Holding Big Insurance Captive
Gabe Galanda and Jim Robenalt published a piece in this week's edition of Indian Country Today titled, "Holding big insurance captive: the need for Indian self-insurance companies." Gabe and Jim advocate for some individual tribal governments to form single parent captive insurance companies to insure those particular tribes' risk of losses, rather than continue to purchase expensive insurance from outside private insurers. (They do not yet advocate for tribes to band together to form a group captive to insure all of Indian Country's risk.) Building tribal self–insurance companies will allow tribes to create five to six figure annual savings and reinvestment opportunity, avoid hidden state insurance taxes, create new tribal jobs and insurance coverage tailored to life on the reservation, and maintain greater control of their sovereignty defense. Some tribes may wish to create a tribally owned captive to self-insure some of their risk, while still buying insurance from private carriers for other risk. Those tribes should also consult our Tribal Insurance Procurement Checklist.
