In July, 2007 Mennonite Church delegates approved a resolution that said that “As a denomination, we are committed in principle to providing basic health insurance for all eligible pastors. (And) we request the Executive Board to oversee the development and implementation of a plan whereby all congregations of Mennonite Church USA participate together in an arrangement that covers all of our pastors with basic health insurance.”

This action grew out of the Healthcare Access Initiative that was authorized by the Atlanta 2003 Delegate Assembly. This four year process resulted in a variety of resources and recommendations including the proposal that resulted in this action taken by delegates at San Jose.

In 2 Corinthians 8-9 Paul challenged the church in Macedonia and Corinth to share their material resources with the believers in Jerusalem. He urged the Corinthians to follow through on what they had previously pledged to contribute.

Paul organized an international mutual aid effort. He built on the connection and interdependence within the Body of Christ and called for a “fair balance” between congregations that were geographically and culturally far from one another.

Healthcare access needs of Mennonite pastors

There are big disparities in access to healthcare among pastors of Mennonite Church USA congregations. Some have comprehensive health insurance to use if they have health needs; others have no health insurance for themselves or their families. Some congregations have abundant resources to provide comprehensive health insurance; other congregations cannot provide this benefit. Consider these examples.

• Pastors in vibrant, growing R/E Mennonite congregations in Florida, Southern California, Oregon, Texas, Philadelphia and elsewhere go without any health insurance for themselves or their families.
• A pastor in Kansas has been called to serve a congregation in Idaho but because of a pre-existing health condition, he is concerned that he and his family will not be able to find a health insurance provider willing to cover them.
• A pastor in Oklahoma recently incurred medical bills of more than $250,000. These expenses were covered because he participates in the insurance plan currently provided for Mennonite Church USA pastors. He is grateful for this assistance and is slowly regaining his health and continuing his ministry. Imagine what his situation would have been like if he would not have had health insurance? And it will be difficult for him to find insurance if he is called to serve an area where he could not access a group church plan.
• A pastor in southern California who does not have health insurance, was recently tested for prostate cancer. Thankfully, the tests were negative. What would he have done if the tests had been positive? Another pastor in LA reported to us that he is forgoing medical tests because he has no insurance and cannot afford them on his own.
• A Hispanic pastor and his family in Dallas struggles with repaying a large healthcare debt as the consequence of not having health insurance

The delegates at San Jose said that it is not acceptable to have pastors who are facing this degree of vulnerability. They agreed that the wider church is responsible to assist congregations who cannot provide health insurance for their pastors.

The delegates were persuaded that we can make healthcare more equitably available to all of our pastors and church workers IF WE DO IT TOGETHER.

Some delegates also saw how this effort could address our anti-racism priority. The fact that most of those pastors who are without insurance are racial / ethnic pastors, compromises our church’s commitment to anti-racism. Being sure that all of our pastors have access to healthcare is a tangible step in the direction of addressing the disparity in material resources available to pastors and congregations in our church.

Sources of the problem with healthcare access

Why are there somewhere between 80-100 Mennonite Church USA pastors without health insurance and even more at risk of losing the insurance they have? Most health insurance companies exclude people with certain pre-existing health conditions to hold down costs. If you or someone in your family have or have had cancer, diabetes, a heart problem, or are overweight or a growing list of other health issues, you will find it very difficult to get insurance as an individual.

Group plans that do not exclude anyone for health reasons typically cost more than individual plans to healthy people to pay for the higher claims that come from people with known health risks. This is why many businesses that provide group plans are passing on more of the cost to their employees

How does this affect how we provide health insurance for pastors? The Covenant Mutual Benefit Plan (COMB) currently provides health insurance for pastors and other church employees in ten area conferences. The plan is serving the congregations and pastors that are covered by it and is financially strong, but only about 20% of MC USA congregations are currently involved and participation has slowly declined. Broader participation is needed to keep the plan strong and viable.

The decline in participation in COMB is largely due to the cost involved in a group plan that does not exclude anyone with health issues. A congregation with a healthy pastor can probably find an individual plan for their pastor that costs less than COMB, or most any other group plan. When congregations leave the group plan, the cost becomes even higher for those congregations and pastors that have no other option. And if a congregation is not able to provide health insurance for their pastor, either because of cost or because their pastor has known health risks, he or she may be forced to go without any insurance coverage.

Those without health insurance tend to delay tests and treatments until a medical condition becomes more costly to treat; they access emergency rooms for needs that are not emergencies; they access free clinics and other free services that provide limited services; they may have medical costs that they can’t cover and be forced into bankruptcy – medical costs are the single largest cause of bankruptcies in the US.

Broad participation will strengthen the plan

This is why broad participation is needed to ensure that all pastors serving Mennonite Church USA congregations will have adequate access to healthcare through basic health insurance. With broad participation of congregations and other organizations, the plan will be stronger and more sustainable.

Congregations that currently have no or little insurance expense because their pastor is covered by his or her spouse’s insurance all need to participate. Pastors that can be covered by a spouse’s plan, or another group plan, will not be required to leave that coverage, but these congregations that currently have very little or no cost in providing insurance for their pastors will be asked to help provide insurance for pastors in other congregations who have pre-existing conditions and those currently without health insurance – a tangible form of mutual aid.

In the future; if this congregation has a pastor who does not have access to a spouse’s plan, or has a known health risk, they will be able to access the churchwide insurance plan. This way, known health risks will not be a factor in whom a congregation would call to be their pastor.

Some may ask why they should share in the cost of providing insurance for pastors of other congregations who have pre-existing conditions and those who cannot get insurance.

Might some in Corinth have wondered why they should be concerned about the Jerusalem believers? “Why should we give to the needs of those on the other side of the Mediterranean when we have lots of needs here at home?”

How does the challenge Paul gave to Christians in Corinth nearly 2000 years ago apply to us? How do Paul’s words about a “fair balance” apply to us? Are we being called to respond to the needs of Mennonite pastors who are in need of better access to healthcare?

Equity and fair balance

In his call for equity, Paul says “it is a question of fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need.” In Paul’s view, the benefits of generosity are reciprocal. Paul says that the Corinthians will gain something in return from the believers in Jerusalem.

As those parts of Mennonite Church USA that has material resources opens its heart to assist congregations and pastors with less than abundant resources, might we all be enriched in ways that we can’t quite imagine?

In concluding his challenge in 2 Corinthians 9 Paul says: “The point is this, the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully… You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity which will produce thanksgiving to God…”

Several times in 2 Corinthians 8-9 Paul stresses that he is not telling the Corinthians what to do. He wants their contribution to be voluntary; he wants them to want to contribute to the needs of the Jerusalem believers.

“It is appropriate not only for you to do something but for you to desire to do something.” And again he writes: “each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Becoming the kind of church God is calling us to be

This project is about more than health insurance for pastors. It is about becoming the kind of church God is calling us to be. It is about living out Paul’s vision for the church, the Body of Christ.

We are sometimes asked why we are only working on providing health insurance for pastors. Shouldn’t be concerned about others in our congregations that are without insurance?

Yes, we should be concerned about others who do not have adequate access to healthcare. This effort to provide for our pastors is where the delegates thought we should start, but if we can make this effort work, we need to extend our efforts to include everyone.

Also, ensuring that all of our pastors have access to health care is an investment in the leadership of our congregations. By ensuring that our pastors are as healthy as possible we help our congregations be strong and healthy.

This project involves a renewed commitment to mutual aid, sharing risk, healthy pastors and healthy congregations. It invites us to take modest but tangible steps toward greater justice, fair balance and anti-racism. It provides an opportunity for different parts of the church to exchange gifts with each other.

May God guide our response to the opportunities before us.