The County Employee Benefits Consortium of Ohio was formed by the County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO) in response to concerns that have been expressed during the recent years about the cost of health insurance being borne by Ohio counties for their employees. CEBCO is a consortium available to county governments in Ohio.

CEBCO is governed by a board comprised of representatives of counties that participate in the program. Two-thirds of all directors are county commissioners and one-third are employees of member counties. As a self-funded consortium, we are better able to manage the costs of the program. This funding arrangement allows us to avoid paying premium taxes and the higher retention costs of a fully-insured program. Self-funding also allows greater flexibility in designing plan benefits. Participation in the consortium program requires a three year commitment, thereby ensuring stability for all Member counties.

Each county has the ability to maintain existing relationships or create new relationships with a designated broker/agent/consultant. Each county will be able to determine the degree of services required from their agent and what the appropriate compensation should be for those services. The county may either pay the broker/consultant directly on a fee basis or request that the fees be built into the program rates.

At this time CEBCO offers medical, dental, and prescription drug coverage spread across 5 medical plan options, 3 dental plan options, and 4 prescription drug options. Life insurance and vision is also offered. All contracted networks are national in scope and are seamless.

The vendors are as follows:

• Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield – Medical
• CVS/CAREMARK – Prescription Drugs
• Delta Dental – Dental
• VSP – Vision Benefits
• Anthem Life Insurance Company – Life Coverage
• ComPsych Employee Assistance Program  

By banding together in an aggregated cost-saving effort the counties will reap the benefits of reduced administrative costs, reduced stop loss fees, the spread of risk over a larger number of participants, and the non-profit nature of the consortium. Counties will be able to participate in a self-funded program on terms that they would not be able to negotiate individually, due to their size and tolerance of risk, but the rates quoted by the consortium will be “guaranteed cost” for each twelve month period of participation. 

The Board of County Commissioners of each county is required to complete the Group Application and adopt the Participation Agreement with a remittance of the first month’s premium equivalent to enroll in the program. More details will be included in the CEBCO proposal presented to each county requesting rates for the program.

CEBCO Members

Allen, Ashland, Ashtabula, Athens, Butler, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Darke, Delaware, Geauga, Hardin, Hocking, Logan, Madison, Morrow, Putnam, Ross, Seneca, Union, Washington, and Williams counties, and the CCAO staff. 

For more information please contact:

Sherri Noll, Managing Director, Health and Wellness Programs
County Commissioners Association of Ohio
209 East State Street
Columbus, OH  43215-4309
614/221-5627 or 888/757-1904
FAX 614/229-4588