Brian Ross
Koinos Community BIC Church
When it was announced that the denomination was preparing to launch a new health insurance program for pastors and other ministry workers, church planter Brian Ross was not wild about the idea. He was concerned that providing the church staff with health insurance would put a strain on his young congregation’s already tight budget. And besides, Brian had already been without health insurance for several years (a pre-existing condition and subsequent surgery made it almost impossible for him to buy individual coverage), so he was pretty sure he could survive without this new plan.
“The bottom line for a church plant is that we need all the money we can get,” says Brian. “So for someone to come in and say we have to purchase this insurance—that was a big deal for us.” But in the end, Brian, his staff, and the board of Koinos Community decided to get on board with the plan.
Finding himself with health care coverage for the first time in a half-decade, Brian scheduled a routine physical with his family doctor—only to find that the genetic condition for which he’d been treated years before was resurfacing. Brian’s doctor immediately scheduled him for another operation.
“If I wouldn’t have had surgery, if that hadn’t been caught, I would have been in a pretty bad spot,” he admits.
The pre-existing condition, while “under control” for the present, will never completely abate, which makes Brian all the more grateful to be under the supervision of a doctor. “Koinos took a pretty big financial hit” by signing on to the plan, but Brian recognizes the benefits.
“As a church, I’m glad we signed on,” he says. “Especially now that this condition is back, and I’ve had this surgery, it would be pretty hard for me to go without insurance again.”
