Employee Benefits

What needs to be done?

• During the annual enrollment period this fall the employer will make available one or more of the Episcopal Church Medical Trust plans to every employee who is scheduled to work 1,500 or more hours per year in 2021 (a “qualified employee”).
• The employer will decide exactly how much the employer will pay toward the cost of health insurance, and that contribution will be the same for lay employees and members of the clergy. The exceptions are:

• • Clergy and qualified lay employees already employed on December 31, 2012, may keep the plan already negotiated as long as they stay in their same position at their current congregation. This is a “grandfather clause” for existing clergy.
  • If the employee desires to be insured by a spouse’s or partner’s employer-provided plan, the employee may choose to do so.
  • If the employee is insured by a government-sponsored plan, such as Medicaid or Tricare, the employee may choose to continue to do so. However, the employer cannot pay the premiums. See later section for insurance rates available to small employers with employees who have Medicare Part A.
  • If the employee wishes to remain covered under a previous employer’s group insurance plan, the employee may choose to do so (e.g., person with COBRA coverage or with retiree coverage provided by former employers).
  • The qualified employee decides whether or not to have family coverage through the Episcopal Church Medical Trust. The vestry will decide how much of the added family premium will be paid by the employee (always through pre-tax payroll deduction) and how much by the employer. Please remember that the same benefit is to be offered to all employees, lay or ordained, unless exempted as previously stated.

• Executive Council has approved an exemption from this health insurance requirement for school employees (i.e., someone who works exclusively with children of any age on weekdays in an educational setting), but at the same time urges you to provide this health insurance benefit.
• The employer needs to decide if it wants to offer the same dental insurance benefit to lay employees as it offers to members of the clergy. 
• The employer needs to determine which lay employees are scheduled to work at least 1,000 hours in 2021 and then contribute to an approved defined benefit pension plan or an approved defined contribution pension plan. When approving the budget, the employer needs to allot an amount equal to 9% of the salary cost of eligible lay employees for lay pension contributions.
• The employer will need to decide which life and disability insurance plans it wants to pay the premiums on for its ordained and lay employees (realizing that it is already required through the diocesan compensation standards to pay for diocesan-sponsored life insurance for eligible members of the clergy). The Pension Fund pays short-term disability premiums for active clergy for whom pension assessments are paid.

The rates for 2021 for dental insurance through Delta Dental are:

The diocesan minimum standard is that employers pay $579.60 for employee-only dental insurance. Although not mandated by General Convention, parity is ethically important as we provide benefits to lay and clergy employees. As guidance for the decision that your vestry will make, please note that the diocesan office pays an additional $460 for both its lay and clergy employees who desire family coverage.

Enrollment and termination for Delta Dental insurance is through the diocesan office, NOT online during the Medical Trust’s annual enrollment period.

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

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.