This article is adapted from communications being sent to congregational leaders and UUA Health Plan participants from Rev. Richard Nugent, Director, Church Staff Finances. A link to a more detailed letter is included.
On behalf of the UUA Employee Benefits Trust (Health Plan Committee) and the Church Staff Finances team, I am writing to share the difficult news that premiums for the various UUA Health Plans will be rising July 1.
Last fall, the Health Plan Committee struggled to set the 2021 rates for the UUA Health Plan. In addition to so many personal tragedies and organizational challenges arising from the pandemic, health plans – ours and others – wrestled to make sense of the effects of COVID-19. Given the circumstances, the Trustees decided not to raise rates in January because we were uncertain what the effects of COVID-19 would mean to our plan in 2021. In communicating the decision not to raise rates in January, we advised congregations that rates might be adjusted by as much as 10% in July.
The Trustees have reviewed recent claims data and made the difficult decision to raise premiums for all ages and plan levels by 10%, effective July 1, 2021, in order to ensure the financial health of our plan. We recognize this might be startling news to some, but please consider that this effectively means an increase of 5% for calendar year 2021 – comparable to commercial marketplace rate increases.
We expect to return to the normal schedule of raising premiums only in January. The Health Plan Committee will meet in October to set rates for 2022. We will do our best to minimize any increase.
I know this is disappointing news, and undoubtedly challenging as many congregations are assembling their 2021-2022 budgets. I wish the news was different, but we are living and working in extraordinary times – and this is certainly true for the delivery and financing of quality health care which the UUA Health Plan is proud to make available to the hardworking staff of our member congregations and UU-related organizations.
Be sure to inform participating staff of this change as employee deductions will be affected starting in July.
Rev. Richard Nugent,
Director, UUA Church Staff Finances
