Dear Friends,
Dear Friends,
As we begin a new month, my prayers continue for the health and safety of each of you, your loved ones, and the people you serve.
We are now midway through our 29th week since we first closed our offices due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What many initially thought would be an interruption of a few weeks has now impacted the way we conduct business for more than half the year. While a few colleagues are safely working in the office, the majority of our staff will continue to work from home for the remainder of 2020. We will keep you apprised of any changes.
In recent weeks, we have addressed in these messages some of the issues that you, our readers, have indicated as important to you in your responses to our brief survey. (Please see the link below.)
The upcoming transition to the new UCC Medicare Advantage Plan w/ Rx, administered by Humana, is of interest not only to survey respondents but to an increasing number of members who have reached out to us by phone, web, and email. The new plan will replace the existing UCC Medicare Supplement Plan w/ Rx on January 1, 2021. The UCC Medicare Advantage Plan offers significant cost-savings over the UCC Medicare Supplement Plan, with no reduction in benefits and with new features that Medicare participants have been requesting.
Participants in the current plan should have received by now a Humana Benefit Kit in the mail, with detailed information about coverage and benefits, as well as special features of the new plan. You may also access the kit on our website. Humana will be hosting live webinars about the new plan the week of October 12, when participants can learn more about their benefits and ask specific questions of Humana and Pension Boards Health Plan Operations staff. The webinars will be offered at four different times over a two-day period to make it more accessible for participants in different time zones. I encourage you to register for one of the presentations using the links provided in the article directly below. And if you have specific questions, Humana’s dedicated Group Medicare Customer Care phone line is available at 1.866.733.1872, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).
A reminder of two important, time-sensitive items you read about last week:
Please scroll down in this newsletter for more information about both MFVI and the TAD 2020.
Participants in MFVI may also be eligible for low-interest rate loan financing through Generations Financial Resources. (Please scroll down to the article, Generations Financial Resources: A New Service for MFVI Participants). If you have any questions about MFVI, contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Thank you for ongoing support of, and partnership with, the Pension Boards. It is our privilege to serve you.
Stay well, and be safe.
Best regards,
Brian R. Bodager
President/CEO
Humana Benefit Kit packets to current participants in the current UCC Medicare Plan have been sent out, and you may have already received yours in the mail. You may also view the Humana Benefit Kit here.As we prepare for the transition to the new Plan, Humana Group Medicare Customer Care is available to help. You may call Humana at 1.866.733.1872, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) with questions you may have about your coverage. When calling, please indicate that you are with the Pension Boards-UCC.
Look for more information from the Pension Boards and Humana by email and mail later this month.
READER SURVEY: WHAT TOPICS DO YOU WANT TO SEE?
The Target Annuitization Date (TAD) Fund 2020 will close in December of this year. In anticipation of the closing of the TAD Fund 2020, you will need to select one of the two options below.
Any balance remaining in your TAD Fund 2020 on December 31 will automatically be moved to the Stable Value Fund.
If you have any questions, or need help, please reach out to our Member Services team at 1.800.642.6543.
The Pension Boards and the Missouri Mid-South Conference of the United Church of Christ will host Splash in the Healing Waters of Sanctuary, a clergy wellness retreat October 18-20, 2020, via Zoom. The retreat begins with prayer and community building on the evening of October 18. UCC Authorized Ministers and Ministers in Discernment in the Missouri Mid-South Conference, and their spouses/partners, are invited to attend. Please register before 6:00 p.m. (CST) on October 15. Register here.
Generations Financial Resources, Inc., is a lending corporation designed to help alleviate the crushing burden of clergy indebtedness in the UCC.
Working in coordination with the Minister’s Financial Vitality Initiative it combines personal finance education, needs-based grants to reduce debt levels, and most significantly, low-interest rate refinancing to substantially reduce the rates our clergy are paying on their educational debt.
If you are not yet in the MFVI program, we encourage you to apply and become eligible for Generations Financial Resources. Applications for both Program One (three-year program of financial wellness, with incentives totaling $10,000) and Program Two (matching grants of up to $1,000 for authorized ministers in parish settings) are available on our website. For more information, watch this video, and contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
As the Pension Boards transitions to a paperless environment and adapts to working remotely, we are converting to an online process for UCC churches and employers to update their employees’ salaries and pension contribution amounts. We will no longer send out the annual Salary Report to employers by mail in October.
Now, you may sign into your account on the Employer Portal and once logged in, select Salary Report/Update from the left-hand side of the page to make changes as soon as they occur. This will ensure that changes are timely, and that your monthly invoices will reflect the updated information as changes occur.
If you need a paper form, you may download and print a Salary Report Form from the Pension Boards website.
Should you have any questions, please reach out to our Member Services team at 1.800.642.6543 for assistance.
Note: Your account, including any outstanding balances, and employee salary information, must be up-to-date before you use online bill payment for the first time.
Online payment is the New Standard for the Pension Boards. Please transition your monthly payment to our online portals today! If you are not already using the portals, it’s quick and easy to get started and transactions are secure. Click here for detailed instructions to set up your account.
PLEASE NOTE: The online bill payment sites will be down for routine maintenance from Sunday, October 4 at 6:00 p.m. through Tuesday, October 6 at noon. The November monthly invoices will be available when the portal is back up on October 6.
Beginning January 1, 2021, the Pension Boards' policy will be to accept only current or future dates on all benefit forms submitted to effect any benefit enrollment or change for our members.
Retroactive effective dates will no longer be accepted. Look for additional communications regarding this change in coming weeks.
