by Steve Bender
Healthcare for missionaries has been discussed for many years among those of us who serve the missionaries, those who send them, and the missionaries themselves. Because of the extremely high cost involved, many American families are now either very poorly covered or have opted to carry no insurance at all, leaving them in a very dangerous situation should they encounter any major health concerns.
We don’t want that to happen to our missionary families. Realizing the need to ensure medical coverage for the missionaries of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International, the BBF Mission Office has always done it’s best to seek and provide a medical plan that would fill the need of all our missionaries. To do this on a global basis has not been an easy task. In our almost 59-year history, there have been several vehicles used to provide proper healthcare coverage. In 1984, the insurance company being used to provide coverage to our missionaries fell into financial troubles and we decided to begin a self-funded plan.
In 1985, the Mission Office hired Worldwide Insurance and Claim Service to be our TPA or Third Party Administrator. The missionaries of the BBFI in essence own their own medical plan, while the Mission Office manages the funds and plan policies, and Worldwide performs the task of administrating the plan. Realizing the financial risk involved in undertaking a selffunded plan, a reinsurance company was hired to provide coverage against catastrophic claims. The BBF Mission medical plan not only provides our missionaries with medical coverage worldwide, but it also provides a level of life insurance on each member of the missionary’s family as well as medical emergency evacuation service should it become necessary. In the unfortunate event that a missionary dies on the mission field, coverage includes repatriation of the body.
In spite of being a self-funded plan, extremely high medical costs make the premiums a financial burden to our missionaries. Many options have been and will continue to be evaluated to provide the finest coverage at the least expensive cost to our missionaries. For example, we have looked at the possibility of missionaries obtaining medical coverage on the foreign field. However, we cannot confirm that should these missionaries be diagnosed with a fatal disease and return to the US for treatment, that they would receive benefits with their foreign policies. At that point, the only option would be to go to the missionaries’ supporting churches asking for help with what could be a catastrophic cost. Therefore, for now we think that the wisest decision is to continue in the BBFI medical plan.
/Due to the ever-rising cost of healthcare worldwide and the world’s current economic state, the BBFI medical plan has also suffered financially. Trying desperately to financially manage the BBFI medical plan without having to continually pass on premium increases to the missionaries, we are praying for God to once again supply the funds through His people to keep the plan financially healthy.
Recently, I was approached by a husband and wife who said, “We are visiting with our lawyer soon to redo our will. How can we be a blessing to our missionaries in the area of healthcare?” I replied, “First of all, pray daily for the health and protection of your missionaries. Secondly, should God place it on your heart to include in your estate the BBFI medical plan, this would certainly be an ongoing blessing to the physical needs of the missionaries. It would also be an investment that would continue to benefit God’s servants long after your life on earth is over.” This is just one instance of God’s provision for His work.
The BBFI medical plan could use an immediate infusion of funds to continue to provide first-class healthcare coverage for our missionaries. If God should burden you to invest in this vital need for the nearly 900 missionaries of the BBFI, either through estate planning or a one-time gift, please contact our office for details on just how you can be used of God.