Submitted by philip on
By Brian Blackwell, Marketing Director
HAMMOND – A health insurance program for Louisiana Baptist individuals and churches could launch in the near future that its trustees believe could not only save ministers money but extend to cover others outside the state.
Known as the Koinos Plan, this Baptist Health Benefits Program will be available for Southern Baptist-affiliated ministers and their family members, seminary students and church employees who work 20 or more hours per week. Those participating in the plan – which operates similar to a standard health insurance policy – must sign a statement of faith similar to the Baptist Faith and Message. The trustees hope to launch the plan by Jan. 1, 2013.
“I want to commend Baptist Health Benefits Program (“The Koinos Plan”) to you as an alternative plan for your health insurance,” emailed Waylon Bailey, pastor of First Baptist Church of Covington and president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. “The Koinos Plan has been devised and tested over the last few years as a viable alternative to health insurance plans currently available.
“This plan has been developed by followers of Christ and is based on Scriptural principles,” Bailey continued. “It is my prayer that you will take a careful and prayerful look at this opportunity.”
Payments to this organization called a trust are considered contributions instead of premiums. The Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association and Northshore Baptist Association own the trust.
“We are trying to fill a gap and make it less painful to guys,” said Lonnie Wascom, director of missions for Northshore Baptist Association. “It’s a good thing if it happens. We are finding out there are some guys who slip through the cracks, who have no health insurance.”
Wascom said the insurance will be similar to Blue Cross Blue Shield but at a lower price. Once 200 people indicate they are interested in signing up for the program, contribution rates will be established.
“Once this gets going we think it will go viral but we’re seeing how much traction it gets here in Louisiana before branching out,” Wascom said. “We’re depending on a New Testament marketing strategy, where one person tells another person.
“We have no agenda here and will not make any money personally,” he said. “This is strictly a service we feel is needed for our churches and church-related ministries in the state.”
Consultant Michael Morrow, who helped craft the plan, said from his conversations with pastors that health insurance is a major concern with some of them. He said costs and changing landscape of health care will continue to evolve.
“You want the men on the trenches not to stress out when they need the insurance,” Morrow said. “We want to make it as easy as possible to take as many barriers away, like insurance.”
The idea for the program was born in 2009, when Wascom and other directors of missions in Southeast Louisiana met to discuss how to assist their churches with the rising cost of health insurance. Some of those DOMs then decided to create a plan that would offer a reduced price to their churches with fewer than 10 employees.
At the same time Guidestone Financial Resources was hoping to create a similar plan to churches through association groups. But that plan never materialized.
Nevertheless, Wascom and others involved in the creation of the plan continued working on the matter and the end result was the Koinos Plan.
For more information on the plan or to fill out an information sheet visit www.northshorebaptists.org and click on the Koinos Plan.