Maybe I’m the last one to know this, who knows? But I heard a rumor this morning and called Guidestone and was shocked to have that rumor verified.
After December 31, 2013, Guidestone will not sell any new health insurance policies. If your church hires a new pastor or a new staff member, you are on your own. You can seek private insurance or wander through the Obamacare minefield. But Guidestone will not be available to serve the insurance needs of Southern Baptists in 2014.
To be clear, if you have Guidestone insurance, you can keep it – for now at least. They are just refusing to write any new policies.
According to the person I talked to, they were reluctant to do this. There is such uncertainty about the dictates of Obamacare that they felt that writing new policies put the rest of us at risk. If I understood him, it had to do with Obamacare restrictions on underwriting. I don’t understand insurance, so I’m reluctant to opine.
But, with all due respect, I will venture my opinion on this: Obamacare is a mess!
Anyway, I publish this to warn you. If you are planning to get a policy from Guidestone for yourself or a new staff member, the application MUST be in the office by December 31. Postmarked won’t do! If you send it, send it early. Otherwise, you can fax it or email it (with scanned copies). The ability to register online has been disabled by Guidestone.
This is sad and shocking, but welcome to the world we live in.
