By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – After navigating through some rough times, pooled risk management programs in the state are sailing into calmer waters and meeting their obligations to public workers with oversight from the Secretary of State’s office, officials said Wednesday, though they criticized the largest health trust pool for not being more forthcoming.
But after that press conference, Scott DeRoche, executive director of HealthTrust pushed back and said he was “extraordinarily concerned with the approach” by Secretary of State David Scanlan to hold the press event noting that of the three remaining pools in the state, HealthTrust is the only one which never depleted its resources or asked municipalities for more money or an “assessment.”
“We are in a very strong position,” and DeRoche, who added he supported the governor’s veto of Senate Bill 661 which would have arbitrarily set reserve caps without actuarial input, argued it is Scanlan who is making the mistake to allow such reserves to be far lower than national averages.
While some states have a 30 percent buffer, the reserve level under the Secretary of State’s guidance is about half that in New Hampshire. But so far is not included in the law though legislation was attempted and failed this spring to set a percentage.
Scanlan and Lang defended the state’s position on a buffer noting that it helps keep rates low.
HealthTrust is in an enforcement action with the Secretary of State’s office. Scanlan said that the organization was not forthright about their business practices and “got lucky” in 2023 with low reserves. He said they could be more transparent with the state then they are.
DeRoche said he could not state enough how distressed he was by Scanlan’s statements and said he did not even know a press conference was to be held.
Scanlan gave his update on the regulation of pooled risk management programs in New Hampshire with Danielle Albert, deputy commissioner of Labor, Eric Forcier, director of the Bureau of Securities Regulation, Dave Lang, chief of staff for the Secretary of State, and Lance Turgeon, the receiver appointed to manage the runout of two pooled risk management programs: the former Local Government Center Property Liability Trust dating back many years, LGC Workers Compensation Trust, and the New Hampshire Interlocal Trust.
They noted pooled risk groups have been in the news lately particularly cases involving the cities of Dover and Portsmouth with the pooled risk group SchoolCare https://www.schoolcare.org/ over assessments which surprised municipalities with higher than expected costs.
Recently a judge ruled that SchoolCare must pay Portsmouth claims but the matter is still being litigated.
“These are not insurance companies,” Scanlan stressed. He said this is about self insurance by political subdivisions.
Unlike a private company which may provide insurance coverage to its employees through commercial products that are overseen by the state Insurance Commission, pooled risk management programs are authorized under New Hampshire law, RSA 5-B, and overseen by the Secretary of State as voluntary associations of cities, towns, counties, school districts and other political subdivisions for the purpose of sharing risk in the performance of essential government functions. This is in the coverage areas of health, property, liability and workers compensation.
Scanlan noted there has been a lot going on with pooled risk in the past few years including an ongoing enforcement action with HealthTrust, the largest of health groups.
Scanlan explained that like many other parts of the country, government agencies in the state, including the state itself, self insure their employees rather than go to commercial insurance.
“A risk pool is simply an opportunity for political subdivisions that do not have a critical mass large enough to self-insure to join with other political subdivisions so that they have the volume necessary to self insure for health insurance or property liability,” Scanlan said. As a result, the pool may get better rates than commercial providers.
In the case of health insurance, employees are charged a portion of their salaries to pay those costs and then the political subdivisions contribute.
And in the end, Scanlan said, it is up to the political subdivision to make sure bills are paid.
“There is no other source of revenue to be able to be pumped in to pay those bills. These entities are not insurance companies. It’s pooled money, pooled risk to provide coverage,” he said.
The secretary said there seems to be a lot of confusion over what a pooled risk group is.
There are successes to report for past, insolvent pools that are in receivership that no longer exist except the “tail” which is paid out over time, Lang explained.
In the case of New Hampshire Interlocal Trust which provided coverage to about 3,500 employees of 38 political subdivisions, it had total contributions of $49 million for the year ending in June 2025.
It was put into receivership in April of that year and had zero net cash. An assessment of about $2.5 million was made and collected, enabling payment of claims including one organ transplant for an employee costing $600,000, Lang explained.
The assessment was met with some consternation because the entities had not been able to budget for it, he said, but every single public subdivision paid.
Through the end of May, $1.7 million of the assessment has been returned to those subdivisions. A return of $1.4 million is expected in the fall upon collection of pharmacy rebates for a total of over $3 million and all known and valid claims are paid at this time, in the case of the NH Interlocal Trust, Lang said.
In the case of the former Local Government Center Property and Liability Trust, which is also under receivership, the fund provided general liability trust coverage to about 280 political subdivisions and workers compensation coverage to about 150 political subdivisions with total contributions of about $13 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015. At that point, it had about $470,000 in the bank. It was put into receivership in July, 2016.
As of 2026, about $12.3 million in assets and $2.7 million in open claims exist in the Property and Liability Trust, the press was told.
DeRoche said there were numerous inaccuracies stated in the press conference based on the information he saw.
“HealthTrust is in a different place than the other health risk pools in New Hampshire. As of today, our preliminary financials are showing a year-end (June 30, 2026) net position with a gain that is in-line with our actuarial rebuild plan and is otherwise in a solid financial position.
“The two health risk pools that followed the Secretary of State’s low-reserve model each held approximately 15 percent of annual contributions in reserves via Risk Pool Practices Agreements. They both depleted reserves in 2025. This led to assessments and significant harm to their members and taxpayers.
“The Secretary’s office has long championed low reserves, viewing them as ‘extra’ money to be returned to political subdivisions. Reserves are not extra funds — they are critical amounts needed to protect the towns, cities, schools, and counties we serve and their taxpayers, employees, and retirees.
“They are essential protection against adverse events. The recent challenges faced by NH Interlocal Trust (NHIT) and SchoolCare clearly demonstrate the Secretary’s policies have been proven harmful to New Hampshire.
“In contrast, HealthTrust has long resisted adopting the low reserve model and has instead relied on the analysis provided by its actuaries. HealthTrust is non-assessable, meaning the monthly premium is the limit of a group’s exposure. That structure protects municipal, school, and county budgets (and their taxpayers) from unexpected charges — but only if reserves are maintained at responsible levels.
“HealthTrust will continue to provide the robust and low-cost coverage that public sector employers and their taxpayers have relied upon for over 40 years,” DeRoche said.