Can you do that if someone isn't officially an employee??? I wonder how much cheaper that policy would be for people if they assumed all the cost? I don't pay that much per month, because the Society pays for part of my insurance but if I don't know how it would compare to a regular policy if I had to pay all of it. Plus, once you have a family doesn't it get a lot more expensive?

By the way, from the rate of your posting today, can I assume that you are either as bored by work as I am or that you are trying to avoid some activity...kind of like when you clean your room instead of study for an exam?

Okay, so I'm doing a little research on this and found from the SHRM web site that:

[Insurance ]Premiums have increased 87 percent over the past six years. Employer-sponsored family health coverage now costs an average $11,480 annually, with workers paying an average of $2,973 toward those premiums, about $1,354 more than in 2000.

Could most people who can't afford insurance anyway pay the $11,480 if they already have problems affording insurance or did you mean that the church would cover part of it? Is there a way to circumvent the costs?

it just seems like an international church should be able to either administer an ethical, affordable basic health insurance/care system or at least leverage some economy of scale to purchase less expensive coverage. I don't know the details... I just think that sounds like something the church should be doing.

I know that our church doesn't even get much of a deal for the pastors using the Vineyard wide system, so they use a small group plan that is ridiculously expensive (though the same as the larger group "deal") for the pastors. But maybe on a large scale a large group SBC, RC, etc. could do something ...

i like the idea of the church providing affordable group health insurance...but what i like even more is universal health care.

true, true