Custer County votes to leave CTSI for workers' comp and moves health benefits to self-funded model

The Custer County Board of County Commissioners voted Wednesday to end the county’s participation in the Colorado County Technical Services Inc. (CTSI) health and workers’ compensation pools and to adopt new contracts and a partially self-funded benefits structure that county staff say will give the county more control over costs and services.

Board Chair Bill Candid said the change is intended to give county departments more hands-on support and to help control rising insurance costs. “Pinnacle is very active in coming out and spending time with each department,” Robert Smith, Custer County human resources director, said during the meeting. Smith said Pinnacle offers more active claim management, including an employee portal and onsite loss-control work, which county staff argued should reduce long-term claim costs.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the county’s CTSI renewal carried a roughly 8–9% hike and that alternative fully insured quotes were unaffordable. County staff and the broker argued a partially self-funded model — keeping unused funds in a county-controlled internal service account and buying reinsurance above a capped loss — would let the county retain savings and invest them in employee benefits and loss-prevention programs.

What the board approved: The board…