We are excited to share that this summer MCC is rebranding its suite of employee benefits as MiCatholic Benefits, the official employee benefits program of Michigan Catholic Conference.

At the same time, the online portal currently known as Employee Self-Serve (ESS) will be upgraded and rebranded as the MiCatholic Benefits portal.

The purpose for this initiative is to reinforce our mission to serve employees, units and dioceses in Michigan with benefits administration, and to more clearly align the program with our Catholic identity.

No benefits are changing, and the customer service you rely on will continue to provide excellent support via phone, email and live chat.

There is little you need to do. When the redesigned MiCatholic Benefits web portal is fully upgraded and goes live in mid-July, employees will simply need to reset their username and password.

Wherever your summer travel plans may take you, all MCC medical plan participants have 24/7 access to virtual care via telephone or video conferencing from anywhere in the United States.

Whether you’re at the cabin or on the road, your MCC benefits allow you to receive helpful, timely care—from your child’s ear infection to a prescription refill.

More information on virtual care can be found at bcbsm.com/virtualcare or by calling (800) 835-2362. When you meet with your doctor virtually, your copay remains the same as it is for an in-person visit. This applies for virtual meetings with both primary care physicians and specialists alike.

In addition, all MCC medical plan participants—as well as their covered dependents—have emergency treatment coverage while traveling abroad. For help finding care while traveling, please call the number on the back of your health insurance card.

As people of faith, we need to be reminded that we are not alone. One way to tap into a larger community of support is to reach out to ask others to pray for your intentions.

Your access to MCC’s employee assistance program—known as HOPE Wellness—includes the opportunity to post your prayer intentions. Think of it as the digital version of the book of intentions at your local parish, accessible by phone or computer.

The prayer intention board is just one of many ways you can receive support through HOPE Wellness. All benefit-eligible lay and religious employees and their household members, have free access to resources, including:

• Life coaching
• Catholic counseling
• Spiritual direction
• …and more resources intended to support your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

When participating in the services listed above or completing other eligible wellness-related activities through HOPE, you also earn entries to their raffle drawings.

Each quarter, HOPE holds a raffle drawing to award gift card prizes starting at $100, with a grand prize of $2,000. Entries into the sweepstakes are earned by completing eligible HOPE activities. Each activity is assigned a certain number of points, and every 100 points equals one entry for that individual into the sweepstakes.

You can increase your chances of winning by participating in HOPE challenges, too.

During each challenge, you can earn additional points toward raffle entries by completing activities related to it—thus increasing your chances to win one of the gift card prizes, including the grand prize of $2,000!