs of workers’ compensation benefits. ASO members get the same great claims service, utilization management and access to many risk control services, but they pay their own claims.  If desired, TAC can help ASO members obtain excess coverage to limit catastrophic losses. An ASO arrangement may be a great choice for a large county that can accept fluctuations in monthly costs, has an active risk management program and is able to handle the administrative work associated with being self-insured.  
  
  
• The Alliance — TAC RMP has partnered with other public entity pools to develop a panel of high-quality health care providers that give your injured workers the care they need to recover and return to the workforce. By focusing on quality, the Alliance has proven to provide better outcomes and lower overall costs. The Alliance is only available to counties that participate in the TAC RMP workers' compensation coverage. 

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