Below is a list of the legislative petitions that the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits (GBPHB) has submitted to General Conference 2008. Click on the title to read the full petition.
- Denominational Health—Annual Conference Retiree Health Care Access
Discipline Paragraph: 638
Annual conferences should provide adequate access to health care coverage for retirees and their spouses. Where there is a commitment to retirement benefits, that commitment should be honored, and its current liabilities should be funded.
- Denominational Health—Church Systems Task Force
Discipline: Recommendation
The denomination should increase its awareness of the effects Church systems have on the health of clergy and revise the essential employment systems and structures of the Church that negatively affect its clergy’s health. To accomplish these goals, GBPHB and GBHEM will convene a new task force to:
- examine itineracy and appointment-making systems,
- recommend improvements to supervisory systems,
- address processes for entering and exiting ordained and licensed ministry, and
- provide guidelines for sustaining a healthy work/life balance during ministry.
- Denominational Health—Episcopal Group Health Care Plans and Retiree Access
Discipline Paragraph: 817
General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) will sponsor or participate in a group health care plan that covers bishops. In addition, GCFA will provide access to Medicare supplement and prescription drug plans for retired bishops.
- Denominational Health—Annual Conference Health Care Plans
Discipline Paragraph: 638
Each annual conference will sponsor or participate in a group health care plan that covers its full-time clergy and full-time lay employees in the United States.
- Denominational Health—General Agency Group Health Care Plans and Retiree Access
Discipline Paragraph: 714
General agencies will sponsor or participate in a group health care plan that covers active clergy and full-time employees. In addition, general agencies will provide access to Medicare supplement and prescription drug plans for retired clergy and lay employees.
- Denominational Health—General Board of Pension and Health Benefits Support
Discipline Paragraph: 1504
GBPHB will collect, analyze, and distribute group health care plan data and health and wellness program information and use this data and information to:
- establish denomination-wide benchmarks and standards;
- identify and disseminate best practices for healthy lifestyles and health cost management;
- provide reports;
- share data and analyses;
- advise about health care plan designs, coverage, financial soundness, and wellness programs; and
- recommend health and wellness strategies and guidelines for annual conferences, general agencies, and bishops.
- Denominational Health—Annual Conference Reporting
Discipline Paragraph: 1506
GBPHB will strive to improve the health of clergy and lay employees and ease the Church’s struggle with the costs of health care coverage by sharing information throughout the connection and increasing access to information about best practices and plan designs. To help accomplish these goals:
- each annual conference will submit annual health care plan data to GBPHB;
- annual conferences’ boards of pensions will submit financial valuations for projected medical liabilities by year-end (and biannually thereafter);
- each annual conference will submit a plan for addressing unfunded retiree medical liabilities by year-end 2010; and
- each annual conference will submit its portability policy for retiree health care plan eligibility, coverage, cost-sharing, and benefits and communicate the policy to clergy and lay employees by year-end.
- Incapacity Leave in Annual Conferences
Discipline Paragraph: 651
This petition proposes amending the paragraph to allow annual conferences greater latitude in the method through which they manage incapacity and disability among clergy. The petition deletes inappropriate duties of the conference in this respect and adds duties regarding advocacy and support of disabled clergy.
- Incapacity Leave
Discipline Paragraph: 358
This petition proposes amending the paragraph to maintain consistency with the petition to amend ¶651 and to clarify the nature of investigation of incapacity leave cases.
- Reporting Conference Relationship Changes
Discipline Paragraph: 634
This petition proposes requiring each annual conference’s board of ordained ministry to report clergy changes in conference relationships to the conference’s board of pensions.
- Conference Board of Pensions Membership
Discipline Paragraph: 638.2a
These proposed changes are intended to clarify the meaning of the word “indebted” and eliminate confusion regarding the ability of current participants and retirees to serve on the conference board of pensions.
- GBPHB Fiduciary Responsibilities
Discipline Paragraph: 1501.3
This petition proposes deleting language that was intended to address possible changes in the structure of general agencies proposed at General Conference 2004 and is no longer relevant.
- GBPHB Membership
Discipline Paragraph: 1502.1
This petition proposes changes to this paragraph that would align it with ¶705 regarding proportionate allocation of members from the jurisdictions by the secretary of the General Conference.
- GBPHB Committee Members at Large
Discipline Paragraph: 1502.4
This petition aligns the language of this paragraph with bylaws that stipulate that at-large members shall not exceed half of the committee.
- GBPHB Legal Entities
Discipline Paragraph: 1503.2
This petition clarifies that all the operations of GBPHB are conducted by the Illinois Corporation except the trust function and that all activities of GBPHB are performed by an incorporated entity, while eliminating those corporations and corporate names no longer in use.
- GBPHB Authorizations—Old Plans
Discipline Paragraph: 1504.3
The current paragraph lists some, but not all, pre-82 plans administered by GBPHB. This proposed change simplifies the paragraph and makes it more accurate.
- Pre-82 Survivor Percentages
Discipline Paragraph: 1506.17b
This petition proposes deleting this paragraph because it is inconsistent with the provisions of the Clergy Retirement Security Program (CRSP).
- Basis of Pension Contributions
Discipline Paragraph: 1506.19
The proposed changes to this paragraph will align it with the provisions of CRSP.
- Contributions and Service under Clergy Retirement Security Program
Discipline Paragraph: 1506.22
The proposed changes to this paragraph will align it with the provisions of CRSP.
- Annual Conference Investments
Discipline Paragraph: 1508.7
This petition proposes deleting one sentence from this paragraph because it does not conform to current practice.
- Global Episcopal Pension Program
Discipline Paragraph: 817.8
This petition proposes amending and restating the Global Episcopal Pension Program, effective May 3, 2008.
- GBPHB Authorizations
Discipline Paragraph: 1504.2
This is enabling legislation should the board of directors decide to respond to requests from other church groups.
- GBPHB Authorizations
Discipline Paragraph: 1504.17
This petition proposes changing this paragraph because it is duplicative of the responsibilities given GCFA in ¶807.1. The revised paragraph is enabling legislation should the board of directors decide to respond to the requests of other groups.
- GBPHB Authorizations
Discipline Paragraph: 1504.18
This petition proposes a minor change to this paragraph that is related to the proposed changes to ¶1504.17.
- Retirement Plan for General Agencies
Discipline Paragraph: 1504.1
This petition proposes to amend and restate the Retirement Security Program for General Agencies (RSP), effective as soon as GBPHB systems can reasonably be reconfigured to administer the amended and restated plan.
- Clergy Retirement Security Program/Technical Corrections
Discipline Paragraph: 1504.1
This petition proposes technical corrections and minor plan design changes to CRSP, effective as soon as GBPHB systems can reasonably be reconfigured to administer the revisions, except where another effective date is specified.
- Retirement Security Program for General Agencies Effective June 1, 2008
Discipline Paragraph: 1504.1
This petition proposes to transfer surplus funding from RSP to the General Agency Benefit Trust, effective June 1, 2008.
- Retirement Security Program for General Agencies/Technical Corrections
Discipline Paragraph: 1504.1
This petition proposes technical revisions and minor plan design changes to RSP, effective as soon as systems can reasonably be reconfigured to administer the revisions, except where another effective date is specified.
- Comprehensive Protection Plan Amendments
Discipline Paragraph: 1504.1
This petition proposes technical revisions and plan design changes to the Comprehensive Protection Plan (CPP), effective January 1, 2009, except where another effective date is specified.
- Investment Ethics
GBPHB is proposing these updated and revised investment guidelines because The United Methodist Church values dictate that social justice and social usefulness must be given consideration together with financial security and financial yield in the investment of funds by individuals, churches, agencies, and institutions throughout the United Methodist connection. When we take into account both fiduciary obligations (including financial returns) and denominational values (including social returns), we are investing in a socially responsible manner. GBPHB has traditionally served as a resource to denominational investors on socially responsible investing strategies. All United Methodist investors and users of financial services, whether individual or institutional, are encouraged to follow these guidelines.
