The Upstate Update for Wednesday, August 10, 2016

ELCA-Primary Members Get the Right Care

for Less Money


	Patsy Glista, AIM

Portico trustees vote to approve recommended 2017 contribution rates as well as innovative changes designed to limit the growth of health care cost increases.

As your organization begins planning for next year's benefits, you'll want to know:

In 2017, your ELCA-Primary plan members will have access to new care coordinators who can help them use their health benefits with an eye to both quality and cost.
Baseline health contributions will increase by 5%, our lowest ELCA-Primary baseline health rate increase in four years.
The 1% discount for employers tied to health assessment participation has been built directly into the contribution rate.
Disability contributions will decrease from 3.5% to 3.0% of defined compensation.
Rates for basic group life insurance, retiree support, and minimum required retirement contributions will remain the same.

Stacy A. Kruse, Chief Operating and Financial Officer for Portico Benefit Services also recently shared 3 ways ELCA-primary members get the right care for less money; ways the ELCA Health Plan is improving quality while managing spending. The steps being taken to raise up healthier leaders and slow the ongoing rise of health care costs include:

1. Choosing recognized facilities for certain surgeries - Imagine needing a life-saving organ transplant. Given a choice of facilities, you'd probably pick one with the most experience, where transplants occur daily rather than a few times a year. ELCA-Primary health benefits provide the most coverage for organ transplants, knee and hip replacements, and spine and bariatric surgeries performed at Blue Cross Blue Distinction® Centers - facilities recognized for delivering better quality and results based on objective, evidence-based criteria. In 2015, 63% of ELCA-Primary members who needed a joint replacement used a Blue Distinction Center. On average, using one of these centers results in:
1. a. 7% fewer complications and 4% lower 30-day readmission rates[1]
2. b. $6,311 savings per knee and $7,215 savings per hip replacement[2]

For 2017, we're exploring ways to encourage more members to use Blue Distinction Centers.

2. Treating common conditions online - Of course, members trust their primary care doctor to help them manage ongoing conditions and stay healthy. But when members are sidelined by common illness or infection, an online doctor can provide needed treatment through the convenience of the member's smartphone or computer - and for about $100 less than an average office visit. While online care is still relatively new and most members have yet to use it, we've seen usage double in just the past six months and expect to see many more members give it a try.

For 2017, we're exploring ways to make it even easier for members to use online care.

3. Paying less for prescription drugs - Portico periodically reviews our benefit administrators for price and performance. A recent market-check of prescription drug benefit administrators confirmed the value we currently receive from Express Scripts through its extensive formulary and cost-saving programs like step therapy and home delivery.

We recently worked with a purchasing coalition of 20 denominations to renegotiate our Express Scripts contract for 2017 - 2019 to save millions of dollars per year.

Read the 2017 Rate Announcement

[1] Results based on Blue Cross analysis of BDC/BDC+ eligible facilities vs. relevant comparison group during latest designation cycle for specialty care area.

[2] Savings per total episode cost, based on Blue Cross analysis of BDC/BDC+ eligible facilities vs. relevant comparison group as of Feb. 18, 2016.

PORTICO BENEFITS FORUMS 2016 ARE COMING!!

Congregational leaders, especially treasurers and Council members, along with rostered leaders are invited to attend one of three scheduled forums about Portico Benefit Services. The synod regularly receives questions and concerns from congregation leaders and pastors about the various benefits offered through Portico and health care in general. September 19 - 21, 7:00 - 9:00pm, our new Portico Regional Representative, Rev. Cathy Schibler, has agreed to facilitate informational forums in 3 locations on the synod territory. Come learn the latest information on Portico benefits and get your 2017 benefit questions asked and answered. Join us to be better prepared to make decisions during the annual fall health insurance selection process.

Monday, September 19, 2016, 7:00 - 9:00pm in eastern NY at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 510 Albany Shaker Rd., Loudonville, NY 12211 [518-458-1562].
Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 7:00 - 9:00 pm in central NY at Luther Memorial Church, 435 S. Main Street, North Syracuse, NY 13212 [315-458-1481]. Please come on Route 11 and park in the parking area in the front of the church and enter into the sanctuary. If parking is full then you can park in the rear, come in the rear entrance and up the stairs near the entrance to the sanctuary. There will be signs directing you.
Wednesday, September 21, 2017, 7:00 - 9:00pm in western NY at Lord of Life Lutheran Church, 1-25 Borden Road, Depew, NY 14043-4221. [716-668-8000].

Please confirm your participation by email with Patsy Glista, pglista@upstatenysynod.org or by calling the synod office, (315) 299-4955, by September 15.

Important Information About 2017 ELCA Benefits

Get Ready for Annual Enrollment This Fall

Plan members and organization decision-makers are invited to join us for a short webinar Sept. 8, 11 - 11:30 a.m. (Central). We'll take a closer look at what's changing for 2017, why we believe our new approach will limit the growth of health care cost increases, and what ELCA-Primary members can expect. A replay will be posted online for those unable to attend.

> Register for Portico's webinar on 2017 rates and benefits

A proclivity for paradox

by Bishop Elizabeth Eaton


	Bishop Elizabeth Eaton

A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject of all, subject to all (Martin Luther in Freedom of a Christian).

Wow! Lutherans love paradox! Law and gospel. Saint and sinner. Free and bound. David Swartling, former ELCA secretary, often noted that we are a "both and church" in an "either or world."

This proclivity for paradox, or at least the recognition that this is part of the Lutheran tradition, was often cited as a strength during the churchwide conversation phase of Called Forward Together in Christ (elca.org/future).

For four months synod assemblies, synod councils, the Conference of Bishops, the ELCA Church Council, ELCA ethnic associations, churchwide staff, the Faith Formation Network, individuals, agencies and institutions have been praying and considering together what might be God's priorities for the ELCA. It has been an engaged and energetic process.

Definite themes emerged all across this church. The next phase of the process will present these themes for consideration for all of us in the ELCA-once again in synods, congregations, agencies, colleges and universities, seminaries and at the Churchwide Assembly.

Spoiler alert: I'm going to lift up two of the themes now. First, in describing what it means to be an ELCA Lutheran or in answering the question "What is God calling the ELCA to become?" we overwhelmingly answered "a diverse, inclusive, multicultural church." In the settings where I led the conversation, I gently admonished pastors to let the laypeople speak so all of the baptized could be heard. Diversity was understood to be ethnic, economic and generational. We said congregations should reflect the communities in which they are planted. Marvelous!

The second theme I will raise now is that the ELCA is constituted so there is very little enforceable accountability. ELCA members can decide to participate in the life of their congregation or not. Congregations can decide to participate in the life of the synod or greater church or not. Pastors can decide to be engaged beyond their congregations or not. Even synods and bishops are often caught between their specific contexts and participation in churchwide decisions.

We aren't bad people. The overwhelming majority of us don't intend to be oppositional. There are forces at play that exacerbate this lack of accountability. The first is cultural-American Christianity is congregational and the autonomy of the individual is darn near sacrosanct. This started long before the breakdown of trust of institutions in the 1960s and '70s. Church membership is understood as a voluntary association. One can opt in and out as one chooses. In the American context faith is a private affair.

The second is that it took great sensitivity to care for the histories, polities and ecclesiologies of our predecessor church bodies (the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, American Lutheran Church, Lutheran Church in America) as the ELCA was being born. It was an enormously daring leap of faith to become the ELCA. I believe we are still working on trusting each other.

Our conversations in the Called Forward Together in Christ process show that we believe God is calling us to be a diverse and inclusive church. We need to be clear about our motivation. If it is a desire, no matter how well-intentioned or noble, to diversify the church, I don't believe God will bless our efforts. But, if it's our earnest desire to share the intimate and liberating love of Jesus, then we will have to hold each other accountable as we take the hard but holy steps to open up a 94 percent white church.

Which brings me to the Luther quote at the beginning of this column. Faith is personal-God loves each one of us-but it is never private, nor is it lived apart from other Christians. In Christ we have been set free and in that perfect freedom we are subject and accountable to one another.

A monthly message from the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Her email address: bishop@elca.org. This article originally appeared in the August issue of Living Lutheran. Reprinted with permission.

School Days


Marcia Brown

College kids are headed back for another year. If they are going to one of the 26 colleges and universities of the ELCA, they are receiving character and faith development along with their education. Also at 200 public colleges, there is a Lutheran Campus Ministry presence to be a church-away-from-home.

Besides serving the spiritual needs of students, about half of the campus ministries also serve their bodily needs. Would it surprise you that some students are homeless? That, once they've paid for tuition and books, they have no money for food?

One campus grew a community garden. Another started a pantry for toiletries, another for food. Most campus ministries established a relationship with a local ELCA congregation. In doing these things, the rarely told story of student poverty has been brought to light and addressed. ELCA colleges and Lutheran Campus Ministries are helped by your mission donations. Thank you!

We are church together for the sake of the world. God's Work. Our Hands.

SAMUEL TREXLER FELLOWSHIP FUND GRANT APPLICATION PERIOD OPEN FOR 2017

By: Karen Brundige, Synod Bookkeeper


	Karen Brundige

Samuel Trexler Fellowship Fund grants awarded in January 2017, will be decided on at the November 2016 Synod Council meeting. Applications will be accepted through October 31, 2016. This fund was established "to enable Lutheran pastors and seminary student scholarships for specialized programs of study in the United States or abroad in any field pertaining to the life and thought of the church." You may download the Brochure with more information on this grant and an Application on our website. Any questions, please contact Karen Brundige at the Synod office.

IN OUR PRAYERS

We hold in prayer

our 2016 Churchwide Assembly
the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and Rev. Michael Cooper White
the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and Rev. David Lose

Prayers of Comfort

for Pastor Jim Dugan and Family at the death of his mother, Doris

Prayers of Healing

for Pastor Becca Ehrlich
for Pastor John Klatt
for the congregation of Grace, Cortland and Pastor Peter Williams as they recover from a fire

Prayers of Thanksgiving

for Pastor Kris Bjerke-Ulimin and St. Timothy's, Grand Island as she was installed last Sunday
as our Churchwide Representatives attend the 2016 Churchwide Assembly. May your travel be safe and your work be blessed by the hand of God.
Churchwide Assembly Prayers
for Pastor Paul and Mary Luisi (Concordia, Watertown) at the birth of their first grandson, Dominic Augustine Luisi, born on August 5th to Anthony and Paloma Luisi.

TIDBITS

Freed and Renewed in Christ

2016 Churchwide Assembly

Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are gathered in assembly in New Orleans. The assembly - the highest legislative body of the ELCA - will be composed of 980 voting members serving on behalf of the 3.7 million members of the ELCA.

People not attending the assembly can follow #ELCAcwa on social media for updates and access live video of plenary sessions at ELCA.org/ChurchwideAssembly.

Annual Ministerium Retreat


Rev. David Lose

September 12-14, 2016

The Rev. Dr. David Lose "Preaching Jesus Today"

Brochure

Remember registrations are being accepted on a first come/first serve basis due to facility spacing requirements. Please register soon.

Bishop's Appeal 2016

Please remember to make your donation. It will help create a fund to offer assistance with educational debt to those in need who become rostered in our synod. Donate on-line

12 Tips for Being Safer Online - Does your congregation practice safe online use with your website and social media? Read more.

Gods Work Our Hands

Sunday, September 11, 2016

T-shirts available from Old Lutheran until August 19th.

Visit http://elca.org/dayofservice for the 2016 toolkit and more.

Lutheran World Federation preaching contest

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is offering a young pastor the chance to preach at the Twelfth Assembly, which will be held in Windhoek, Namibia, in 2017. A preaching contest is now open to eligible contestants: ordained Lutheran pastors in LWF member churches who were born after May 1984. This sermon will be delivered at the closing worship of the assembly. It will be one of the highlights of the assembly.Learn more here

ELCA Facebook page reaches 100,000 followers

The ELCA's Facebook page recently celebrated a milestone of 100,000 followers! Have you liked our page? Join thousands of other Lutherans by engaging in this ministry of social media. We are church together! Find news, stories and photos from the ministries of the ELCA at Facebook.com Lutherans .

Color with Women of the ELCA

Women of the ELCA has joined the adult coloring book craze and now has coloring resources that encourage prayer and reflection. Visit welcatg.org/coloring-devotionals to download a free series of five devotions that are connected to the "All Anew" theme for the Women of the ELCA's 10th Triennial Gathering. The five devotionals that accompany the coloring verses were written by Melissa Bills, a pastor at First Lutheran Church, Decorah, Iowa.

Summer Update on Progress Toward a

Unified Seminary at Philadelphia and Gettysburg

July 29, 2016

Earlier this July, the boards from Philadelphia and Gettysburg Seminaries met jointly following a meeting of the newly elected Transition Team on the Gettysburg Seminary campus. This update, written by the two Seminary Presidents, fills in additional context, provides news from the decision-making bodies, and makes requests of constituents like you. You can download the update in pdf format, or read the update on the New School website.

A print version of this update will be mailed to constituents, and another update is expected by the end of August, following another joint meeting of the boards, to be held this time in Philadelphia.

For more information, check out the website newschooloftheology.info.

To apply to one of the schools, please contact Nate Preisinger (LTSP) at npreisinger@Ltsp.edu or 215.248.6321, or Lauren Muratore (LTSG) at lmuratore@Ltsg.edu or 717.339.1301. To make a gift to either school to support candidates studying for ministry, please contact Dennis Trotter (LTSP) at dtrotter@Ltsp.edu or Glenn Ludwig (LTSG) at gludwig@Ltsg.edu.

2016-17 Schedule Is Out

Set those calendars

We're excited to roll out our schedule of programs and events for the upcoming school year! So excited in fact we included the entire year! So get excited along with us and grab your schedule now! The schedule kicks in August 4! Read more

Please visit our website upstatenysynod.org

Thank you for spending some time reading this edition of the Upstate Update. We hope, and pray, that you found it useful. If you know someone who could benefit from the Upstate Update, please forward it to them and ask them to sign up directly.

Kathy Neugent

Executive Assistant to the Bishop

Upstate New York Synod of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

kneugent@upstatenysynod.org

Phone: 315-299-4955 Fax: 315-299-4981

Resurrection people who pray first, walk together and change lives.