Replies

Here’s the full email I got, along with suggested texts for sending emails and letters:

Christian Healthcare Ministries
The biblical solution to healthcare costs

Friday, March 17, 2017

Dear CHM Member:

Your help is urgently needed to contact your U.S. Congressman and Senator to inform them that you want their support for language that protects healthcare sharing ministries in the new healthcare law being considered.

Your immediate outreach to them is needed today or over the weekend because this legislation is moving fast through the Congress. The vote is scheduled for Monday, March 20, so action is needed now! Please make contact with your U.S. Representative or Senator no later than Monday, March 20, 2017.

Here are ways to find on the internet your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator:

House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
U.S. Senate: https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
If you don’t have access to the internet you can search locally for your U.S. Representative or Senator through the phone listings under U.S. government.

A suggested email and phone script for you to use when faxing, emailing or calling their offices is available below this email and the email content is on our website (click here for a PDF version of the email). Please note that sending a letter by U.S. mail will be too late. We urge you to email, fax or call your Congressman/woman immediately.

Thank you for your help in protecting your health care sharing ministry.

Sincerely,

Rev. Howard S. Russell
President & CEO
Christian Healthcare Ministries

A suggested phone script to use when calling your U.S. Representative or Senator:

Hello. I would like to let my Congressman/woman know that I am a member of Christian Healthcare Ministries, a healthcare sharing ministry. My family relies on Christian Healthcare Ministries to meet our healthcare costs. We’ve been informed that the new healthcare reform bill does not protect our ministry. As a constituent of Congressman/woman [Insert his/her name], we urge him/her to preserve our healthcare choice. Our goal is to be able to use Health Savings Accounts, and not be penalized under continuous coverage provisions. We ask that the Congressman/woman ensure we have a level playing field with other hard-working Americans and preserve our healthcare coverage choices for our family. Thank you for your help. My personal information is as follows: [Leave your name, address, email].

A suggested email to use when emailing your U.S. Representative or Senator:

Dear U.S. Representative or Senator:

I want to personally thank you for your service to our nation as a member of the United States Congress. We know that your work is very important and appreciate your dedication as a public servant, and we have supported you as our Representative in Congress.

I am a member of Christian Healthcare Ministries, which is a ministry where members with similar beliefs voluntarily share each other’s medical expenses.

As you work with your colleagues and President Trump on the current healthcare reform bill, we seek a level playing field with other hard-working Americans in preserving our healthcare choices. The members of Christian Healthcare Ministries have been voluntarily helping share our families’ burdensome health care expenses, and we will hold you accountable to preserve this option for us.

We have been informed that the healthcare reform bill circulating in the House of Representatives does not protect our healthcare sharing ministry. We urge you to support amending the final bill to protect our healthcare options with the following provisions:

Allow and include healthcare sharing ministry members to participate in Healthcare Savings Accounts (HSAs). Several bills (H.R. 1175 and S.403) have such a provision, but the current reform bill does not.
Ensure the 30% continuous coverage penalty does not apply to healthcare sharing ministry members. Members that move into or out of Healthcare Sharing Ministries would be negatively impacted by this penalty. Under the ACA, our members are exempt from penalties. It would be a step backwards if this new bill imposed a new penalty on us. Please see that an exemption is provided.
Again, I want to thank you on behalf of my family for your service. We know you are asked to balance a lot of competing interests in your position. As your constituents, we ask that you look out for people who participate in healthcare sharing ministries. The current reform bill does not do that unless changes are made to it. Thank you for your attention to this very important matter, as we are paying close attention as it enters the final stages of the legislative process.

Respectfully,

A faithful member of Christian Healthcare Ministries

Christian Healthcare Ministries
127 Hazelwood Ave.
Barberton, OH 44203
1-800-791-6225 (M-F, 9am-5pm)
chministries.org
facebook.com/christianhealthcareministrie