Evansville, IN — Welborn has received approval from the Indiana Department of Insurance to launch the state’s first Multi-Employer Welfare Arrangement (MEWA) designed exclusively for nonprofit organizations, marking a significant milestone in expanding access to affordable, high-quality health care for nonprofit employees across Indiana.

The MEWA allows participating nonprofit organizations to pool resources to obtain more sustainable and competitive health coverage—an option often unavailable to smaller nonprofits facing rising health care costs and limited bargaining power.

“Most nonprofit organizations either aren’t large enough or have significant enough budgets to be able to provide high quality and affordable health care,” said Pat Creech, CEO of Welborn Foundation. “So we, through this process, are trying to answer the question, ‘How can we help them accomplish that?’ And the MEWA is the vehicle that is going to do that for them.”

According to Roger Orth, chief administrative officer at Welborn, while Indiana is home to several MEWAs serving municipalities, financial institutions, and professional groups, Welborn’s initiative is the first in the state created specifically for nonprofits.

The MEWA is launching with a founding group of 12 nonprofit organizations, with strong interest already emerging from nonprofits across the state.

“We have just an outpouring of interest throughout the state for the MEWA, with other entities and other nonprofits wanting to join,” Orth said. “We’re starting off with a group of 12 organizations that’s kind of the founding group, but we’re anticipating some pretty significant growth over the next year or two.”

By coming together through the MEWA, participating nonprofits can reduce administrative costs, better manage premium increases, and build financial stability over time.

“You’re lowering the administrative fees. You’re getting premium rebates, and you’re also able to build reserves appropriately,” Orth said. “The goal of a MEWA is to not have double-digit increases—have it be a single-digit increase and manage it appropriately.”

While Welborn traditionally serves a 14-county region in southwest Indiana, southern Illinois, and western Kentucky, leaders emphasized that this initiative is intentionally statewide in scope.

“The reality is that the more organizations that join and are part of the MEWA, the more affordable high-quality health care continues to become for the nonprofit sector,” Creech said. “We’re excited for what this will mean for the state of Indiana and for nonprofits’ ability to keep and attract top quality talent.”

Welborn has spent approximately 18 months developing the MEWA in collaboration with state regulators and partners. With approval now secured, the foundation is moving forward with implementation and enrollment.

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About Welborn

Welborn is a private foundation based in Evansville, Indiana, dedicated to advancing Early Learning, Healthy Communities, Christ-Centered Communities, and Nonprofit Excellence. Since 2000, Welborn has invested over $134 million in the greater Evansville region with the vision of communities flourishing with the well-being, abundance, and peace that God desires.

Media Contact:

Jeff Seymore

Chief Communications Officer

Welborn

812-437-7803

jseymore@welbornfdn.org

welbornfdn.org