A lot of congregations can't offer a health plan, so the pastor's family ends up buying its own. Here is how pastors and clergy are keeping that coverage affordable this year.
Hi, I'm Sam Jaber, a licensed health insurance broker based in Tampa. I'm licensed in 36 states and I work by phone, so whether your church is a storefront in town or a country chapel two hours from anywhere, we can sit down and talk this through.
Pastors reach out to me for a reason that comes up again and again: the church isn't able to offer a health plan. Small congregations stretch every dollar, and a group policy often isn't one they can manage. So the pastor ends up shopping for a family plan alone, usually without anyone to explain how it works.
My goal on this page is to make the decision feel manageable. There's one question that points you in the right direction, and then a few common situations. Find the one that sounds like your household.
The question I ask first is this: is your household's income for the coverage year under the subsidy line on the marketplace?
That line is about four times the federal poverty level. For one person, it's a little over $60,000 a year, and it rises with each person in your household. A pastor with a spouse and children has a good deal more room under the line than a single person does.
Clergy pay often has more than one piece, such as a salary and a housing allowance, and the tax rules for ministers are unusual. Exactly which pieces count as income for the marketplace is a question for your tax preparer, and I'd ask them before you enroll. Once you have that number from them, the rest of the decision gets much simpler.
For many pastors' families, this is where things land, and it's good news. When your income qualifies, the marketplace is usually where you'll find the most affordable coverage, because the subsidy can only be used there.
What matters most is the estimate. You enroll based on what you expect your household to earn in the coming year. If that turns out to be too low, perhaps because the church gave a raise or you took on extra work, the difference is settled at tax time and you may need to pay some of the help back. If your pay changes during the year, update the marketplace right away so your subsidy changes with it.
We'll also make sure the plan includes the doctors and hospital your family actually uses, because the plan with the lowest premium doesn't always cover the care you need.
Next step: Bring me the income figure your tax preparer gives you and I'll help you choose a marketplace plan that fits it.
Some pastors, especially at larger congregations or with a working spouse, find their household above the subsidy line. Then the marketplace charges the full price, and for a healthy family that can be a hard number to justify.
In that case I'll show you private plans sold outside the marketplace. They're medically underwritten, which means you answer health questions about each person when you apply, and the insurer uses your answers to approve the plan and set its price. A family in good health can often pay noticeably less than the marketplace's full price.
These plans run on PPO networks that cover the whole country, so you can see doctors across state lines, which helps if you travel for ministry, visit family or send kids away to school.
There are tradeoffs, and they only apply here. A past or current health condition can lead the insurer to decline someone or leave that condition out. And each plan has its own benefits, so I'll go through exactly what a plan pays for before you pick it.
Next step: Call me and I'll price a nationwide PPO for your family and show it next to the full marketplace price.
Maybe someone in your home is managing a long-term condition, or takes a medication they can't go without. If so, the marketplace is usually where you belong, even above the subsidy line.
Marketplace plans must accept everyone and can't charge more because of a health condition. A private underwritten plan can decline someone or exclude the condition that needs care. So we'll stay on the marketplace and look carefully at which plan in your area keeps your doctors and prescriptions covered.
Next step: Tell me which doctors and medications your family depends on and I'll compare the plans available where you live, with you on the phone.
Maybe you're leaving a position that came with a health plan, or a spouse's job coverage is ending. Losing job-based coverage opens a special enrollment period, usually 60 days long, to sign up for a marketplace plan outside open enrollment. If you're taking COBRA for now, choosing to drop it early doesn't open that window, so we'll time the change carefully.
A move to a new congregation can also change your pay and your zip code, and both of those can change which plans you can choose and what you'll pay. We'll sort that out together before the move.
Next step: Call me as soon as you know your start date and we'll line up coverage for the day your old plan ends.
In some areas, the marketplace only offers HMO or EPO plans, or the PPO it has costs more than a pastor's family can manage. That isn't the end of your options. If your household is healthy, I can price a nationwide PPO in any of the 36 states where I'm licensed. A short call will tell you what it costs.
You don't need anything to start, but these make our call more useful:
My help is free. The insurance company pays me when you enroll, and your premium is the same whether you go through me or not.
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
You can buy your own coverage on the marketplace, where a subsidy may lower the price depending on your household income. If you're healthy and over the subsidy line, a private plan with a nationwide PPO is worth comparing.
That's a tax question, and ministers' tax rules are unusual. Your tax preparer can confirm which parts of your pay count. Once you have that figure, I can help you use it to pick a plan.
For some taxes, the IRS treats ministers' earnings differently from other employees' pay, but that's about taxes, not health coverage. If your church doesn't offer a plan, you buy your own coverage like anyone else. Your tax preparer can explain your tax status.
Yes. Households under the subsidy line usually find the most affordable plans on the marketplace. Healthy households above it can compare private plans on nationwide PPO networks in all 36 states I'm licensed in.
Share roughly what your household earns, who needs coverage, and the doctors your family sees. I'll tell you which path fits and what it costs, and if the plan you have is already right for you, I'll say so plainly.
Pastors and clergy in your state
Other lines of work I help