Title: Pension Board Merges Retiree Medical
Plan
March 6, 1996
PENSION BOARD MERGES RETIREE MEDICAL PLANS
(50 lines)
96-04-011-RK
MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The Evangelical
Lutheran Church inAmerica's Board of
Pensions trustees approved amendments to its
Medical and Dental Benefits Plan that will
incorporate three separate retiree medical
plans. The retiree plans date back to
before 1987 and the merger of the American
Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in
America and the Association of Evangelical
Lutheran Churches into the ELCA.
Carolyn S. Nestingen, who chairs the
board's benefits committee, said, "The
changes will make all plans more consistent
and easily administered with Medicare."
The proposed changes, which now go to
the ELCA Church Council, would give all plan
members access to the same benefits and
contribution rates. The way these medical
plans have been subsidized for retirees
would remain unchanged.
At its quarterly meeting here Feb.
10-11 the trustees also discussed strategy
issues for implementing the
pension/investment changes approved by the
ELCA Church Council. These changes include
moving the bond and balanced funds to daily
market values and investment strategies that
would ensure implementation on Jan. 1, 1997.
Currently funds are credited based on a
five-year average.
Pensions Board President John Kapanke
said the Jan. 1 date was the earliest the
pension/investment changes could be
implemented. "While we would like to make
the changes sooner, we need to wait until
Jan. 1 to allow time to update our pension
systems and to coordinate with annual
pension adjustments that occur on that
date," Kapanke added.
In other action the ELCA Board of
Pensions trustees:
* Approved technical amendments to four
ELCA pension funds, readying them for the
new plan going into effect Jan. 1, 1997.
Included were the addition of a money market
fund and the renaming of the "equity" funds
to "stock" funds.
* Heard a report that Pensions Board
investments have averaged 13.95 percent
gains over the last five years (period
ending Nov. 30, 1995), adding 0.37 percent
in value over the benchmarks.
* Received an update on status of
legislation supported by the Church
Alliance, an association of 30
denominational pensions boards. Regarding
the Church Retirement Benefits
Simplification Act (HR 528 and S 881), the
board affirmed its position that pensions
designated as housing allowance for the
retired pastor should not be subject to
self-employment tax.
* Noted that last year the number of
active plan participants increased by 88 to
14,218, though the number of members waiving
medical coverage rose to 871.
For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir.,
ELCA News Service, (312) 380-2058; Frank
Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia
Christiansen, Asst. Dir., (312) 380-2956
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