President Obama’s re-election virtually guarantees that his signature health care reform law, passed in 2010, will continue moving toward implementation over the coming four years.
Meanwhile, GuideStone Financial Resources continues working toward applying the provisions of the law, while remaining an active part of a coalition of large and historic denominational church health plan providers advocating on behalf of ministers and other participants served by church plans, said GuideStone president O.S. Hawkins.
“We are continuing our efforts to aggressively pursue legislative and regulatory relief. We recognize that many religious organizations, including some in our own Baptist family, have chosen to pursue litigation to challenge aspects of the law,” referencing various lawsuits that challenge components of the law, including the abortion/contraceptive mandate, which requires religious organizations to cover plans that cover abortion-causing drugs. “At this time, GuideStone has chosen to work with legislators and regulators to address the concerns of church health plans, but we are closely monitoring the lawsuits as they make their way through the court system.”
Church health plans have existed for more than a century but were left out of the formulation of the health care law. Among the issues to be addressed with regulators and Congress is the issue of premium credit assistance for plan participants. At this point, participants in self-funded church plans, like those offered by GuideStone and other major denominations, are not eligible for this assistance that will become available to participants in secular plans in 2014.
Much of the buzz around the health care reform law centers on 2014. That remains a pivotal year; various requirements do not become effective until then, so many fixes or legislative changes remain options prior to that. – GuideStone