Channel: Living Church
Author: George Conger
The House of Bishops has endorsed resolution A177 calling for a denomination-wide health insurance plan.
During the afternoon business session on July 12, the Rt. Rev. Gayle Harris, Suffragan Bishop of Massachusetts, introduced the resolution on behalf of the Church Pension Fund Committee. The “mandatory” plan offers health insurance coverage for all “clergy and lay employees who are scheduled to work a minimum of 1,500 hours annually.”
Bishop Harris told the house the proposal had been under review for several years and would result in extensive cost savings for the church as a whole. Approximately “95 percent of dioceses will see savings,” she said, as a denomination-wide plan would “spread the liability or risk” across the church. The plan provides a $5 million lifetime cap, compared to a private sector average of $2 million, and provides a “superior insurance product.”
It would be “portable within the Episcopal Church”, but would be subject to “local control” and dioceses “may allow some to opt out” of the plan if they have comparable or superior coverage from the private sector.
She added that “pension payments will not be used to subsidize health care.” For every dollar collected by the Medical Trust, “92 cents would be used to pay claims, 7 cents for administration, and 1 cent for reserves,”—a ratio not matched in the private sector insurance market.
The Bishop of Albany rose to question the mandatory nature of the policy, however Bishop Harris stated that dioceses “will always have the option for those who have equal or better insurance to opt out—but dioceses may not opt out.”
The Bishop of Western Louisiana noted that “we have congregations where the only way we have full-time clergy has been to allow them to go into another program for coverage.” The Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson said the proposed rates “will force some congregations to move to part-time clergy with no benefits.”
The Bishop of Alabama queried the plans “agility,” noting his diocese had moved from the Medical Trust, to a self-insured plan to a Health Savings Account high-deductable plan offered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield—each time seeking better coverage for a better cost. He asked whether a denominational program would be competitive without private sector pressure.
Bishop Harris responded that the program would be responsive to changing market conditions, but was also client friendly. The Medical Trust was a not for profit, she argued, and its primary goal is service to the customer.
Bishop James Adams of Western Kansas affirmed his colleague’s statement, saying his experience with the Medical Trust had been very good. “There are few people whom I trust apart from our Lord. One is the Medical Trust, the other is the Pension Fund,” he said.
Bishop Marl Lawrence of South Carolina concurred, saying he had “utter confidence in the Church Pension Fund” and endorsed the program. The Rt. Rev. Chilton Knudsen, retired Bishop of Maine, urged the bishops to “capture this opportunity now.”
After a number of other bishops rose in support of the resolution, the matter was put to the vote and was endorsed by the House, with only two voices raised in opposition. If endorsed by the House of Deputies, the denomination plan will take effect in 2012.
(The Rev.) George Conger reporting from General Convention in Anaheim.
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