Health services firm gets OK to fund benefits through captive

The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance has approved a plan by Healthcare Services Group Inc. to fund voluntary medical, life and short-term disability benefits through its New Jersey-based captive insurer.

Under the arrangement, disclosed Wednesday, the policies will be written by Companion Life Insurance Co. and will be 100% reinsured by HCSG Insurance Corp., the Bensalem, Pennsylvania-based health management services provider's captive insurer, which was licensed in January 2014.

“Healthcare Service Group's expansion of its captive insurance company is a testament to the company's innovation and another indicator of the strength of New Jersey's captive market,” Ken Kobylowski, the state's Banking and Insurance Commissioner, said in a statement.

The captive benefit funding arrangement also was approved earlier by the U.S. Department of Labor.