Prescott Valley staff propose switching town health coverage to self‑funded plan; council asks about reserves and risk

Prescott Valley — Town staff presented a plan to move the town’s employee medical coverage from a fully insured policy to a self‑funded model at a council meeting.

A staff presenter (Speaker 2) told the council the primary change would be financial: the town would pay claims directly while contracting a third‑party administrator (TPA) to handle claim adjudication and payments using the current United network. "We are continuing to explore whether or not an internal service fund or section 1 15 agreement trust is gonna be the best opportunity for the town to make sure that we are legally compliant with self funding," the staff presenter said, and added that staff would "receive any feedback" and return with comparative rates.

Town counsel (Speaker 1) framed the basic shift this way: "Self funding to fully insured, you're literally just simply…