Posted on 03/10/2016 6:55:50 AM PST by reaganaut1
SAN ANTONIO — When Chris Doyle learned that his health insurance deductible would climb to $10,000 last year, he and his wife, both evangelical Christians, “spent a couple weeks just praying,” he said.
Then they opted out of insurance altogether, joining something called a health care sharing ministry, which requires members to help cover one another’s major medical costs as they come up.
While such nonprofit ministries have been around for decades, interest in them has grown since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, largely because the law exempts members from the requirement to have health insurance or pay a yearly fine.
Samaritan Ministries International, which Mr. Doyle and his wife, Sarah, joined last winter, plays matchmaker, assigning member families to help pay the medical bills of other members. The money is mailed directly to the families in need, often with handwritten prayers or notes of support — or in the case of one family here, strawberry stickers and a drawing of an elephant for their 5-year-old as she recovered from ear tube surgery.
Because they are not insurance companies, sharing ministries provide no guarantee that members’ medical debts will be paid; members are advised to trust that God will provide. The ministries say the payment system is helping Christians fulfill a biblical mandate to share one another’s burdens.
“Our only assets are the good will and continued participation of our members,” said James Lansberry, executive vice president of Samaritan, which is based in Peoria, Ill.
Some ministries operate differently, requiring members to pay monthly into accounts from which funds are disbursed to those with eligible medical bills. Pre-existing medical conditions are often not covered, nor are preventive care, mental health and injuries resulting from behavior the ministry considers immoral or reckless.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Link to Samaritan Ministries International:
http://samaritanministries.org/
There is, I’m sure, a lower smoking population, and drug use expenses.
However, the maternity costs would probably be higher.
Great concept.
My brother joined Christian Healthcare Ministries - so far so good. It’s saving him $15,300 per year for a family of 4 & he’s exempt from the Obamacare tax/penalty. Since he pays “cash” up front, he’s getting discounts of 30-50% on the cost of medical care (regular visits, ER, etc.). Scroll down the page at this link to see links for other health sharing groups (there are 6 in addition to Samaritan Ministries):
http://selfpaypatient.com/selfpayhealthcaremarket/
From the link:
Sharing organizations are voluntary associations of people who agree to share medical bills between them, similar to insurance. They are typically less expensive than conventional health insurance, and for some ministries members are exempt from paying the Obamacare tax for being uninsured
The ACLU is probably already trying find some legal technicality to extort these folks with law suites.
I’m guessing that since these groups don’t line insurance company pockets, they’ll be illegal within 10 years.
Kudos to these Christian groups. If churches fed the hungry and took care of the sick as the Lord commands, the government would have to regulate them out of business. The bureaucrats know they can’t compete with caring people who actually can run programs effectively.
My daughter and son-in-law are looking into one of these. My concern is that anyone can say they are a Christian organization then walk away with the money.
I’m a professing Christian; however, my problem is that I am not a member of a church due to my belief that organized religion is just as corrupt as everything else these days.
Going among the sinners to do good is one thing, advocating on behalf of sin is something entirely different.
This is one of the best concepts I’ve seen in a very long time.
The problem I had joining a similar group is you have to have perfect health to be accepted. My blood pressure, a bit on the high side, was enough to disqualify me. The concept works great for young healthy Christian folk. (You are required to list the church where you are regularly attending)
“My concern is that anyone can say they are a Christian organization then walk away with the money.”
There are only three or four Obamacare exempt Christian organizations.. To earn the exemption they needed to be operating prior to, I think, 1990.
We have Christian Healthcare and like it very much, BTW.
***I’m a professing Christian; however, my problem is that I am not a member of a church due to my belief that organized religion is just as corrupt as everything else these days.***
Hey Arm_Bears..... there are a lot of great non-denominational churches who have no affiliation to “organized” religion. Their authority is scripture itself.
Do yourself a favor and check some of them out.
Blessings.....
Schaef21
There are only three or four of these groups exempt from Obama’a CommunistCare Penalty. They Groups had to be established before CommieCare.
Like civil government, we get the church government we deserve. If church members understood 1 Tim 3, Titus 1, 1 Pet 5, 1 Tim 5, etc., a lot of men would not be allowed to be in church leadership. Find a church that actually vets pastors based on biblical qualifications (vs how good they look/speak, seminary degrees, etc.), and also has a plurality of elders (and not a CEO style senior pastor), and you will have a lot better chance to find a good church. Church elders serve based on the consent of the congregation.
Believers are commanded not to forsake the gathering of the saints, the church is the Body of Christ, and you have been given gifts designed to serve the Body, so you should reconsider church attendance/membership. The body doesn’t function when the members are not together. Even believers are sinners, so don’t expect to find a perfect church. Dealing with the imperfections of others is one way we are sanctified.
And back to the topic, most of my church uses Samaritans. Can’t say enough good things about it.
Groups like this one have been around for a long time.
Not a christian and so not eligible but in my case I was healthy up to the age of 65 when a heart condition led to a series of procedures and brain bleed problems and attempts to fix a-fib. The end result was that I used in three years more medical care than any insurance program could provide. Would this bankrupt a plan like being described on this thread?
I’m on Samaritan, and my wife and I think it’s phenomenal! We haven’t had to file any claims yet, but we have friends on the program who have, and they’ve been very pleased with the results.
Some conditions are excluded as “pre-existing conditions”, but even they have the option of being broadcast to the members as “special prayer needs” (for which which other members can send donations—either directly to the person, or as a tax-deductible donation to Samaritan Ministries, who keeps a “help fund” for such people). It’s really what insurance was SUPPOSED to be, before it degenerated into the mess it is in modern times.
$180@month is too much for me.
Will not happen.
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