ELCA Board Of Pensions Trustees Discuss Health Plan Options

MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Trustees of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) Board of Pensions approved concepts for
the ELCA medical and dental benefits plan design for 2006 that
would make all services subject to a deductible and coinsurance.
Trustees met here Nov. 5-7 and discussed the proposal, which
would move member-employer cost sharing from a 17-83 percent
split in 2005 to a 19-81 percent split in 2006 and to 22-78
percent in 2007.
"National health plan surveys have shown significant
shifting of costs from employers to employees in recent years,"
said Bradley J. Joern, director of health products for the
pension unit. The Board hopes to increase "opportunities for our
members to engage in the process of making the most
cost-effective health-care choices," he said.
Board staff told trustees that research had been conducted
to see how proposed cost-sharing plans compared to similar plans
of other employers, using the public education profession as a
reasonable comparison to the pastoral profession. Joern said
staff sought plan design and funding information from public
school districts located in the 30 of the ELCA's 65 synods with
the highest sponsored membership.
"Our analysis shows that on a combined basis, school
teachers/administrators pay approximately 32 percent of the cost
of coverage through plan design and contributions," Joern said,
adding that responses were received from 36 school districts in
22 of the 30 synods.
The Board continues its focus on healthy leaders and
wellness. Trustees learned that one in five of the ELCA's pastors
and professional lay ministers report a desire to change their
behavior as shown by the Mayo Clinic health risk assessment taken
early in 2004.
Those who desire change want "to exercise more, to eat
better and to lose weight," said the Rev. Ronald T. Glusenkamp,
vice president of church/sponsor relations for the pension unit.
He said the ELCA Board of Pensions will launch goal setting and
resolutions for 2005 "that are embodied in the acronym SMART:
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Trackable."
Glusenkamp said the Board's 2005 focus on wellness will be
increased physical activity and decreased caloric intake. The
health assessment will be offered again to plan members from Jan.
6 to March 13.
For some this may be the first assessment; for others, it
will offer an opportunity to compare to where they were a year
ago, Glusenkamp reported. He said 10,700 people are now
registered on the Web site -- http://www.elcaforwellness.org --
which offers resources from Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
As part of its wellness campaign, the Board of Pensions
hired a wellness coordinator in October 2004 to provide health
promotion and education to ELCA members. Tammy L. Devine is a
nurse and diaconal minister, and she will be available on request
to assist synods and institutions with their health and wellness
goals.
The trustees approved a 2005 budget of $63.5 million -- $44
million of which is for administrative costs. The new budget
holds administrative costs to 1.25 percent more than projected
costs for the previous year. The trustees also expressed support
for budget projections for 2006 and 2007.
The trustees will meet next Feb. 25-27 in Chicago and will
hear more specific details on the 2006 health plan design.
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The home page of the ELCA Board of Pensions is at
http://www.elcabop.org on the Web.

*Sonia C. Solomonson is managing editor for The Lutheran, the
magazine of the ELCA.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news