• Adoption Agreements Due June 30
• Outreach to New Participants Begins Soon
• Simple Ways to Support Your Pastors Moving to New Appointments

Adoption Agreements Due June 30

Just a friendly reminder: Please return your HealthFlex Adoption Agreement Exhibits by June 30. If you have questions about updating your premium credit, updating your default plan or anything else, please contact Bob Gerlach at rgerlach@wespath.org.

As stated in a previous HealthFlex Express, we encourage all plan sponsors to consider a default other than the B1000. As we have previously shared, multi-year comparisons of actual participant expenses across each plan type have demonstrated that the B1000 is the lowest net-cost plan for less than 1% of all HealthFlex participants.

Outreach to New Participants Begins Soon

We are always looking for ways to help new participants learn about—and engage with—all the benefits and well-being programs available to them through HealthFlex. To that end, we will soon begin sending new clergy a Welcome to HealthFlex e-mail that introduces the Employee Assistance Program, Benefits Access and the well-being incentives program, including the Quest Blueprint for Wellness® and Health Check. Our outreach is designed to supplement new hire information that you provide as part of your orientation. (To find new hire information, log into the Extranet, select "HealthFlex Tools & Resources" across the top and then click on "Enrollment Kit Highlights.")

The e-mail will be sent to all clergy who join HealthFlex after June 30. They will receive the e-mail after they have been automatically enrolled in HealthFlex and the window to waive coverage has passed.

We are sending this introductory e-mail to mandatory clergy because they make up the majority of HealthFlex participants and we are able to automate the process to this group without capturing individuals who may not enroll in HealthFlex. We will explore how to expand these e-mails to non-conference plan sponsors and lay employees in the coming months.

Simple Ways to Support Your Pastors Moving to New Appointments

Appointment changes can lead to more stress for clergy and their families. If you are looking for a way to assist your clergy moving to new appointments, might we suggest that you remind them of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) available to HealthFlex participants and all it has to offer?

We love to take every opportunity to remind participants and plan sponsors that the EAP provides eight free sessions per concern per family member per year and it is completely confidential. That could be helpful given the stress and emotions that come with moving.

The EAP is a gateway to much more than counseling. The EAP can help participants find childcare, elder care, legal assistance and much more near their new home or church. We plan to send all HealthFlex clergy an e-mail on June 23 to remind them how the EAP can assist with stressors caused by new appointments. Our communication will include both a handout touting the EAP's many services and "50 Ways to Support Your Pastor's Health and Well-Being."

We encourage you to share both resources with your clergy moving to new appointments. "50 Ways" is a tool pastors can share with their new Pastor/Staff-Parish Relations Committee (P/SPRC) to set the groundwork for a good, healthy relationship. The "50 Ways" document also is a resource we invite you to share with lay leadership in local churches.

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