Posted on 10/10/2013 10:00:35 PM PDT by Springfield Reformer
It's gotten little attention, but it's true: The individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act requires all Americans to have health insurance or face penalties, but members of medical-sharing ministries are exempt from the individual mandate that will be enforced beginning in 2015.
It's there because of the work of then-Congressmen Tom Perriello, a Virginia Democrat and Sens. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, and Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa, who fought to add the exemption to the law. It's the same principle that allowed for the Amish to be exempted from the individual mandate—with the crucial difference that it's a lot more practical to join Medi-Share than it is to become Amish.
Founded in 1993, Medi-Share historically grew at roughly 10 percent a year. Since the Obamacare passed in the 2010, growth has ticked up to 15 percent as some Americans look to end-run the mandate. About 150,000 people are members of medical-sharing ministries, and 60,000 of them belong to Medi-Share, according to Medi-Share President and CEO Tony Meggs.
The exemption requires qualifying health-sharing ministries to have been in operation before Dec. 31,1999, which gives something of a monopoly to Medi-Share and the two other qualifying organizations, Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries.
Here's how it works: To join Medi-Share, members must pledge their Christian faith and promise not to drink, take drugs or have sex outside of a traditional marriage. A reference from a minister may also be requested. Certain pre-existing conditions render applicants ineligible, while chronic issues such as obesity sometimes lead to acceptance into the program contingent on undergoing wellness counseling.
The coverage doesn't include products of "un-Biblical lifestyles," such as contraception or substance rehab, or some preventive medicine, including colonoscopies and annual mammograms. Those policies lead to lower costs for all members, Meggs said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Incidentally, in preparing this post, I ran across a pro-Obamacare legal piece that explains why they allowed this exception. It's an interesting question to me, because if the design of the ACA was to begin a regime of totalitarian control through healthcare control, it would seem odd to leave an exit open. But the piece explains why. They just don't think that many people will use it. It's not "real" insurance, after all (not a contract, just a sharing of burdens), and it is for people with well-defined and relatively strict religious beliefs whose numbers are too small to ever mount a serious threat to the goals of the ACA.
And that's the part that kind of stopping me in my tracks and asking, how can we take advantage of that assumption? And the answer is proving it false. We can defund Obamacare without the (ineffective) assistance of our congressional colleagues if we opt out (legally) in very large numbers, and these Christian healthcare co-ops would be, I think, one of the better ways to do that.
Here are direct links to the three major Christian healthcare co-ops:
http://samaritanministries.org
Also, here’s a pretty good news story looking at some of the pros and cons of the Christian healthcare sharing approach:
http://www.americanownews.com/story/19033588/christian-health-care-sharing
FYI
Thank you, S R.
Imagine, Law Abiding Citizens who reside in the United States of America, the Greatest Country in the history of Mankind, having to figure out how to circumvent the will of the Tyrants who rule them.
I never thought I would live to see the day, but here we are.
hard to add in by the republicans...
easy to take out by the democrats.
We have been members of Samaritan Ministries sine the early 90’s and joined mainly because it was cheaper than insurance back then -and we are self employed-highly reccomend- and the rates will only go lower the more members there are.You can drink...just in moderation. We also have Christian Helthcare network, that works a bit more like insurance.
going to hang on to this one. Thank you for this info, SR.
Good to know. Thanks.
What’s discriminatory?
Why would a Christian ministry exclude colonoscopies? Colon cancer is a major killer of men. I’m not buying that gay sex is a cause of colon cancer.
Hi,
I saw your post and I had a question for you. Would this be used primarily if you had a major hospitalization or emergency and you would just pay out of pocket for regular exams?
Good question. I think there’s probably some differences between the programs, so tomorrow I’ll take a look and see what I can find out. I’m done for tonight though. Past my bedtime. :)
Thanks so much for this! This is perfect for DH & me.
I like a beer once in awhile, and my hubby likes a scotch now and then....
bookmark
and obamacare isn’t? and regular insurance isn’t?
it appears that common preventative measures/tests fall onto your own taking care of your self. they cover big stuff that could bankrupt you.
they let you drink, just not in excess. self control.
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