Church Pension Group Releases 2015 Denominational Health Plan Annual Report

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#CPG—The
Church Pension Group (CPG), a provider of employee benefits,
property and casualty insurance and published works to the institutions
and individuals that comprise The Episcopal Church, released its 2015
Denominational Health Plan (DHP) Annual Report (www.cpg.org/2015DHP).

The DHP, established in July 2009 by the General Convention of The
Episcopal Church through Resolution 2009-A177 and its associated canon,
continues to help domestic dioceses, parishes and other institutions
subject to the authority of The Episcopal Church control the rising
costs of healthcare. The 2015 Annual Report, published pursuant to
General Convention Resolution 2012-B026, summarizes more recent
developments with the DHP.

“The DHP has two separate goals – cost containment and parity of
benefits,” said John Servais, Senior Vice President of Benefits Policy
and Design at CPG. “We made progress delivering cost containment that
continues to be passed on to the Church as most dioceses have received
annual rate reductions or low single-digit annual increases since 2009,
and reduced the cost disparities between the highest-priced and
lowest-priced dioceses to allow for a more equitable sharing of
healthcare contribution costs. We also continued to benchmark DHP rates
versus similar options available on the Affordable Care Act exchanges,
and have taken steps to address the concerns of dioceses in which rates
are not as competitive.”

Servais continued, “Looking ahead, we expect companies offering
insurance through the health insurance exchanges to experience continued
pressure to increase rates. We expect them to do this in an effort to
offset higher than expected claims, the impact of failing health
insurance cooperatives, and the sunsetting of the Federal reinsurance
program at the end of 2016. As a forward-thinking supportive fiduciary,
we will continue to focus on cost containment while providing quality
customer service and increased value to our clients.”

In 2015, CPG advanced a number of key DHP initiatives, including:

• Maintaining robust participation in the DHP with more than 95% of all
  eligible clergy and lay employees participating in or obtaining
  healthcare coverage through approved sources
• Implementing a two-year plan to help dioceses that have traditionally
  provided only the most expensive plans consider a broader array of
  plans representative of those that are more prevalent in the
  marketplace
• Maintaining a strong financial position with rates that are
  competitive and remain comparable to or lower than online health
  insurance exchange rates in most markets
• Advancing the issue of parity through our efforts in assisting
  dioceses to establish the minimum required cost-sharing policy
• Absorbing an accumulated $2.3 million in required ACA fees rather than
  passing these fees along to participating dioceses and institutions

About The Church Pension Fund

The Church Pension Fund (CPF) is an independent organization affiliated
with The Episcopal Church with approximately $12 billion in assets. CPF
and its affiliated companies, collectively the Church Pension Group
(CPG), provides retirement, health and wellness, and life insurance
benefits to clergy and lay employees of The Episcopal Church. CPG also
offers property and casualty insurance, as well as book and music
publishing, including the official worship materials of The Episcopal
Church. Its affiliated companies include Church
Life Insurance Corporation, The
Episcopal Church Medical Trust, The
Church Insurance Companies, and Church
Publishing Incorporated. Learn more at cpg.org.

Contacts

Media:
The Church Pension Group
C. Curtis Ritter,
212-592-1816
Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications
critter@cpg.org