B. Nathaniel Sullivan
PO Box 1854
Mt. Juliet, TN 37121
August 22, 2019
To the Trustees of LifeWay Christian Resources,
I am a LifeWay retiree who is under 65 years of age. I worked at the LifeWay (then Baptist Book Store) retail store in Asheville, North Carolina, for four years; then I worked at corporate headquarters as an editor for 17½ years before being laid off in 2012. Since then I have been fulfilling writing assignments as a freelance writer and editor (these haven’t been plentiful) and working at the LifeWay Distribution Center (warehouse) part time. My wife also has been working part time as well. In the midst of all of that, we also homeschool our two daughters, who are 16 and 13. Our plates are full!
LifeWay’s decision to reduce the life insurance benefit for retirees from $20,000 to $5,000, and for us, especially its decision to no longer offer health insurance through LifeWay for retirees under 65, has left us reeling. With regard to the life insurance policy, one retiree has said she was depending on the policy to make it possible for her family cover her funeral expenses without going into debt. She recently lost her beloved brother, and his funeral expenses cost her $14,000.
The decision about health insurance hits me the hardest. I’m 62. Right now, through LifeWay for BCBS of TN health insurance for me and my family, I pay
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- $1,149.00 per month in premiums, and
- our deductible is around $5,000.
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With a different BCBS plan I could have had through LifeWay, I would have been paying at or near $1,900 per month in premiums, with a deductible in the neighborhood of $1,000 to $1,500.
This is just for medical coverage and drug benefits; this cost does not include dental or vision benefits.
It is frustrating to me that this article in the Baptist and Reflector, which describes changes occurring in benefits to LifeWay retirees, states, “LifeWay will no longer offer access to medical, prescription, dental and vision benefits to current and future retirees (nor spouses) who are not yet 65 years of age.”
While technically the clause “LifeWay will no longer offer access medical, prescription, dental and vision benefits” frames the situation accurately, one cannot blame readers for getting the impression that LifeWay has provided retirees insurance benefits without cost, or without significant cost, to them. As my situation indicates, this hasn’t been the case at all.
On the open market, I understand that premiums and deductibles are through the roof (even though what I’m paying right now through LifeWay this year is expensive). If anyone can afford the premiums, he would have no hope, in a typical year with no catastrophic health events, of ever meeting his deductible. (The greater hope, of course, is that nothing catastrophic ever would happen—but no guarantees exist.) And I’m going to have to find a family policy, not an individual one or one for only me and my wife.
While in many ways we have two normal teenagers, both of our daughters have issues that require them to see a professional counselor and a psychiatrist (for medications) regularly. One of them has ADHD and the other selective mutism. On top of this, because of an otherwise relatively minor heart issue, our daughter with ADHD cannot take the stimulants that most kids with ADHD take. This means the meds she can take are limited—and more expensive. Our insurance plans through LifeWay have included a drug benefit. What will happen now?
A former LifeWay colleague who also was laid off said this:
It’s one thing if an employee CHOSE to retire early. But most of us had that decision made by someone else.…I didn’t choose early retirement. I need medical insurance. As a single, I don’t have a spouse who will add me to his insurance benefits.
I didn’t choose early retirement either, and my family depends on my insurance! How will we afford it?
Several retirees I’ve spoken to are now looking for work with medical benefits because of the prospect of not being able to afford insurance. They feel they must reenter the workforce. One of my former colleagues chose to retire earlier this year, but after learning she can’t get insurance through LifeWay, she’s applying for full time work. So is the retiree who made the comment I quoted above. She now is pulling out all the stops. It’s my understanding she had 35 years of service at LifeWay.
There was talk that retirees under 65 might be able to get their insurance through LifeWay at cost. But that hope, I understand, has been dashed. One retiree under 65 shared this:
I reached back out to HR to confirm or deny whether pre-65 retirees will be given the option to pay the full premium (retiree + LifeWay +2% admin cost) to continue our current medical coverage. Well, the response is that we WILL NOT have that option. In October, we will have the option of working with VIA Benefits to find other insurance options. This is not good news for us who would like to stay retired. I am so disappointed with the way this has been handled.
There are a lot of us who feel the same way! I understand the reality that from time to time corporations must make financial adjustments, but why can’t it be worked out for us to purchase health insurance through LifeWay at no direct cost to the company? Maybe it’s because LifeWay is self-insured, and the total costs of everyone insured under the “LifeWay umbrella” will be greater if the retirees under 65 are included in the group. I understand this element, but can’t LifeWay work out a plan that won’t thrust us out into the open market as far as health insurance is concerned? Insurance tied to the “Affordable Health Care Act” is anything but affordable!
At a retiree fellowship on September 6, members of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) will review the changes with retirees. By that time, the August trustee meeting will be over. It is of great frustration to me that retirees have no forum, no platform, and no way to communicate with LifeWay’s trustees unless we reach out to you on an individual basis, or in the manner I’m reaching out to you here.
While I have high regard for LifeWay’s leadership, I do not believe the approach the company is taking represents the best it can do for retirees under 65—especially since many of us did not choose to retire but were laid off. I would have given all of my career years to LifeWay had I been given the chance.
Moreover, I’d like to add this: While I certainly respect the members of the ELT, when they tell us they also will be affected by the changes, my response is simply this—not in the ways we are going to be affected!
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- First, they know well before entering retirement what the landscape looks like.
- Second, many of them will not be laid off but will get to choose when they retire.
- Finally, their current salary packages make their situations much easier for them to handle.
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I am desperately hoping that something can be worked out that will ease the financial pressures of LifeWay retirees under 65 with regard to health insurance.
Thank you for your consideration and for anything you can do to pry open a door to make this happen.
Sincerely,
B. Nathaniel Sullivan
LifeWay Christian Resources, 1991-2012
wordfoundations@gmail.com
PS: Please forward this letter to any trustees you know of who haven’t yet received it. Getting an email address for a trustee who is a pastor or on church staff is fairly easy. Email addresses are typically elusive for trustees who have non-church-related vocations.