Health Care Insurance gets Personal

I think about health care insurance a lot. Because of a strange series of events, I find myself today with no health insurance coverage. This could prove to be a problem as I am diabetic and have high blood pressure. In the very near future, I should have new health insurance coverage, but in the mean time, I am concerned.

My current uninsured state crashed in on me today when I found out that the coverage I thought I had does not exist. The Association which we paid for the coverage is not authorized to sell insurance in Connecticut. The representative of the Connecticut Department of Insurance I talked with put it simply, “That is not an insurance company.” Obviously, not able to provide health insurance coverage. He did not seem to be upset about this turn of events as I.

I ended up checking with the Department of Insurance after an online search for information about the Association turned up a posting saying it is a scam. I was taken. The posting also contained information about other insurance companies, and ads for them, so it seemed wise to check with the Dept. of Insurance.

Maybe I should have known better. Initially I found the coverage through a web search. But, I also had had conversations with a live person on several occasions before agreeing to buy. The coverage offered seemed adequate at a price that was not unreasonable. It was not unbelievable coverage. The cost was not “too good to be true”. It all seemed legitimate and above board, so I went for it.

I was searching on line for health insurance because the coverage I had through the United Church of Christ Pension Boards had changed in the middle of 2009. Between July and August my out-of-pocket cost for prescriptions had increased 800%. What had been reasonable co-pay for prescriptions had changed and the total coverage had become $30 a month. I needed to find new insurance.

The change in the insurance coverage was horrible for me. It left me wondering what I would do about prescriptions and other medical needs. And then, while I was anxious and distressed about these changes, I got several letters and e-mails from various leaders of the United Church of Christ urging me to support the denomination’s campaign to support health care reform and to urge congress to pass a bill that would assure affordable health care for all.

There was a disconnect. Here I was, a pastor with nearly thirty years of service in the United Church of Christ, a strong record of supporting Basic Support and other giving to the denomination, and because of a decision I had made twenty years ago, when my life situation was completely different than it is now, I was not able to get anything but minimal health insurance coverage from the Pension Boards of my denomination. I made calls and sent e-mails to the Pension Boards and to the head of the UCC’s Minister for Healthcare Justice, but got no response. The Connecticut Conference Associate Minister for Clergy Concerns was sympathetic and even offered me a grant to help pay for the prescriptions I had just picked up. He also made it clear that there was no hope the Pension Boards would ever allow me to change to better coverage.

As a denomination, the United Church of Christ values our commitment to justice and our reputation for compassion. It is very hard to realize how I, and others in similar situations, have been failed by the denomination. While the UCC related Christian Activities Council in Hartford was being celebrated nationally for receiving a grant to underwrite their advocacy of affordable health care for all and the General Synod was resolving to support health care justice, clergy in the UCC were having their benefits reduced.

I am fairly confident that I will find health care insurance in a short while. I am even sure that it will be affordable and adequate. I am positive that it will not be provided by the United Church of Christ Pension Boards.

I love the United Church of Christ and will continue to support this denomination, but in the future, I will be aware of how easy it is to fall into the trap of saying words that are not back with action. The challenge to act in faithful and just ways is as real and as difficult as it has been since the first days of the church.

Peace -
Barry