DMBA's History and Purpose
Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators (DMBA) began in 1970 to serve the employee insurance and
retirement needs of employees of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its member
organizations on a non-profit basis.
Before 1970, benefits for employees of the Church and its affiliates were administered by contract
with Lincoln National Life for medical and life insurance coverage. Retirement benefits were
administered separately by each employer.
In 1970, the LDS Church Insurance and Retirement Committee decided to organize the employee benefit
program as one entity under the newly obtained franchise of Far West Mutual Life Insurance Association.
This organization came under the jurisdiction of the Utah Insurance Department.
The purchase was approved on September 1, 1970, and the official name of the Company was given as
DESERET MUTUAL BENEFIT ASSOCIATION. The Association was to be the vehicle used for insuring and
administering the employee benefit program of the LDS Church and its affiliated organizations.
Formal founding took place on September 30, 1970.
With the organization of DMBA, the LDS Church terminated its coverage with Lincoln National Life.
DMBA began administering the medical plan but contracted with Galbraith & Green to process claims
from 1970 until the latter part of 1974. From 1974 to 1979, claims were manually prepared by DMBA
processors and then taken to Management Systems Corporation for computer processing.
When a Micro Data computer was purchased in 1977, manual processing increased. But it was not until
the purchase of the first Hewlett Packard computer in 1979 that DMBA began to process all medical claims.
Beneficial Life Insurance Company administered the life insurance program in 1970, including the addition
of Accidental Death & Dismemberment and Disability. This administrative arrangement continued until 1979
when DMBA assumed total responsibility.
Because of changes in the State Insurance Code in 1986, all mutual benefit associations were discontinued.
Existing mutual benefit associations had to be changed to either stock or mutual insurance companies.
Accordingly, Deseret Mutual Benefit Association was restructured as a mutual insurance company; its owners
continued to be the LDS Church (under the Corporation of the President) and its subsidiaries. The name was
changed to DESERET MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, doing business as DESERET MUTUAL. All taxable insurance business
(Student Health Plans and Church Activity Insurance, for example) is now provided under DESERET MUTUAL.
DESERET HEALTHCARE came into existence in 1981 when it qualified as a health maintenance organization (HMO)
under the Utah Insurance Code, as required by the Utah Insurance Department. It was created for the purpose
of administering DMBA's HMO (Medical Plan B), one of the first of its kind in Utah.
DESERET HEALTHCARE was then restructured in 1986 as Deseret Healthcare Employee Benefit Trust, a self-insured
501(c)(9) trust under the Internal Revenue Code. Non-taxable insurance (Life, AD&D, and Disability) was placed
under this Trust which qualifies for tax exemption under federal law.
DMBA (DESERET MUTUAL BENEFIT ADMINISTRATORS) was created in January 1987 to administer the Deseret Healthcare
Trust and Deseret Mutual business. For Deseret Mutual to qualify as an insurance company and Deseret Healthcare
to qualify as a tax-exempt trust, administrative services had to be removed from both entities. Therefore,
DMBA is a stock company owned by Deseret Mutual.
Another entity, DESERET MUTUAL EMPLOYEE PENSION TRUST, was established in January 1991. The Master Retirement Plan,
Tax Sheltered Annuity Plan, Retirement Savings Plan, and Thrift Plan (all with large investments) were placed in
this Trust to meet federal regulatory and tax implications.