The Corinthian Plan will become a reality January 1, 2010. The health care access plan of Mennonite Church USA reached its revised goal, and project director Keith Harder expects that nearly 70 percent of the denomination’s eligible, credentialed pastors will be on the new plan.
“I am especially grateful for the assistance that will be going to more than 50 congregations and their pastors who currently have no health care coverage,” Harder says. The 450-plus congregations expected to participate will generate more than $500,000 for the Fair Balance Fund which will provide assistance for these pastors. Some congregations have indicated their intention to contribute to this fund even if they will not be full participants in the plan.
Harder reports “a flood of enrollments and inquiries” the last two weeks of September as congregations anticipated the October 1 deadline.
To facilitate this interest, The Corinthian Plan Project Team has extended the enrollment deadline to November 15. This will give congregations just now learning about The Corinthian Plan or beginning to consider its possibilities more time to make informed decisions.
Applications for assistance also will continue to be received until November 15 or until the fund is exhausted.
While the original participation goal of 80 percent of all Mennonite Church USA congregations will not be met, The Corinthian Plan project team, including MMA staff and actuaries, agreed that there is sufficient participation to have a plan that will have a solid financial foundation.
“We believe that we have adequate participation to create a strong and viable plan,” Dave Gautsche, MMA representative on the project team, says. “Plus, it will meet the goal for access that the denomination set out to address.”
Harder reports that there are still more than 250 congregations that have yet to decide about The Corinthian Plan; 190 congregations have indicated they are unlikely to participate.
“There is great need for better access to health care among our pastors and a great desire in many congregations to respond to this need,” Harder says. “For many congregations The Corinthian Plan is seen as a means to practice mutual aid and work for greater justice. Paul’s vision in 2 Corinthians 8 of a fair balance between congregations has struck a positive chord.”
For more information about The Corinthian Plan, contact Keith Harder at 866-866-2872 (toll-free) or keithh@mennoniteusa.org.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.