Description and History | Membership Listing | Staff Contact Information | Frequently Asked Questions
Insurance Programs Home Page
Description and History

BEST Flex, Benefit Solutions That Are Flexible, was organized in 2000 under the direction of the County Commissioners Association (CCAP). BEST Flex is an assortment of employee benefit programs designed to help members offer the best and most cost effective benefits to their employees. Counties will typically spend 25 to 30 percent of an employees salary to provide employee benefits. Why not get the most for your money.
 
CCAP has been able to negotiate group discounts for several employee benefit programs based on the overall group purchasing power of all member counties. 
 
Sponsored by CCAP, BEST Flex has incorporated most primary employee benefits offered into four programs:

• Cafeteria Benefits
• Group Life, AD&D and Disability Benefits
• Dental and Vision Insurance
• Health Insurance

Counties do not have to join all four programs to take advantage of BEST Flex services. Instead, participants may choose to partake in the benefits of any, or all of these programs.

Cafeteria Benefits

This program offers Section 125, Flexible Spending Accounts and Voluntary Benefits. Section 125 is an IRS code that allows county employees to choose some or all of their benefits on a pre-tax basis.
 
Flexible Spending Accounts, such as Medical Reimbursement and Dependent Care can also be granted to employees in order to take advantage of paying for previously uncovered medical expenses or dependent care on a pre-tax basis.
 
Voluntary benefits can also be offered to employees to help bridge the gap of county paid benefits. The costs of these benefits are fully paid by the employee, but most can be paid on a pre-tax basis and pay roll deduction.
 
Overall, Cafeteria Benefits will allow counties to have both the incentive and the means to provide a greater degree of choice to employees for their overall benefits package.

Group Life, AD&D and Disability Benefits

This program offers group benefits for county paid benefits. Group Life is term insurance offered through Hartford.
 
The AD&D, accidental death and dismemberment, can be added as a rider in addition to the original term.
 
Also available is Supplemental Life Insurance, offered through ING, for employees to buy additional coverage for themselves or for their dependents. Counties may choose to offer term or whole life for this benefit, and this choice can be made on a voluntary basis or via employee payment.
 
Group Short Term Disability (STD) or Long Term Disability (LTD) is also available in this program. Counties can choose from either option and may also choose individually the amount of coverage and the waiting periods. These benefits can all be arranged to match current plans, or can be upgraded to enhance benefit levels.

Dental Insurance

The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) and United Concordia, America's Premier Dental Insurer, are working together to provide counties the ability to obtain premier dental benefit coverage with association group purchasing pricing. As a member of CCAP you can choose from comprehensive voluntary plans (no cost to the county) or fully insured or self-funded programs. Current benefit plan designs can be matched and custom designs can be packaged, if needed.

Voluntary Dental Insurance

An Employee-Paid Benefit

For counties currently not offering dental insurance, employees can take advantage of voluntary programs. A comprehensive benefit package is essential in attracting and keeping quality employees. However, as the cost of dental procedures increases the cost of providing dental insurance increases, making it difficult to afford quality coverage.

Vision Insurance

The BEST Flex Vision Program is offered through Clarity Vision, a subsidiary of Highmark.

Health Insurance
CCAP Health Care Cost Solution (HCCS)

The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) and Riverside Consulting Group (RCG) have joined to together to provide a Health Care Cost Solution for Pennsylvania counties. RCG has successfully procured and negotiated a best in breed approach to health care purchasing, a self insured solution that will likely reduce costs up to 10% while also reducing future increases and limiting each county's risk exposure. The model developed includes firms that provide unique and effective services for Disease Management and Health Risk Assessment.

United Healthcare, Health America and Highmark Central PA provide Medical Claims Administration, Pharmacare provides Pharmacy Benefit Management Services, and Harris/HealthTrac provides Disease Management and Health Risk Assessment Services. In addition RCG has created step-pricing that will allow all counties who join to enjoy lower costs as the size of the group increases.

In the first year of the program, there are 8,500 county employees are participating. These programs are working.

• York County has lower per employee costs than most any other county and has saved $400,000 on their Rx through the CCAP program with the same vendor they already utilized.
• Berks County is currently $3,000,000 under what they spent before they joined the CCAP programs.
• Chester County is projected to save over $800,000 in three years through the Rx program.

Employer Benefits

• CCAP group size provides greater negotiating power with vendors
• PA counties have access to programs and savings that are not available standalone
• Savings increase as county participation increase
• Fixed administrative costs are reduced and guaranteed through CCAP (3 year fixed cost guarantee)
• Performance guarantees
• Maintain plan autonomy and experience

CCAP and the BEST Flex Board are continually working to determine a solution for counties with a smaller employee base and those with limited network availability.  We will continue to keep you informed as we move towards a Health Care Cost Solution for this group.

For more information on CCAP Health Care Cost Solutions for your county, contact Julia Jackson at (800) 895-9039 x 3305.
 
Membership Listing

Cafeteria Benefits Program Participants	Life and AD&D/Disability Program Participants
Adams County	Berks County
Bradford County	Bradford County
CMSU MH/MR	Carbon/Monroe/Pike MH/MR
Columbia County	Centre County
Elk County	Clearfield County
Franklin County	Elk County
Lawrence County	Greene County
Snyder County	Juniata County
Susquehanna County	Lawrence County
Tioga County	Mercer County
York County	Mifflin County
	Tioga County
Health Insurance/Dental Program Participants	Venango County
Beaver County (Dental only)	Westmoreland County
Berks County	York County
Chester County (RX only)
Elk County
Juniata County (Consulting only)
Lawrence County (Dental only)
Mifflin County (Consulting only)
York County

Staff Contact Information

For more information contact Julia Jackson, Employee Benefit Programs Manager at CCAP Insurance Programs at (800) 895-9039.

-back to top-