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O4483
October 28, 2004
Monthly subscription rates go up for some health care benefits
Board of Pensions discusses basic tenets of PC(USA) Medical Plan
by Jerry L. Van Marter
and Karen Babik
Board of Pensions Director of Communications
LOUISVILLE — With a previously approved dues increase for the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s basic health care coverage set to go into effect Jan. 1, the church’s Board of Pensions (BOP) last week increased the monthly subscription rates for a number of other medical benefits.
Effective Jan. 1, 2005, the BOP increased monthly rates:
- for the Medical Continuation Program for former traditional program participants from $235 to $250 for those enrolled before 1987 and from $400 to $424 for those enrolled after 1986;
- for the Medicare Supplement Program from $190 to $194 for each participant; and
- for the Affiliated Benefits Program’s early retirees with Medical Continuation from $625 to $720 and Medicare Supplement retirees from $230 to $264 per participant.
In July, the board raised Health Care Plan dues from 18.5 percent to 19 percent; and dues for seminary students from 10.5 percent to 10.8 percent for member coverage, from 16.2 percent to 16.6 percent for member with spouse or children coverage, and from 18.5 percent to 19 percent for member with family coverage.
At its Oct. 21-23 meeting in Jacksonville, FL, the board spent an entire afternoon examining the key tenets of the church’s Medical Plan. Those principles, which have been in effect for almost 20 years, include an emphasis on the entire community of plan members rather than on individuals in isolation, on minimizing coverage discrepancies based on the level of the member’s compensation, provisions that allow for equitable coverage of member couples and the mandated participation in the plan by all pastors serving congregations.
BOP directors discussed the continued viability of these core principles and what alternatives, if any, might be considered in the future.
The board’s Clergy Recruitment and Retention Task Force — which has been exploring how to strengthen the ministry of pastors in the PC(USA) — identified the need for continuing education opportunities to help build stronger “practical skills.”
The BOP approved creation of a pilot program with at least two presbyteries and/or synods that will provide matching grants to develop pastors’ skills in such areas as congregational leadership, strategic planning, financial management and conflict resolution.
Preliminary data through Sept. 30 show that the BOP’s investment portfolio has now reached $6 billion. The portfolio’s value has increased 3 percent for the year to date.
In other actions, the board:
- approved a special Assistance Program Christmas gift to each person receiving an income supplement as of Nov. 1 of $250 for each single person and $500 for each married couple. The income supplements and Christmas gifts (which were increased 25 percent this year) are funded primarily through the denomination’s Christmas Joy Offering;
- tentatively approved a plan to implement a 216th General Assembly-approved dues and benefits arrangement for a clergy couple in which each member is called on a part-time basis to the same church, thereby fulfilling the responsibilities previously served by one minister. The plan will be implemented as soon as its constitutionality is determined by the Advisory Committee on the Constitution;
- approved exploration of a small-scale pilot project similar to the CREDO program of the Episcopal Church, which provides clergy with the opportunity to retreat for a week to reflect on all personal aspects of their lives — spiritual, vocational, health and financial — and to support them in their future ministries.
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