The Mission Office of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International maintains a self-funded Medical Plan for all Career and Retired Missionaries. The Medical Plan is administered by International Medical Group (IMG) and covers our missionaries stateside or on any mission field around the world. Over the past three years, IMG has processed a yearly average of $3.68 million in medical claims for our missionaries.
The current plan has a $750 deductible and an 80/20 co-insurance for the first $5,000 in services. There are two deductibles and co-insurances applied per family. The maximum family out of pocket for contracted services is $3,500 per year. For treatment received outside the United States the $750 deductible is not applied.
For stateside coverage, the Medical Plan works with First Health Network as a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO). Last year through contracted and negotiated discounts, First Health saved the Medical Plan over $1,200,000.
The monthly deduction also includes Emergency Medical Evacuations managed through Intana. International medical evacuations are incredibly complex. Once determined to be medically necessary, Intana can execute an evacuation from almost any country in the world at no additional cost to the missionary. With the cost of private evacuations often exceeding $150,000, Intana’s services protect our missionaries physically and financially.
If a missionary experiences critical or chronic health issues, IMG offers Large Case Management. This service assigns a Case Manager (doctor/RN) to the missionary to monitor all claims and treatments and is available for consultation if needed. Our missionaries have noted this service to be very beneficial. One was quoted to say, “They really cared about me.”
The monthly Medical Plan deduction also includes a basic life insurance policy through Standard Life.
Over the last nine years wherein we have worked with IMG, they have done an incredible job of caring for our missionaries around the world.
-by Mike Duff, Mission Office Medical Plan Manager