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Kern County–based CISK outlines statewide health plan and proactive care option for member districts
Summary
Dr. Dave Ostach, CEO of Self-Insured Schools of California (CISK), told the Kern County board that CISK serves hundreds of member districts with pooled workers' comp, property/liability and health benefit JPAs and introduced a 'Proactive Care Plan' designed to reduce costs by removing deductibles for primary, urgent and some specialty services.
Dr. Dave Ostach, introduced as chief executive of Self-Insured Schools of California (CISK), presented a multi-part overview of CISK's services to the Kern County Board of Education and described a new health benefit design the pool is promoting to member districts.
Ostach told trustees that CISK operates as three joint powers authorities — workers' compensation (CIS 1), property and liability (CIS 2), and health benefits (CIS 3) — and is administered through the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office. He said the pooled entity serves a large portion of California's public-education employers and emphasized prevention, on-site safety professionals, and financial reserves as stabilizing features.
"Prevention is the main thing," Ostach said about how CISK keeps premiums manageable, citing safety inspections, training and a program that returns premium credits to districts that reduce risk.
On health benefits, CISK executives described the Proactive Care Plan, a point-of-service model Ostach said delivers $0 primary care, urgent care, physical therapy and mental-health visits in an effort to reduce long-term cost. The presentation highlighted CISK's clinical advisory work and partnerships with major carriers such as Anthem and Kaiser Permanente.
Board members asked detailed questions about claims handling, appeals and the relationship between clinical providers and CISK; Ostach said CISK's claims handling for workers' compensation is performed in-house and that medical networks provide clinical decisions, while CISK provides administrative oversight and cost-containment measures. The board discussed whether misconduct or liability claims would be covered under CISK's property and liability JPA; presenters confirmed those coverages are included.
The presentation included scale figures presented by CISK staff: roughly 485 member entities across JPAs, about 424,000 covered individuals in the health JPA, approximately 43,000 employees covered in workers' comp across 90 districts and 12 counties, and an annual finance operation described as substantial (figures presented by the speaker). Trustees asked for clarifications on membership categories and regional offices CISK is considering.
The board did not vote on any actions regarding CISK at the meeting but thanked the presenters and encouraged continued partnership in risk management and benefits innovation.
