Benefiting our workers with WELS VEBA
Charles Heup, pastor at Good Shepherd, Plymouth, Wis., discovered he had Cystic Fibrosis (CF) when he was in college. Now 59, he has been controlling the disease through daily treatment and highly specialized medication. His lungs operate at less than 40 percent of their capacity, but the treatment and medication keep him functioning normally, a blessing to this pastor, husband, and father.
Heupās congregation offers its called workers WELS VEBA health care coverage.
āEvery time my doctor says we need something, we submit it to WELS VEBA and VEBA has covered everything that weāve needed to do, including a new medication,ā says Heup.
The Husby family had a similar experience with their WELS VEBA coverage. The evidence is displayed proudly on their refrigeratorāan explanation of benefits from Cassie Husbyās recent double lung transplant. The cost: $494,000. What the Husbys owed: $0.
āWELS VEBA is a program that works so well that I donāt even have to think about it,ā says Jeremy Husby, pastor at Peace, Hartford, Wis. āIt allows me to be able to focus on the things that are importantāmy wifeās health, my daughter, and my ministry.ā
WELS established the health care system called WELS VEBA more than 30 years ago to provide for its workersā health care needs. About 80 percent of WELS and Evangelical Lutheran Synod calling bodies provide this nationwide, long-term health coverage to their pastors, teachers, staff ministers, and lay workers.
āWELS VEBAās strength lies in the large number of workers and calling bodies across the country that join together and participate in our synodās health plan,ā says Joshua Peterman, director of WELS Benefit Plans. āIn this way, WELS VEBA has been able to provide consistent, comprehensive benefits to our workers and their families for generations.ā
Knowing that coverage will remain intact offers peace of mind to called workers when they receive calls to different ministries or congregations. ā[Health care coverage] doesnāt even factor into my decision,ā says Heup. āI can focus on the question all called workers should focus on when they get a call: āWhere can I serve the Lord with the talents he has given me.ā ā
Through WELS VEBA, health care costs of covered workers are shared across all participating calling bodies throughout the synod. Churches and schools donāt have to worry about the cost of benefits when making a call, since the planās premium costs are the same across all age groups. WELS VEBA also doesnāt charge higher premiums based on an individualās medical care needs. It protects called workers and their calling bodies by ensuring comprehensive coverage for all participants in the plan.
āWith WELS VEBA rates consistent across all ages and because the vetting of plans has already been done, we can focus on the ministry when making decisions about calling our called workers and not get hung up on details like insurance,ā says Stan Bothe, congregation president at Peace, Green Lake, Wis.
He continues, āWeāre not big and we donāt have unlimited funding, so to know we can offer our teachers and our pastor a good health plan that will meet their needs and that they can take with them if they should be called into a new ministry is a relief. Itās important to take care of the people who work in the ministry.ā
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Volume 101, Number 11
Issue: November 2014
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