Title: ELCA Council Hears Health Plan Report on 'Sharing' Principle
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 21, 1999

ELCA COUNCIL HEARS HEALTH PLAN REPORT ON 'SHARING' PRINCIPLE
99-107-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The health plan for nearly 16,000 pastors and
lay employees of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is
based on a principle of "sharing" that may or may not be served by the
plan's current rate structure.  John G. Kapanke, president of the ELCA
Board of Pensions, Minneapolis, told the ELCA Church Council the board
wants to bring the plan's rates in line with its principles.
     The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the
legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies.  The
council met here April 9-12.  Assemblies are held every other year; the
next is August 16-22 in Denver.
     With $4.8 billion under management, the nonprofit Board of
Pensions provides pension, health and other benefits for the ELCA's
clergy, lay employees and their families.
     Congregations and other units of the ELCA contribute to the
benefit coverage according to a percentage of their sponsored members'
salaries.  The perception has been that congregations with larger
budgets are "subsidizing" the plans of those serving congregations with
smaller budgets, said Kapanke.
     The cost of health care in an area may be more of a factor in
determining who subsidized who than the size of a congregation's budget,
when the principle of "sharing" is practiced, Kapanke said.  All
congregations pay the same health benefit rates, whether or not they
reside in areas where medical costs are low or high.
     Sometimes that means small congregations in low-cost areas are
subsidizing large congregations in high-cost areas, said Kapanke.  He
called that an "unintended result" and said the Board of Pensions is
studying whether a "geographic pricing structure" would be more fair and
competitive.
     It's important also that the ELCA health plan be fair and
competitive while addressing issues of cost-sharing, Kapanke explained.
     Kapanke reported to the council on meetings Board of Pensions
representatives had with the ELCA's 65 synod bishops.  He called this a
"very valuable process" for both the Board and the bishops.
     The bishops affirmed the board in its work to "strengthen one
another in mission," said Kapanke.  They supported strongly the
principle of interdependence, saying synods and congregations must look
beyond themselves and look to what's good for this church as a whole.
     Bishops understand the significance of the issues confronting the
Board of Pensions, Kapanke said, and that to address these issues some
change may be necessary.
     Kapanke said later the principle of sharing is articulated in the
ELCA's Constitution:  "This church shall seek to function as people of
God through congregations, synods, and the churchwide organization, all
of which shall be interdependent.  Each part, while fully the church,
recognizes that it is not the whole church and therefore lives in a
partnership relationship with the others."


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