Insurance Committee’s Report

Audit Committee, and a report given at the District Spring Meeting. The audit (income and expense) must be filed with the Supreme Lodge President within 30 days after the audit. The District Youth Counselor and District Audit Committee must see that the report is filed. Any unused funds are to be returned to the Home Office.

Authorize the Supreme Lodge to contribute to the district 80 cents per year for every insured member who has attained the age of 16 years. This amount must be for the benefit of the youth.

The Finance Committee will review the allocation for 2022 and 2023 at its annual meeting.

District Allocation

The annual allocation to each district shall be $2,000, of which $1,000 will be paid to the lodge hosting the district meeting. To be reviewed annually by the Finance Committee.

Czech Heritage Museum

The Finance Committee recommends a $50,000 contribution for operations, thereafter to be reviewed annually by the Finance Committee.

Scholarship Fund

Authorize the Supreme Lodge to contribute $30,000 per year to the Scholarship Fund, $5,000 of the $30,000 per year to go into the SPJST scholarship endowment fund, to be reviewed consecutively by the Finance Committee each year.

Other Recommendations 1. Officers, Directors, Editor, Members on the Standing Committees, and other authorized personnel using a personal car for the use of the Society work, and are authorized to travel for the Society, be paid the IRS adjusted rate at time of travel less 20 cents per mile.

2. Per diems as authorized elsewhere in this recommendation should only be paid one-half of the per diem if away from their home base for less than four hours.

3. Meal allowances authorized elsewhere in this recommendation may be increased from $35 to $50 for out of state travel. 4. Officers and Directors should not be paid a bonus until the Earned Surplus reaches the $24 million level (should the above recommendation for officer and director pay not pass, this recommendation is to remain).

5. An annual allocation for the upkeep of the SPJST Cemeteries, a maximum of $1,000 per cemetery, and give the authority to disburse and administer these funds to the Supreme Lodge.

6. Reduce the payment of health and dental insurance for employees to 50 percent of the premium.

7. Reduce the payment of health and dental insurance for retired employees and spouses to 50 percent of premiums.

8. Do not increase overall number of employees as of March 14, 2020, and attempt to achieve a 10 percent reduction in the number of employees.

9. Reduce non-contractual spending by 20 percent annually, starting August 15, 2021, until an amount is achieved that does not exceed the revenue generated by the income of the surplus or unassigned funds. This amount to be determined by the rate of return on all assets multiplied by the amount of unassigned funds of the preceding year. To be reviewed annually by the Finance Committee.

10. An allocation of $6,250 to each of the four lodges in their original building since being chartered. This will be a one time allocation to the four lodges totaling $25,000. Copies of expenditures must be provided to Supreme Lodge for review and disbursement.

Respectfully submitted, Finance Committee Members Herman D. Weise, Chair

District Five Michael Galler, Vice Chair

District Three Ashley Victorick, Secretary

District Five Debbie Kostelka

District One Edwin Pechal

District Two Karen Kaspar

District Six Colleen Jenke

District Seven —SPJST—

With a new Vice President coming in and resigning within 30 days, and a replacement coming in November, during the 2021 planning session, it was decided to forgo the Insurance Committee meeting. Several changes had to be made fast, and tough decisions had to be made so a meeting with the new Vice President would not produce anything new at the time.

The Insurance Department made several moves to increase margins and production. First thing was to clean up the agent program. Non-productive contracts were terminated, and new addendums were created to make the minimum standards clearer. Commissions were then restructured to allow for some of our lower margin products to be more profitable. A new all-cash incentive program was designed for all agents who reach the numbers to earn an incentive, not just the top 10.

We created a training system and put out a statewide training schedule for all of 2021. This also included 12 virtual training classes. That allows the agents to pick what topics and what continuing education classes they wish to attend. This allows the agents to stay compliant with the state requirements much easier. There are more than 124 hours of classroom studies scheduled in 2021. Production has increased with 116 less agents.

We then repriced our whole life products increasing the margins to increase profitability. We are currently restructuring the Universal Life and term products to keep them from underproducing.

A new customized quoting software system is being built that will allow all agents to do quotes, anywhere on any device, anytime. This will make it much easier to get their jobs done. Currently, our system is limited to certain devices and cannot be accessed by many agents who are using Macs, iPhones, or anything earlier than Windows 10.

We created a new “simplified final expense” product to make it easier to sell, and we increased it from $25,000 max to $30,000 max, opening up our market.

We renegotiated our contract with the reinsurer to allow our underwriting to be more competitive. We can now forgo blood and urine (APPS) and attending physician statements (APS) for anyone under age 40 and under up to $250,000 in insurance, if their MIB and script check comes back clean. This is saving us thousands in expenses and speeding up the underwriting process. We terminated our contract with the third-party vendor that did our APS and brought it in house, saving us even more. It also sped up receiving medical records from an average of 28 days to 7 days, improving underwriting even more.

We are working closely with the Fraternal and Communication Departments to create a new branding and marketing program. We are creating four new brochures (insurance, annuities, youth, and member benefits) that will allow for us to produce them in English and Spanish. We are creating framed posters for the lodges, mirroring the brochures so the community will know who we are when renting the facility. We have created and are in the process of distributing two - 4-foot by 8-foot signs to all lodges with a building. This will make the community recognize it as an SPJST lodge when they drive by. It will put consistency in the signage throughout the state.

We are increasing our sponsorships in the SPJST communities, especially where there are no lodge buildings, so we can become centers of activities in those communities. Creating a presence in each community will allow us to brand and market better.

We are creating a new member referral program that will reward quality referrals and give, especially youth, incentives to refer their friends.

There are several other things in the works that will be announced as we get them together. Delisle S. Doherty Supreme Lodge Vice President for the Insurance Committee Susan Skrabanek, Chair District One Patsy Koslovsky, Secretary District Two Robert Sill District Three Leonard Jansa District Four Kerry Herrington District Five Elizabeth Holub District Six Wendy Pruski District Seven —SPJST—