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Date: May 13, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN	NEWSLINE
May 13, 2005

Brethren Benefit Trust board approves Health  Savings Accounts

May 13, 2005 (Elgin, IL) -- Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, the  Brethren
Medical Plan will feature a new way for members to  manage
healthcare expenses through Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).  The
Brethren Medical Plan is a program of Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT),
a  Church of the Brethren agency. The plan is for pastors,
congregational	employees, district employees, denominational agency
employees, and their  families.

Originally approved in concept by the BBT board in Nov. 2003,  the
move to offer HSA plan designs in 2006 is another step to  stabilize
the plan in the wake of escalating medical costs, an aging  employee
group, and a declining membership base.

HSAs are a pre-tax  way to set aside money for medical, dental, and
vision care expenses not paid  by an insurance plan or flexible
spending account. Unused funds in an account  carry over from year
to year and are not forfeited. The HSA belongs to the  employee, so
when employment terminates, the employee keeps the account.  HSAs
must be used in conjunction with high-deductible health plans.
These  plans must have a deductible of at least $1,000 for an
individual or $2,000  for a family; deductibles may not exceed
$5,000 per individual, $10,000 per  family. The HSAs will be used in
conjunction with the existing PPO networks  in the Brethren Medical
Plan. An indemnity option will be available for those  without
access to PPO networks.

On April 22, the board approved two  HSA plan designs, an option
with a $3,000 individual/$6,000 family	deductible, and an option
with a $4,000 individual/$8,000 family deductible.  These were
crafted in late March and recommended to the board by the  Brethren
Medical Plan's Interim Advisory Panel of representatives from  the
Pastoral Compensation and Benefits Advisory Committee, the
Ministers'  Association, the Council of District Executives, the
Annual Conference  agencies, and BBT. 

The board is recommending a minimum annual employer  contribution of
$500 for employees with individual healthcare coverage,  $1,000 for
employees with family coverage. The maximum contribution to  HSAs
allowed in 2005 is the lesser of the deductible or $2,650  per
individual or $5,250 per family. Employees 55 and older will be
able  to contribute an additional $700 in 2006. The board also
approved a $300  benefit for preventive care.

The board's approval of the HSA plan came  four days after 16 BBT
board members and staff representatives met with 35  denominational
leaders to discuss the future of the Brethren Medical  Plan.
Following the board's April 16-17 meetings in Elgin, Ill., where  a
decision regarding HSAs was temporarily tabled, the BBT contingent
met  for seven hours on April 18 in Richmond, Ind.,with most of the
district  executives, four of five executives of Annual Conference
agencies, Conference  moderator and moderator-elect, and
representatives of the Pastoral  Compensation and Benefits Advisory
Committee.

The meeting came at the  invitation of the district executives in
response to a decision made by the  BBT board that districts with
less than 75 percent of eligible congregations	committed to
participating in the Brethren Medical Plan by Jan. 1, 2007, will  no
longer be able to participate unless they subsequently meet  the
participation requirement. The return to the 75 percent
requirement,  which was in place 50 years ago when congregations and
districts first joined	the plan, was approved in an attempt to
increase the spread of risk and bring  claims in line with premiums.
In 2003 and 2004 the plan suffered $1.4 million  in losses; in 2005
the plan is being subsidized by BBT and Mennonite Mutual  Aid. 

The April 18 meeting discussed the future viability of the  Brethren
Medical Plan, BBT's plan to implement HSAs in 2006, the  struggle
congregations have in balancing their support for the plan with  the
pressures of stewardship and saving by purchasing their own  health
insurance, a proposed system to allow some pastors and church  staff
to have group health insurance while others will not, a concern  for
those who will be uninsurable without the plan, what the
participation  requirement will do to the future calling of pastors
across the denomination,  and the process by which the board adopted
the 75 percent participation  requirement.

As the meeting drew to a close, many voices did give  general
support for one plan of action--that a Brethren Medical  Plan
resolution be taken to the 2005 Annual Conference for discussion
and  to receive denominational direction regarding the future of the
plan,  reported BBT.

Following the April 18 meeting, the board reconvened April  22 via
conference call to address the items it had tabled. It	then
approved the new HSA plan designs, the recommended  minimum
contribution by employers to employees' HSAs, and the  preventive
care benefit. In a related move, the board during its April  16
meeting approved dropping prescription drugs from its  Medicare
Supplement Plan effective Jan. 1, 2006. This decision was  made
because Medicare will offer a prescription drug plan, which  means
those who do not want to be part of a prescription drug plan  should
see premium savings within the Church of the Brethren  Medicare
Supplement Plan.

Because of the complexity of HSAs and the  possibility that high
deductibles could lead church staff initially to  believe that their
out-of-pocket costs will be greater than they have been,  BBT staff
have trained district-appointed Brethren Medical Plan advocates  and
equipped them with resources and information about HSAs.  Some
advocates are scheduling district meetings with BBT staff in  an
attempt to further clarify the benefits of moving to HSAs.

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
cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org

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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
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