Governance news posted Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Letter to Diocese from Clergy Salaries and Pensions
TO: Presbyters and Bishops in the Diocese of Pennsylvania, Church House Staff
FROM: Daniell Hamby, Chair Clergy Salaries and Pensions
RE: Good News about 2012 Health and Welfare Benefits for the Diocese of Pennsylvania!
The Commission on Clergy Salaries and Pensions (CSP) will soon be sending you information about the health benefits that will be available for 2012, and their associated premiums. The details will be coming in the next several weeks so that you can plan accordingly. As chairperson of CSP, I am excited about the forthcoming changes, and I want to give you a sneak preview!
The big news is that the Diocese has selected the Episcopal Church Medical Trust (ECMT) to be the provider of the health and welfare benefits for active clergy and eligible lay employees. We will be joining over 90 other dioceses that have been using ECMT for medical coverage for many years to cover over 16,000 clergy and lay employees and dependents.
CSP has spent months evaluating our current benefit programs experience, expected price increases and administrative capabilities. We have also studied the plan offerings, and pricing, of the ECMT programs and have decided that we will be very well served by joining the majority of our fellow Episcopal clergy and lay employees. We have received excellent feedback from other dioceses regarding the quality and service of these programs, and are confident that the ECMT will serve us all very well.
For 2012, we will likely be offering four medical benefit plans for active employees and pre-65 retirees that use the national Blue Cross Blue Shield provider network and provide excellent coverage through a health provider network that is almost 100% the same as the Independence Blue Cross and Keystone networks. The benefits plan designs are very comparable to our current plans. The medical plans include behavioral health and vision coverage from market-leading venders,. We will be offering an enhanced prescription drug plan and two dental plan options (one providing orthodontia coverage).
We will offer a high option PPO (similar to personal choice) with in and out of network coverage, and two EPOs that are comparable to our HMO plan offerings. An EPO – like our HMOs provides network provider access without requirements for a primary care provider or referrals. Lastly, we will be adding a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) option with an employer-subsidized health savings account. Retirees benefits stay the same, except for a change in the dental plan provider. More details to come.
The commission is busy working with ECMT to work through the details of our implementation and communications plan so that our transition is smooth and effortless. We will be providing extensive information on the plan choices and costs, and will be holding a number of regional meetings and electronic webinars or conference calls so that you can get your questions answered. We are committed to working with you through the transition and enrollment to make sure that everything works well.
At this point, there is one thing you will need to be working on so that you can move into the new program effortlessly. Before the end of the year, your church will need to begin accruing for one month’s of additional medical premiums so that we can transition from our current unique process of paying for our insurance in arrears to paying prospectively as virtually every other organization does. That is, CSP has historically been advance paying all of the premiums by the first of a month, then billing the churches and collecting the premiums during the month. Virtually every other organization pays for the month of coverage before the month begins. We will be doing a one-time adjustment so that we align with everyone else. This may present a small cash flow challenge for some churches, and CSP will work with those organizations to ensure that the transition can happen smoothly. More details will be forthcoming, but be assured that CSP will work with you through this change.
Lastly, for the remainder of 2011 – you should continue to use your benefits as you are now. The plans, programs and procedures remain the same, until we advise otherwise.
We are excited about the new programs and direction. We will be sending frequent communications, and you will be able to get updates and current status on our website at mydiopabenefits.org.
If you have pressing questions about the our new insurance plan, you may email Marc Andonian ( ), Tom Wand ( ) or me ()
