School board hears pitch for statewide educator health trust; asks staff to model local savings

Consultants for the Florida Educator Health Trust, known as Fleet, briefed the Flagler County School Board on April 8 about a statewide, district‑backed approach to self‑funded employee health coverage and risk sharing. Fleet representatives described how pooling stop‑loss and surplus smoothing across many districts can lower premiums and return dividends in good years.

Fleet consultant Mr. Albritton said Fleet evolved from an earlier program (FSHIP) and is now sponsored by the Florida Association of District Superintendents; the trust has been reviewed by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and outside legal counsel, he said. He described Fleet’s approach: districts remain autonomous for plan design and medical carrier selection but share certain layers of risk in a pooled structure to gain purchasing scale and statistical credibility.

The trust presentation emphasized three potential savings levers: buy stop‑loss protection at group scale, share operational administrative costs via a single administrative services arrangement, and pool “marginal” high‑cost claims in a band between a district attachment point and commercial stop‑loss so…