Benefits reExamined
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Announcing ELCA Health Plan Changes to Sustain Care and Value for Our Community
After more than a year of surveys, careful analysis, and planning, we are ready to share the resulting changes to the ELCA Health Plan. For more on why the Benefits reExamined initiative was started, jump to this section below.
The following plan changes will begin Jan. 2026:
- Our five current health benefit options will be replaced with four new simplified health benefit options, organized into two sets — each set will include a copay option and a high-deductible option that share the same deductible amounts.*
- Coverage for GLP-1 medications, such as Wegovy, will be paused for weight loss, but coverage for diabetes will continue.
- Like today, we’ll continue encouraging members to receive treatment at Centers of Excellence for organ transplants, bariatric surgery, knee or hip replacements, and spine surgery. Additional procedures will be identified for treatment at Centers of Excellence starting in 2027.
Cost information coming in August: employer contribution rates and plan member deductibles, copays, and out-of-pocket maxes will be available in August, after they are approved by our board of trustees.
Get more details on each of these changes below.
Some Things Are Changing, but Much Will Stay the Same
We will all experience change with the new health benefit options. But many aspects of the ELCA Health Plan that we rely on will stay the same.
Staying the Same:
- A comprehensive bundle of employer-provided health, retirement, life, and disability benefits
- Choice of health benefit options to meet individual financial and health care needs
- Employer and plan member cost-sharing approach
- Nationwide network of health care providers and facilities
- Coverage that stays with rostered ministers as they move from call to call
- Care coordinators and wellness programs supporting a spectrum of needs
- Coverage of GLP-1 medications for diabetes
- Portico experience and service excellence
Changing Jan. 1, 2026:
- Four simplified health benefit options replacing today’s Platinum+, Gold+, Value Copay, Silver+, and Bronze+ options
- Average cost-sharing ratios will shift slightly but will remain true to the ELCA’s longstanding principles
- Starting in 2027, expansion of Centers of Excellence for more procedures to improve outcomes
- Coverage paused for GLP-1 medications for weight loss
Key Changes: Learn More
“We want to honor our long-standing commitment to your well-being, while responding to changes in our environment. I invite you to review these changes to understand what they mean for you.”
– Chris Johnson, President and CEO
4 New Health Benefit Options
- Members (myPortico): Plan Options details (PDF)
- Employers (EmployerLink): Plan Options details (PDF)
GLP-1 Coverage
- Members (myPortico): GLP-1 Medication Coverage details (PDF)
- Employers (EmployerLink): GLP-1 Medication Coverage details (PDF)
Centers of Excellence
- Members (myPortico): Centers of Excellence details (PDF)
- Employers (EmployerLink): Centers of Excellence details (PDF)
Guiding Principles
Our 2024 research affirmed these long-standing principles expressed through the ELCA Philosophy of Benefits and Wholeness Wheel.
- Community — Pooled purchasing power achieves discounted group rates, access to better providers and programs, and administrative efficiency. Costs are shared through a community pricing structure that takes into account family size, geographic location, compensation, and age.
- Uniformity — A consistent benefits package across the church facilitates the call process by freeing rostered ministers to serve where called.
- Wholeness — Benefits strengthen whole-person well-being, provide a bundle of comprehensive protection, and offer choice to help care for a spectrum of needs over a plan member’s lifetime.
Shaped by Community Input
Thank you to the 4,100+ sponsored plan members and employer representatives who participated in our 2024 Benefits reExamined survey and additional research. Review these periodic updates shared over the last year.
Expand each question below for answers.
What is changing?
Changes will be made to ELCA-Primary health benefits available from the ELCA Health Plan for plan members under age 65 (or over age 65 and sponsored by a large employer), effective Jan. 1, 2026, to address the church’s request for more affordability and flexibility. Specifics have not yet been finalized or approved. We’ve listened closely to the community to learn what’s most important and then used rigorous analysis to discern what might change and what must stay the same. Through this work, Portico and the Benefits reExamined Project Team have given prayerful and careful consideration to the potential impact on plan members, families, and sponsoring organizations.
Why are changes needed?
The combination of escalating health care costs nationwide and declining church membership is creating an affordability crisis with respect to health benefits. We’ve drawn on excess health plan reserves in recent years to contain ELCA cost increases, but trends are now pointing to double-digit rate increases for sponsoring employers. We have a responsibility to take action now to address these challenges so we can preserve stability and care for our plan members.
When will we know more?
Portico will communicate with plan members and sponsoring employers in late spring 2025. Information will be shared here, via email, and at synod assemblies.
What isn’t changing?
Our path forward will continue to follow the principles that make our health plan uniquely suited for ministry. Based on your input, you can continue to count on Portico customer service, personalized health care coordination, a choice of options, nationwide consistency to support clergy mobility, community-based pricing, and a comprehensive package of coverage and wellness programs to support a spectrum of needs.
Will retirement, life, or disability benefits be affected as an outcome of Benefits reExamined?
No. Survey feedback narrowed our focus on health plan affordability. Plan members and employers are largely satisfied with the current retirement, life, and disability benefits. These benefits will remain bundled together with the health plan for members in the Traditional Benefits Program.
What should plan members and sponsoring employers do?
Watch your inbox in late spring 2025 for specifics about what will change and resources to help you understand your options for 2026.
Timeline: What to Expect
Changes were endorsed by the ELCA Church Council at its April 2025 meeting and will take effect starting Jan. 1, 2026.
Benefits reExamined Project Team
A team of Portico and ELCA leaders has been formed to lead this initiative and help keep stakeholders informed of progress.
- The Rev. James Dunlop, Bishop, Lower Susquehanna Synod
- Lori Fedyk, ELCA Treasurer
- The Rev. Hans Becklin, Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Reading, PA, and Portico Board of Trustees member
- Stacy Kruse, Portico Chief Operating & Financial Officer
- Lindsey Holman, Portico Sr. Director, Head of Products
- The Rev. Tara Lynn, Portico Regional Representative and ELCA Church Council member
- Kent Roepke, Portico Actuary
* Change applies to the Traditional Benefits Program.