In 1960, a group of six counties in Oregon saw the need to bring great health insurance coverage to their members. These leaders knew the advantage of pooling their dollars together to help keep costs down and purchase the best benefits for their members. In turn, the Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) formed the Association of Oregon Counties Insurance Trust (AOCIT).
Rooted in the same cause as the AOC, Regence has had the honor to provide great health insurance benefits to AOC members for more than four decades through our partnership with CIS Benefits.
Regence is committed to driving a simpler, personalized, and more affordable health care experience for the people and their families we serve. Our partnership with CIS Benefits allows us to offer an expansive network across Oregon to its members and help keep costs down. CIS Benefits allows AOC members to bundle their benefits together, achieve lower rates and save counties and their workers money on their health benefits. Since 2019, the average annual rate increases for CIS Benefits self-insured medical program for counties administered by Regence has been 3.33 percent for pooled groups with fewer than 100 employees.
This community-oriented approach to health care is a fundamental part of our health insurance. Regence was formed in a very similar way as the AOCIT a little more than 40 years earlier. A group of loggers wanted to find a way to pool resources together to help their fellow loggers. They knew even a minor injury could bankrupt a family. This group decided to form a community fund, this way medical costs could be shared by everyone. It was people helping people. A mission that hasn’t changed for Regence in our more than one-hundred-year history.
Regence is honored to continue our partnership with CIS Benefits and offer simple and affordable healthcare benefits to AOC members. Those Oregon counties looking to learn more about CIS Benefits administered by Regence can reach out to the CIS team at employeebenefits@cisoregon.org.
Contributed by: Angela Dowling | president, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon
*AOC Partner sponsored article.