Walking Together—Why It's Important to Support
the Concordia Health Plan

The New Testament Christians viewed all they had as a trust from God. They also understood what it meant to “walk together.” They shared what they had with one another and those who had more would sell their possessions and give the proceeds to those needing assistance. (Acts 2:44-45)

A form of that early Christian church principle of walking together is alive in the benefit programs administered by Concordia Plan Services. To make it work, we all have to join together in one healthcare plan—the Concordia Health Plan.

Why is it important for LCMS employers to join The Church’s Plan?
“The continuing stability and longevity of LCMS benefits is based on LCMS employers choosing to join and offer The Church’s Plan, which includes the Concordia Health Plan,” according to Paul Middeke. Because the Concordia Health Plan is self-funded (essentially meaning that the insurance companies we use write checks from our bank account to pay the claims of CHP members), greater participation by employers and workers means more financial security for the Plan now and in the years to come.

The CHP in not just another insurance alternative
The LCMS has designed our health plan to consider needs of Church workers, which we believe are important so we can “walk together.” The CHP:

• Guarantees access to health care for all LCMS workers—no matter their age, gender, or health status. (Insurance companies often price “unhealthy” workers out of their plans or won’t even enroll them.)
• Uses a community rating structure (see below for more information) to keep the cost of health care stable over the long term. (Insurance companies base their rates on the age/gender and health status ratings of workers.)
• Offers product advantages, such as allowing full-time students to participate in the Plan until age 27 and permitting enrolled surviving dependents of deceased workers to remain in the Plan. (Insurance companies generally end dependent eligibility at age 23 or 24 and don’t allow surviving dependents to remain in their plans.)

Why we’ve chosen a different model called community rating
The community rating structure used under the Concordia Health Plan is a different way to determine the rates employers pay for their workers’ coverage. It means that all LCMS employers pay essentially the same rate for each worker enrolled in the CHP—varying only by geographic location and the Plan options they choose.

To better explain this concept, let’s look at an example. The chart below shows sample annual rates charged for two potential workers under the Concordia Health Plan versus an insurance company’s small group or individual medical plan.

*Option B, "average cost area, single coverage
** "Typical" small group insurance plan, comparable coverage

As you see in this example, the community rating means that an LCMS employer pays one rate for each worker—not based on the age/gender or health status ratings of that worker. In the long term, this is a significant advantage to LCMS employers: Your workers will be guaranteed access to health care and the rate you pay will not dramatically increase regardless of a worker’s age or health status.

Of course, in a community rating structure, there may be times when employers pay more than what their workers are “using” through benefits, but those contributions are going toward benefits for LCMS workers in neighboring cities, towns, or suburbs. And, when an employer’s workers use more benefits—for example, through high medical expenses or disabilities—other employers will be doing their part to help. We’ll “walk together.”