LISTSERV mailing list manager LISTSERV 16.0

Help for ELCANEWS Archives


ELCANEWS Archives

ELCANEWS Archives


ELCANEWS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG


View:

Message:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Topic:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Author:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

Font:

Proportional Font

LISTSERV Archives

LISTSERV Archives

ELCANEWS Home

ELCANEWS Home

ELCANEWS  March 2007

ELCANEWS March 2007

Subject:

ELCA Board of Pensions Proposes Wellness Plan in 2008

From:

[log in to unmask]

Reply-To:

[log in to unmask]

Date:

Fri, 2 Mar 2007 10:25:52 -0600

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (141 lines)

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 2, 2007  

ELCA Board of Pensions Proposes Wellness Plan in 2008
07-029-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Trustees of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) Board of Pensions approved a proposal to
move the church's health plan toward a wellness plan.  The
trustees met here Feb. 23-25 and took several actions, including
proposed plan amendments for 2008 that will put greater emphasis
on preventing illness and avoiding health risks.
     Proposed changes in the health plan include only one
preferred provider organization (PPO) benefits administrator --
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.  The plan would retain
Aetna Global Benefits for staff of ELCA Global Mission deployed
outside the United States but would discontinue using other Aetna
benefits programs.
     "We are moving in our plan to a churchwide single vendor for
the medical provider," said John G. Kapanke, president, ELCA
Board of Pensions.  The Board chose Blue Cross Blue Shield for
its "stronger discounts and greater coverage for all of our
members," he said.  "Looking at the match across all of the
states and the synods, we found that Blue Cross Blue Shield would
be the strongest vendor."
     The ELCA Board of Pensions is based in Minneapolis.  It
provides retirement, health and related benefits and services to
50,000 pastors and lay employees and their families.  It serves
nearly 11,000 congregations and other sponsoring ELCA
organizations.
     Mary S. Ranum, Circle Pines, Minn., trustee chair, said the
main purposes for the health plan changes are "to emphasize the
importance of our health and wellness initiative, and to design
our health program to encourage and support the healthy behaviors
of our members."
     "I'm very excited about the changes in our medical plan,"
Kapanke said.  "The move from a disease model to a wellness model
is a major step for this church in our emphasis on overall health
and wellness," he said.
     "I continue to believe the emphasis on health and wellness
for our leadership is one of the most critical strategic issues
for this church.  If we are successful in training and equipping
our leaders and our future leaders to be healthy leaders,"
Kapanke said, "this church will be stronger in the future."
     Among the health plan changes being proposed:
+ The plan will pay 100 percent for in-network preventive
services, instead of 100 percent of costs up to $550 and 90
percent of costs more than $550.
+ Members and spouses will each have an opportunity to earn a
$300 wellness reward by participating in health-improvement
activities.
+ The individual annual deductible will increase from $350 to
$600.  The family deductible will also increase accordingly.
     The health-improvement activities begin with plan members
and spouses taking a confidential health risk assessment the
Board has offered through the Mayo Clinic, Kapanke said.  Other
rewards are earned by following through on personalized
recommendations on how to avoid health risks, he said.
     If at least 75 percent of plan members in any of the ELCA's
65 synods participate in the health risk assessment, the
organizations sponsoring the members in that synod may receive a
2 percent discount in the cost of health care coverage in 2008,
Kapanke said.  Sponsoring organizations are congregations or
employers that pay a salary percentage toward the member's plan.
     "As a self-employed individual without these benefits, I am
almost envious of the opportunity that this plan offers," T. Van
Matthews, Simpsonville, S.C., told the trustees' products and
services committee, which he chairs.  "In my world, there seems
to be only one incentive that the insurer considers and that is
to simply raise rates," he said.
     "No one has ever called me with a concern about my health
risk assessment.  It is so good for our members to know that
their employer cares and has a real reason to be interested in
their health for all the right reasons," Matthews said.
     "We have worked over the past number of years to move to a
division of costs of 80 percent that the sponsoring organizations
pay and 20 percent that our members pay through their co-pays and
the other elements of the plan," said Ranum.  "That is certainly
appropriate and consistent with what is happening in the broader
health insurance market," she said.
     The ELCA Church Council must approve health plan changes the
trustees proposed.  The council meets here April 14-16.  It acts
as the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative
authority of the church between biennial churchwide assemblies.
     The ELCA Conference of Bishops will review the proposal when
it meets March 1-6 in Galveston, Texas.  The conference is an
advisory body of the church, consisting of the ELCA's 65 synod
bishops, presiding bishop and secretary.

Kapanke reelected, 2006 investments impressive, kudos for audits
     In other action the trustees unanimously elected Kapanke to
another four-year term as president.  His new term will end Sept.
30, 2011.
     "When I announced John's reelection I said it was with great
pleasure.  That is indeed true," Ranum said.  "John is a highly
skilled, committed leader, and we have every confidence in his
abilities to lead the Board of Pensions.  He understands the
relationship of the Board of Pensions to the ELCA," she said.
     "It's an honor to serve this church and the Board and a
wonderful board of trustees," Kapanke said.
     Kapanke is a 1969 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-La
Crosse, and he holds an honorary doctorate of humane letters from
Newberry College, Newberry, S.C.  Newberry is one of 28 colleges
and universities of the ELCA.
     He worked as a financial analyst for Aid Association for
Lutherans, Appleton, Wis.  In 1973 he joined the Board of
Pensions of the former Lutheran Church in America (LCA),
Minneapolis, and served as senior vice president for investments.
     When the LCA merged with the American Lutheran Church and
the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in 1987, Kapanke
became president of the new ELCA Board of Pensions.  He's a
member of Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, an ELCA
congregation.
     Trustees also reviewed the 2006 performance returns for
funds in the ELCA Retirement Plan, in which returns were nearly
double long-term expectations for several asset classes.  "We
reviewed the 2006 investment results, and they were very strong,"
Ranum said.  "We have just about the best investment staff and
investment management process that exists," she said.
     The ELCA Board of Pensions trustees are fiduciaries in the
management of $7.2 billion in assets.  Of that behind-the-scenes
work, Ranum added that one of the unsung heroes is the trustees'
audit committee.  Although the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
does not apply to the Board, she said the audit committee has
kept it in compliance with the accounting and reporting standards
required of public companies.
     "That provides security for our members, to know that we are
being very careful about our fiduciary responsibilities to them,"
Ranum said.
-- -- --
     The home page of the ELCA Board of Pensions is at
http://www.ELCAbop.org/ on the Web.
     Audio of comments by John G. Kapanke, president, ELCA Board
of Pensions, is at http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/070302.mp3 on
the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog

Top of Message | Previous Page | Permalink

Advanced Options


Options

Log In

Log In

Get Password

Get Password


Search Archives

Search Archives


Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Subscribe or Unsubscribe


Archives

May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
November 2018
October 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
March 2002
February 2002
January 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
September 2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February 2001
January 2001
December 2000
November 2000
October 2000
September 2000
August 2000
July 2000
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
January 2000
December 1999
November 1999
October 1999
September 1999
August 1999
July 1999
June 1999
May 1999
April 1999
March 1999
February 1999
January 1999
December 1998
November 1998
October 1998
September 1998
August 1998
July 1998
June 1998
May 1998
April 1998
March 1998
February 1998
January 1998
December 1997
November 1997
October 1997
September 1997
August 1997
July 1997
June 1997
May 1997
April 1997
March 1997
February 1997
January 1997
December 1996
November 1996
October 1996
September 1996
August 1996
July 1996
June 1996
May 1996
April 1996
March 1996
February 1996
January 1996

ATOM RSS1 RSS2



LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG

CataList Email List Search Powered by the LISTSERV Email List Manager