Pre-Conference Workbook - North Carolina Conference of The ...

1. Five-Year Rule: A participant must be covered in the Conference insurance plan for five
consecutive and uninterrupted years immediately prior to the date of retirement in order
to retain insurance benefits after retirement.
2. Clergy persons who retire from the North Carolina Annual Conference with twenty or
more full time years of earned pension credit in the North Carolina Annual Conference
may receive life and health insurance benefits when the clergy person attains age 62 and
receives pension benefits or retires with thirty (30) years of service and receives pension
benefits provided at least twenty (20) of the thirty years of pension credit is in the North
Carolina Annual Conference. The North Carolina pension credit record used to
determine insurance funding for retiring Deacons in Full Connection shall consist of
eligible North Carolina earned pension credit years in both the lay and clergy pension
plans.
3. Effective July 1, 2007, clergy persons who retire at age 59 ½ with 20 or more years may
remain on the Conference insurance plan, provided written notification of this intent is
provided to the Conference Benefits Manager. The clergy person will be responsible for
100% of the applicable monthly premium until the attainment of age 62 (Report B Section
VI B2). At the attainment of age 62, the monthly premium will be adjusted according to
the retirement rules in place at the time of retirement. Monthly premiums will then be
calculated at the applicable percentages as defined in Report B Section VI D and E.
4. All retired clergy, spouses and surviving dependents must enroll in Medicare part A and
part B when first eligible.
5. Effective August 1, 1992, Pastors who discontinued 314.1, or Probationary Members,
327.6, as well as Conference Members who are retired involuntarily, 358.3, who are
granted Honorable Location, 359; who withdraw to unite with another denomination,
361.1; who surrender the ordained ministerial office 361.2; who withdraw under
complaints or charges, 361.3; and Conference Members who are placed on
Administrative Location, 362 are ineligible to receive retirement health or life insurance
benefits when payments from the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits begin.
[Paragraphs noted are from The Book of Discipline, 2012]
C. Retirement prior to January 1, 2004
(Subject to plan changes effective 1/1/2014, section VI.H)
Clergy persons who retire prior to January 1, 2004 from the North Carolina Annual
Conference will be subject to the current rate policy as outlined below. Effective January 1,
2004, there will be a minimum monthly contribution of $10 per participant (for all surviving
dependents and retirees with a clergy retirement date prior to January 1, 2004).
Effective January 1, 2012 the minimum monthly contribution as defined above will be
increased to $20 per month.
The following policies apply:
1. Before the retired clergy person and/or spouse reach the age of Medicare eligibility
(currently 65 years of age), the retired clergy person will pay the amount of premium that
he/she paid in the year in which he/she retires. The Conference Board of Pension will
pay the difference between the clergy person’s payment and the costs of his/her health
insurance. The retired clergy person must continue to pay the amount of premium that
he/she paid in the year of retirement until both the retired clergy person and his/her
spouse reach the age of Medicare eligibility. Billings will be made monthly from the
Treasurer’s Office.
2. If a clergy person who, prior to retirement, has been covered as a single individual for the
purposes of health insurance, wishes at the time of retirement to add family members to
his/her health care plan, he/she must pay the premium applicable to that type of
coverage for the year in which he/she retired. The retired clergy person must continue to
pay that amount of premium until both the retired clergy person and his/her spouse reach
the age of Medicare eligibility.
A clergy person who retires from the North Carolina Annual Conference with less than
twenty (20) full-time years of earned pension credit in the North Carolina Annual
Conference may receive life and health insurance benefits when the clergy person attains
age 62 and receives pension benefits or retires with thirty-five (35) years of service and
receives pension benefits provided at least twenty of the thirty-five years of pension credit
is in the North Carolina Annual Conference. Retired clergy persons and/or dependents
2013AnnualPensionsRpt
Printed on 5/22/13
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