by Jason Coon
What one health plan review revealed about the power of intentional Catholic oversight
What happens when a Catholic employer makes its Catholic identity a priority in the management of its employee health plan?
We recently had an opportunity to see the results firsthand.
At the Catholic Benefits Association (CBA), we conduct health plan stewardship reviews through CARLO, our Catholic health plan review platform. These reviews evaluate how well an employer’s health plan reflects Catholic teaching, incorporates religious liberty protections, and communicates its Catholic identity through the benefits it provides.
Our reviews have consistently revealed a concerning reality: Catholic employers often assume their health plans reflect Catholic teaching, only to discover provisions, ambiguities, or administrative practices that suggest otherwise.
But a recent review told a different story.
One Catholic organization’s health plan earned an initial Catholic moral compliance score of 89%—the highest initial score we have recorded through CARLO.
Our CBA reviews evaluate how well an employer’s health plan reflects Catholic teaching, incorporates religious liberty protections, and communicates its Catholic identity through the benefits it provides. The review provides a Moral Compliance Score that reflects these finding in a simplified way for our membership.
What made this result particularly interesting wasn’t simply the score.
It was the story behind it.
The Difference Was Intentional Oversight
For several years, this organization had made a deliberate decision to incorporate Catholic oversight into the management of its employee health benefits.
Rather than relying exclusively on traditional insurance industry practices, the organization had taken steps to ensure that Catholic moral principles were considered in the design and administration of its plan.
That commitment appears to have made a meaningful difference.
When we conducted our CARLO review, we found a plan that had already addressed many of the moral and religious liberty concerns we routinely identify in other Catholic employers’ health plans.
The organization wasn’t starting from scratch.
It had already established a foundation of Catholic alignment.
The lesson is important: When Catholic identity becomes part of health plan governance, the results can be seen in the plan itself.
Even Strong Catholic Plans Need Continued Stewardship
An 89% score is an encouraging achievement, but it doesn’t mean the work is finished.
Our review still identified opportunities to strengthen Catholic alignment, particularly in areas where healthcare innovation, administrative practices, and plan language can create unintended gaps.
Among the findings were opportunities to:
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Strengthen surrogacy exclusions. Clarify language that could allow certain surrogacy-related expenses to be covered despite the organization’s Catholic commitments.
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Establish bioethical safeguards for emerging treatments. Ensure that clinical trials, gene therapies, and cellular treatments are evaluated against Catholic moral principles, particularly regarding the use of human embryos.
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Support the restoration of fertility. Reconsider exclusions for medically appropriate sterilization reversal procedures, which can support a return to openness to life.
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Improve oversight of telehealth services. Ensure that plan-sponsored healthcare partners and their referral practices reflect the organization’s Catholic commitments. If you’re seeking a Catholic telehealth services, contact the CBA for a recommendation.
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Clarify prescription drug provisions. Evaluate areas where broad formulary language may leave morally sensitive coverage decisions to administrators without sufficient Catholic guidance. For an introduction to a great resource, please contact Jason Coon at the CBA.
These findings illustrate an important distinction.
Some concerns involve benefits that may directly conflict with Catholic teaching. Others involve ambiguity, insufficient safeguards, or missed opportunities to support healthcare consistent with the Church’s understanding of the human person.
Both deserve attention.
And even a strong Catholic health plan can improve.
Catholic Identity Requires More Than an Exclusion List
For years, much of the conversation surrounding Catholic health plans has focused on what they should not cover.
Contraception. Sterilization. Abortion. Gender transition services.
These are important considerations, particularly as Catholic employers navigate government mandates and seek to exercise their religious liberty protections.
But Catholic health plan stewardship must go further.
A genuinely Catholic approach also asks what a health plan should actively support.
Does the plan encourage restorative reproductive medicine? Does it provide access to ethically sound treatments? Are emerging medical technologies evaluated through a Catholic moral framework? Do healthcare partners understand and respect the employer’s religious mission?
These questions become increasingly important as medicine evolves.
A Catholic health plan cannot remain faithfully aligned simply by adopting exclusions and assuming the work is complete.
It requires an ongoing process of evaluation, discernment, and governance.
From Compliance to Governance
This recent review reinforces a principle we are working to advance through CBA’s health benefits consultative services:
Catholic health plan stewardship is not simply about finding problems. It is about establishing a system of governance that prevents problems, identifies opportunities, and protects Catholic identity over time.
Traditional benefit consultants understandably focus on cost, utilization, networks, pharmacy management, and employee experience.
Those responsibilities remain essential.
But Catholic employers have another responsibility that cannot be delegated without oversight: ensuring that their health plans remain consistent with their mission.
When Catholic oversight is integrated into benefit decisions, employers are better positioned to evaluate vendors, assess new treatments, clarify plan provisions, and maintain accountability.
The result is not necessarily a perfect plan.
It is a plan that is intentionally governed over time.
The Question Every Catholic Employer Should Ask
The Moral Compliance Score of 89% result gives us an encouraging example of what intentional Catholic oversight can accomplish.
It also raises an important question for other Catholic employers:
If we reviewed your health plan tomorrow, would we find evidence of intentional Catholic governance—or would we find a plan that has simply evolved through years of routine insurance decisions?
The difference matters.
Because every benefit included, every exclusion written, every vendor selected, and every administrative decision made communicates something about how an organization understands human dignity, healthcare, and its Catholic mission.
At CBA, we believe health plans are not neutral.
They are an expression of an employer’s values, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
This recent review reminds us that Catholic alignment is achievable, measurable, and worth maintaining.
And perhaps most importantly, it demonstrates that when Catholic employers take ownership of their health plans, Catholic identity becomes more than a statement of mission. It becomes a measurable part of how they care for their people.
The Catholic Benefits Association helps Catholic employers evaluate, strengthen, and maintain the Catholic integrity of their employee health plans through CARLO stewardship reviews and ongoing consulting services.
Is your health plan reflecting your Catholic mission—or are you simply assuming that it does?
Learn more about CARLO and Catholic health plan stewardship by connecting with me – jasoncoon@catholicbenefitsassociation.org.