The crisis of uninsured ministers in the state may not be as widespread as many believe, but the need was enough to prompt the appointment of a four-member panel to look for ways to help.
While a recent survey did not indicate a “crisis of uninsured ministers” in South Carolina, the high cost of health coverage continues to be a primary concern for many.At an April 9 meeting of the administrative committee of the South Carolina Baptist Convention Executive Board, David Dinkins, who chairs that committee, named Joe Seay (chairman), Ken Reid and Rebecca Williams to join him to look into the rising costs of healthcare and health insurance – and the financial pinch some churches feel as a result.
The convention’s executive director-treasurer, Jim Austin, has called health care for pastors and church staff a “growing concern in our state, and we must find ways to help with this issue.”
Of the approximately 550 ministers responding to a survey of all ministers conducted by the subcommittee, about 84 percent had some type of insurance. Of the 16 percent without insurance, many had access to insurance but chose not to have it.
It was this finding that led to the conclusion that the insurance crisis may be limited to a smaller number of ministers than first thought.
Still, feedback from the survey did indicate that many ministers are troubled by the high cost of insurance premiums and the out-of-pocket expenses that also are high.
The subcommittee concluded there are four options that could possibly be beneficial to ministers in addition to the conventional GuideStone plans that are used by about a third of SCBC pastors. The options include cost-sharing plans, professional employment organizations (PEOs), the South Carolina Health Cooperative, and the GuideStone Associational Plan.
The panel also suggested that pastors and their churches consider high-deductible plans, flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts as ways to ease the cost of insurance coverage.
In appointing the subcommittee and serving on it, Dinkins made it clear that responsibility and intent of the subcommittee is not to “advise, suggest, endorse or recommend in any way, any particular plan or option” but rather to provide information that might be considered as individuals “explore the options available to them pertaining to healthcare.”
For a detailed summary of the committee’s findings, visit http://www.scbaptist.org/link/healthcarefindingsreport.htm or contact Bill Collins, human resource director for the SCBC, at billcollins@scbaptist.org or 1-800-723-7242. – SCBC