The diocese will offer three Medical Trust Health Insurance plans in 2021:
Name |
Employee-only coverage |
Family coverage |
Blue Cross Consumer Directed plan with HSA funding |
$10,240 |
$22,562 |
Blue Cross PPO 80/50 |
$9,768 |
$22,464 |
Blue Cross PPO 90/50 |
$10,788 |
$24,816 |
The diocesan minimum standard is that the employer pays the first $9,000 in insurance costs for employee-only coverage. Employees pay the difference for the plan that they choose, unless that local congregation has established a higher benefit that is available to all qualified employees, lay and ordained. For example, the standard in the diocesan office for its employees is that the office pays $9,000 toward the cost of employee-only coverage, or $15,400 toward the cost of family medical coverage, provided that coverage is under an Episcopal Church Medical Trust plan.
This diocese has an annual enrollment period in which employees already insured by the Episcopal Church Medical Trust go online and confirm the insurance coverage they wish to receive in 2021. The dates for 2020 are Oct. 28–Nov. 18.
Employees not already covered by Medical Trust plans must enroll through the diocesan office before December 24, 2020. For new enrollments, it is essential for employee data to have been entered in the church’s online Employee Roster (ER), a Church Pension Group database administered via your own church portal by someone authorized by your clergy or vestry. New insurance enrollments are not allowed for any employee without an existing ER record. For more information, contact Mary Jane Hodges at mjhodges@episcopalarkansas.org.
Life Insurance for Clergy
Clergy must sign up through the diocesan office for all group life insurance benefits described in this brochure.
Basic Coverage:
As long as clergy are active participants in the Clergy Pension Fund, and the employer is paying pension assessments to the Church Pension Fund, clergy are automatically enrolled for a life insurance benefit that is six times the cleric’s annual compensation, with a benefit cap of $150,000.
The diocese has an additional group life insurance policy through Church Life Insurance, which provides an additional $40,000 life insurance benefit for clergy whose employer is paying the premium (currently $25.20 per month). Letters of agreement mandate this employer-provided benefit.
Optional Coverage:
Compensated clergy may sign up at their own expense for supplemental life insurance coverage, including coverage for spouses.
For any supplemental coverage for either the cleric or the cleric’s spouse, the cleric must initially sign up for at least an additional $10,000 in life insurance coverage above the diocesan $40,000 life insurance benefit that is provided by the employer.
Church Life Insurance will provide quotes for premium costs upon request. Please contact the diocesan office for an initial discussion on how to proceed.
Disability Insurance for Clergy
Clergy must sign up through the diocesan office for all disability insurance benefits described in this brochure.
Basic Short-Term Disability Coverage:
As long as the employer pays pension assessments to the Church Pension Fund, clergy are automatically covered (after a fourteen-day elimination period) for up to 24 weeks of disability payments that equal 70% of their current weekly compensation, with a cap of $1,000 per week. If the disability is due to childbirth, benefits are available for 12 weeks (or longer if the disability continues), with no elimination period.
Basic Long-Term Disability Coverage:
Following 26 weeks of short-term disability, clergy remain covered for long-term disability payments for approved disabilities. The benefit is 70% of the cleric’s highest average compensation, as determined by the Church Pension Fund.
Optional Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Coverage:
To cover the gap between the clergy’s compensation prior to disability and the basic benefit, additional short-term disability coverage and long-term disability coverage are both offered, provided the employer has selected either or both types of disability plans. There are options that are paid by the employer and options that are paid by employees.
Clergy need to talk with their employer about any optional disability insurance programs that the employer may have chosen to offer.
Life Insurance for Lay Employees
Employees must sign up through the diocesan office for all group life insurance benefits described in this brochure.
Basic Life Insurance Coverage:
For lay employees who are enrolled in the Church Pension Fund Lay Defined Benefit pension plan, the employees are automatically enrolled for a life insurance benefit that is two times the employee’s annual earnings, with a benefit cap of $50,000.
Employees enrolled in the defined-contribution plan do NOT have this benefit.
Optional Employer-Provided Coverage:
The diocese has an additional group life insurance policy through Church Life Insurance, which provides an additional $40,000 life insurance benefit as long as the EMPLOYER pays the cost of the premium (currently $25.20 per month).
For any additional coverage for either the employee or the employee’s spouse, the employee must initially sign up for at least an additional $10,000 in life insurance coverage above the $40,000 life insurance basic insurance. The employee pays premiums through payroll deductions.
Church Life Insurance will provide quotes for premium costs upon request. Please contact the diocesan office for an initial discussion on how to proceed.
Disability Insurance for Lay Employees
Employees must sign up through the diocesan office for all disability insurance benefits described in this brochure.
Optional Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Coverage:
Short-term disability coverage and long-term disability coverage are both offered, provided the employer has selected either or both types of disability plans. There are options that are paid by the employer and options that are paid by employees.
Employees need to talk with their employer about any optional disability insurance programs that the employer may have chosen to offer.
The federal government provides a Medicare Secondary Payer Exemption for small employers. Under certain circumstances it allows Medicare Part A coverage to be primary, with employer-provided coverage to become secondary for hospital stays, resulting in lower Medical Trust premiums for employees who are on these specific plans. The two plans offered have benefits identical to the benefits of our standard plans.
The requirements of such plans are very specific: 1) The employee or the employee's spouse must be enrolled in Medicare Part A; and 2) the employer (that is, the local congregation) must never have more than 19 employees during a calendar year. For information on whether or not you meet these eligibility requirements, contact Mary Jane Hodges at mjhodges@episcopalarkansas.org.
2021 Medicare Secondary Payer Exception Rates
|
Employee only |
Family |
BCBS PPO 80/50 (age 65+) |
$7,908 |
$18,192 |
BCBS PPO 90/50 (age 65+) |
$8,724 |
$20,064 |
The diocesan standard for employees covered under this program is that the employer pays the first $9,000 in insurance costs for employee-only coverage. If the employer offers a higher benefit to its employees using the standard health insurance policies, it must offer the same benefit to employees who choose this Medicare Secondary Payer Exemption option.
Please note that an employer is not legally allowed to encourage or incentivize an employee to choose full Medicare coverage over employer-provided insurance plan.