Clergy Days: Denominational Health Plan

Being in a parish near the edge of the diocese, I often drive a long way to meetings. Yesterday I spent five hours in the car traveling to and from our annual fall Clergy Day in Elyria. On days like this, I'm so thankful for my iPhone. Watching the sunrise, I listened to a variety of music including the fun-AND-theologically-profound Why Not Sea Monsters?, Love and Anger from the Iona Community, and some Taize chant. I also had plenty of time to listen to podcasts including Science Friday, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, A Way With Words, and my current favorite, Pop Culture Happy Hour.

The topic of this fall's Clergy Day was information about the Denominational Health Plan which, as of 2013, will require mandatory participation for both clergy and lay employees (working 30+ hours per week). It's a smart move overall because the current pool of people in the Episcopal health plan are older and not-all-that healthy (which makes premiums quite high). Healthy, younger folks like me have gone elsewhere for better rates.
Harcourt Parish halved the cost of my healthcare when we moved from a traditional plan to a High Deductible plan with a Health Savings Account. I was happy to hear that the Denominational Health Plan will be offering a High Deductible/HSA option. It's been great for us. It's important to include funding the HSA into your calculations, but even by fully funding the HSA, you can still save money over a traditional plan and get great health care for little or no money out of pocket.

It's always nice to have a chance to reconnect with clergy colleagues. I made a special point to say hello and "keep up the good work" to the clergy parents-of-babies who were there. In fact, after the meeting I had a cup of hot tea on a front porch swing with a clergy momma and her charming babe in arms. We both would like to have clergy family gatherings where our children can get to know one another and share experiences of life as PKs (preachers' kids). It would be a benefit to our families and to the diocese if we had a good clergy families group.

I got home after dark but in time to have a late family dinner (crock pot stew), help with homework and corralling the kids to bed. Good night hugs are long and often the best part of my day. They're a great time of true prayer, too.