by Neil Heath » Thu Nov 04, 2021 12:12 pm
To answer your question Timothy, when I retired from the GBC (now the GBMB), they promised to provide medical and dental insurance for me and my spouse for the rest of our lives. That was the one thing they provided for us after retirement, with their gcoverage becoming secondary to Medicare when we reached that point. As the article points out, many retirees made their plans for the future based on that benefit. It was a tremendous help to us as healthcare costs continued to rise. There were still copays for doctors and drugs, but that was all we had to pay. Then when we joined Medicare most of the copays also went away. It was a real blessing for many aging ministers and their spouses.
Then we were told a year ago that our dental plan would end on Dec. 31, 2020. Medical coverage was provided through a Medicare Advantage Plan provided by Aetna, but as the article explains, they have informed us that it also ends on Dec. 31,2021. So we will need to get our own insurance for Jan. and beyond. To their credit, which the article doesn't mention, they plan to give us a check in Dec. to help with purchasing our own coverage, but I doubt that it will fully replace what we had. I'm gathering information on our options. Any helpful input is welcomed.
I suspect this is not a Ga. Baptist problem only, but one other states will have to face in the near future. They have already greatly reduced their staff in several waves of buyouts and job eliminations, but still have money issues. I suspect it illustrates graphically the continued decline of church-related institutions and the local churches that support them, with Ga. being the first of many forced to face that reality. The article does a great job of collecting and reporting where we are.
I'd be interested in hearing how things are going in your states / denominations as well.
Neil Heath