Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

We provide group health insurance coverage to our worksite employees through a national network of carriers, including UnitedHealthcare (“United”), UnitedHealthcare of California, Kaiser Permanente, Blue Shield of California, HMSA BlueCross BlueShield, Unity Health Plan and Tufts, all of which provide fully insured policies or service contracts.

The policy with United provides the majority of our health insurance coverage. As a result of certain contractual terms, we have accounted for this plan since its inception using a partially self-funded insurance accounting model. Accordingly, we record the costs of the United plan, including an estimate of the incurred claims, taxes and administrative fees (collectively the “Plan Costs”) as benefits expense in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. The estimated incurred claims are based upon: (i) the level of claims processed during the quarter; (ii) estimated completion rates based upon recent claim development patterns under the plan; and (iii) the number of participants in the plan, including both active and COBRA enrollees. Each reporting period, changes in the estimated ultimate costs resulting from claim trends, plan design and migration, participant demographics and other factors are incorporated into the Plan Costs.

Additionally, since the plan’s inception, under the terms of the contract, United establishes cash funding rates 90 days in advance of the beginning of a reporting quarter. If the Plan Costs for a reporting quarter are greater than the premiums paid and owed to United, a deficit in the plan would be incurred and a liability for the excess costs would be accrued in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. On the other hand, if the Plan Costs for the reporting quarter are less than the premiums paid and owed to United, a surplus in the plan would be incurred and we would record an asset for the excess premiums in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. The terms of the arrangement require us to maintain an accumulated cash surplus in the plan of $9.0 million, which is reported as long-term prepaid insurance. In addition, United requires a deposit equal to approximately one day of claims funding activity, which was $3.5 million as of March 31, 2015, and is reported as a long-term asset. As of March 31, 2015, Plan Costs were less than the net premiums paid and owed to United by $36.2 million. As this amount is in excess of the agreed-upon $9.0 million surplus maintenance level, the $27.2 million balance is included in prepaid insurance, a current asset, in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. The premiums owed to United at March 31, 2015 were $22.0 million, which is included in accrued health insurance costs, a current liability in our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Workers' Compensation Costs

Workers’ Compensation Costs

Our workers’ compensation coverage has been provided through an arrangement with the ACE Group of Companies (the “ACE Program”) since 2007. The ACE Program is fully insured in that ACE has the responsibility to pay all claims incurred regardless of whether we satisfy our responsibilities. We bear the economic burden for the first $1 million layer of claims per occurrence, as well as a maximum aggregate amount of $5 million per policy year for those claims that exceed $1 million. The insurance carrier bears responsibility for the claims in excess of such amounts.

Because we bear the economic burden for claims up to the levels noted above, such claims, which are the primary component of our workers’ compensation costs, are recorded in the period incurred. Workers’ compensation insurance includes ongoing health care and indemnity coverage whereby claims are paid over numerous years following the date of injury. Accordingly, the accrual of related incurred costs in each reporting period includes estimates, which take into account the ongoing development of claims and therefore requires a significant level of judgment.

We employ a third party actuary to estimate our loss development rate, which is primarily based upon the nature of worksite employees’ job responsibilities, the location of worksite employees, the historical frequency and severity of workers’ compensation claims, and an estimate of future cost trends. Each reporting period, changes in the actuarial assumptions resulting from changes in actual claims experience and other trends are incorporated into our workers’ compensation claims cost estimates. Workers’ compensation cost estimates are discounted to present value at a rate based upon the U.S. Treasury rates that correspond with the weighted average estimated claim payout period (the average discount rate utilized in the 2015 and 2014 periods was 1.0% in both periods) and are accreted over the estimated claim payment period and included as a component of direct costs in our Consolidated Statements of Operations.

The following table presents the activity and balances related to incurred but not paid workers’ compensation claims:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2015			2014
	(in thousands)

Beginning balance, January 1,	$	136,088		$	120,833
Accrued claims	15,958			12,453
Present value discount	(570		)	(439		)
Paid claims	(10,549		)	(9,399		)
Ending balance	$	140,927		$	123,448

Current portion of accrued claims	$	45,152		$	52,163
Long-term portion of accrued claims	95,775			71,285
	$	140,927		$	123,448

The current portion of accrued workers’ compensation costs on our Consolidated Balance Sheets at March 31, 2015 includes $2.1 million of workers’ compensation administrative fees.

As of March 31, 2015 and 2014, the undiscounted accrued workers’ compensation costs were $150.6 million and $133.6 million, respectively.

At the beginning of each policy period, the insurance carrier establishes monthly funding requirements comprised of premium costs and funds to be set aside for payment of future claims (“claim funds”). The level of claim funds is primarily based upon anticipated worksite employee payroll levels and expected workers’ compensation loss rates, as determined by the insurance carrier. Monies funded into the program for incurred claims expected to be paid within one year are recorded as restricted cash, a short-term asset, while the remainder of claim funds are included in deposits, a long-term asset in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of March 31, 2015, we had restricted cash of $45.2 million and deposits of $115.6 million.

Our estimate of incurred claim costs expected to be paid within one year is recorded as accrued workers’ compensation costs and included in short-term liabilities, while our estimate of incurred claim costs expected to be paid beyond one year is included in long-term liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.