# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2007_S99
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

SYNOD REPORTS 99

7. Community rating assures access to all eligible employers at
rates that are based on the overall health of the community pool.
Community rating will have less potential influence on the call
process than demographic/experience rating.

8. While insurance brokers/agents can offer a far greater number
of coverage options, the CHP offers six coverage options that
should provide the individual employer adequate selection to
meet their budget, yet provide appropriate protection for their
employees.

9. CPS’s ability to individually consult with 6,000 employers
(mostly small congregations) on the best ways to adopt the Con-
cordia Plans within a total compensation benefit strategy, is cum-
bersome at best.

Key Directional Decisions—Based on the Focus Groups’ Input

1. Community rating provides significant advantages to the Synod.
2. CHP needs to take aggressive steps to improve the health of the
community pool, which will result in lower rates for all in the
community:
¢ Increase the size of the community pool by
i. Using The Church’s Plan to increase participation, and
ii. Communicate the benefits to the LCMS of “Walking To-
gether.”

¢ Improve the health of the community pool by

i. Eliminating the anti-selection caused by allowing dual
choice.

ii. Appropriately price all coverage options to eliminate anti-
selection.

iii. Identify employers that have inappropriate community de-
mographics for the community pool and evaluate their con-
tinued participation in the pool.

iv. Work with the Commission on Ministerial Growth and
Support (CMGS) and other organizations within the LCMS
to improve the health of the church workers and, therefore,
the health of the pool.

v. Expand health and wellness programs for enrolled church
workers.

3. The CHP current practice to not allow an employer to specify a
class of full-time employees as not being eligible for health in-
surance should continue. This is consistent with the LCMS un-
derstanding of vocational service. The LCMS should not
succumb to financial pressure and further contribute to the work-
ing uninsured crisis that exists in America.

4. The CHP should continue to use innovative medical manage-
ment cost-control conventions to mitigate cost increases. CHP
should implement disease management as part of its health and
wellness initiative.

5. CPS should experiment with various media in looking for more
effective ways to communicate with the LCMS employers and
plan members.

Changes implemented as a result of the study

1]. We retained community rating.

2. We eliminated dual choice with outside carrier.

3. The Church’s Plan ties all benefit plans together.

4. Communication emphasizes benefits of “Walking Together.”

5. Variable price increase was introduced for different coverage op-
tions.

6. We are working closely with CMGS on various health initia-
tives.

7. We have aggressively reviewed employer participation to ensure
that appropriate individuals are enrolled in the CHP.

8. A significant health and wellness program was introduced March
1, 2007, to improve the health of enrolled church workers and
their families.

Be Well ... Serve Well

Healthier workers and families translate to fewer claims which
mean lower out-of-pocket costs for workers and lowered expenses
for the Concordia Health Plan. Lowered expenses mean more con-
trolled costs for employers and a better use of contribution dollars.
The greatest benefit of all, however, is the improved health of
church workers so that they can be more effective in their ministry.
Concordia Plans has retained CareAllies to provide the following
services:
¢ 24-Hour Nurse Line
¢ ‘“HealthQuotient”—Health Risk Assessment
* Personal Health Advisors
¢ Lifestyle Management Programs
¢ Internet Medical Resources
¢ Disease Management

Be Well...
Serve Well

How did the CHP perform during the triennium?

The CHP experienced a decline in enrollment of approximately
1.3 percent in the first two years. In the current year, the CHP re-
versed this trend and experienced a small increase of approximately
0.1 percent. We attribute this turnaround to the introduction of The
Church’s Plan and the impact of three years of single-digit rate in-
creases of 9 percent, 7 percent, and 6.2 percent for 2005 through
2007. We believe these rate increases are less than the market,
based on published information. We expect continued increases in
enrollment as the significant benefits of The Church’s Plan become
better understood.

The cost-control measures implemented during the past few
years also produced good financial results that enabled us to
strengthen reserves to the higher end of our target surplus. We are
now well positioned to expect rate increases no greater than market
over the foreseeable future.

The introduction of various coverage options under Employer
Choice and Worker Choice has also been widely accepted. In 2004,
we introduced Choice for the first time after test marketing it in
Illinois in 2003. Choice offers flexibility to the employer to choose
a plan coverage option that best fits the needs of their particular or-
ganization. Enrollment for 2007 in the various plans follows:

PlanA-$ 0 deductible 46%
Plan B~$ 300 deductible 42%
Plan C-$ 500 deductible 9%
Plan D — $1,000 deductible 3%
High Deductible Health Plan 1%

Total 100%

Overall, we are very pleased with the performance of the CHP
during the triennium.

Communication Message and Methods

As we were conducting various focus group meetings in con-
junction with our reviews of the CRP and CHP, it became clear
that we needed to review our communication program. We were
very good at communicating factual information which was ade-
quate when our employers and members were faced with only a
couple of choices. However, as the LCMS employers have re-
quested and we have provided more choices, our communication
methods and messages needed to become more sophisticated and

2007 Convention Workbook