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Date: March 30, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL: _CoBNews@AOL.Com_ (mailto:CoBNews@AOL.Com) 
 
 
 
CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN NEWSLINE
March 30, 2005
 
NEW RESOURCES CREATED IN EFFORT TO SAVE BRETHREN MEDICAL PLAN
 
March 30, 2005 (Elgin, IL) -- Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) is making new  
resources available as part of its effort to save the Brethren Medical Plan.
The  
plan is for Church of the Brethren pastors and church employees, district  
employees, and employees of Annual Conference agencies, and affiliated
agencies  
and institutions, and their families. 
 
A video addressing questions about the plan, a power point presentation on  
the history of the plan, information about Health Savings Accounts (HSAs),
and  
information about all of the Brethren Insurance Plans, are being made 
available  free of charge. BBT also has worked with the districts, agencies,
and 
Ministers'  Association to create an advisory panel for the plan, is training

advocates to  promote the plan in districts, and will begin providing HSAs in
2006.
 
The Brethren Medical Plan is in a "death spiral," a downward cyclical  
phenomenon caused by decreased membership and the erosion of a good spread of
 risk, 
increased health care costs, and increased premiums (see the Newsline of  
Dec. 3, 2004). With the agencies and in districts that have more than 75
percent  
participation among eligible pastors and staff, the premiums-to-claims ratio 
is  such that the plan should be able to survive, BBT reported. In districts 
where  there is less than 75 percent participation, the premiums-to-claims 
ratio is  such that, left unchecked, the plan could go bankrupt in several
years.
 
Revitalization of the Brethren Medical Plan will come through increased  
membership and a better spread of health risk. BBT has reinstated a
requirement  
of 75 percent participation among eligible congregations in each district,
for  
districts to continue in the plan. If a district does not have commitments 
from  its congregations by Aug. 31, 2006, to meet that goal, all church 
employees in  the district will be ineligible for the plan on Jan. 1, 2007.
BBT states 
that  the 75 percent requirement was part of the Brethren Medical Plan when 
it began  in the 1950s, but "fell by the wayside" in the early 1980s. "The
plan 
must  regain an appropriate spread of risk in order to continue," BBT said.
 
The video helps answer many questions about the Brethren Medical Plan,	
according to BBT's "Insurance Update" newsletter. It explains the benefits of
 
guaranteed group insurance coverage and the ramifications for pastors and
church	
employees if a district does not meet the 75 percent goal. The video
premiered 
 Feb. 2 during a meeting of BBT staff and the Council of District 
Executives.
 
BBT has begun training advocates to work in each district to promote the  
plan with congregations and church leaders. The advocates will use the new
video  
to help rebuild participation in the plan. A first group of seven advocates 
was  trained on March 7-8. As of March 17, 12 of the denomination's 23 
districts had  named advocates. More advocate trainings will be held in late
spring.
 
In addition, a Brethren Medical Plan Advisory Panel has been formed to	
create a high-deductible medical plan design using HSAs. The panel includes
one  
person each from the Pastoral Compensation and Benefits Advisory Committee (a
 
committee of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference), the Council of  
District Executives, the Ministers' Association, the Annual Conference
agencies,  
and BBT staff. The panel will hold its first meeting March 31. HSAs, which 
must  be used in conjunction with a high-deductible health plan, are "a way
to 
set  aside money for medical, dental, and vision care expenses not paid by an
 
insurance plan or a flexible spending account," BBT said in the newsletter. 
The  Brethren Medical Plan will begin implementing HSAs on Jan. 1, 2006.
 
An April 18 follow-up meeting between BBT and the Council of District  
Executives will be held in Richmond, Ind. It was requested by the district  
executives, BBT said, and will include members of BBT's board and staff, 
executives 
of the Annual Conference agencies, representatives of Annual  Conference, and

members of the Pastoral Compensation and Benefits Advisory  Committee. This 
summer the Brethren Medical Plan will be a major topic of  discussion at
Annual 
Conference in Peoria, Ill.
 
To order the video in DVD or VHS format, or to receive any other resource  
mentioned above, call 800-746-1505 ext. 374 or e-mail
_lpiatt_bbt@brethren.org_ 
(mailto:lpiatt_bbt@brethren.org) .
 
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to  
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its
faith  in 
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith  
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its
 300th 
anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United	
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the  
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.
 
# # #
 
For more information contact:
 
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church of the  Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120
847-742-5100  ext. 260
 
*****************************************************************
 
The Church of the Brethren Newsline is produced by Cheryl  Brumbaugh-Cayford,

director of news services for the Church of the Brethren  General Board. 
Newsline stories may be reprinted provided that Newsline is cited  as the
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