Some of my favorite things: alternative healthcare insurance decisions, calling government numbers and wrangling the buggy healthcare.gov website.
Oh, and colds and flus and antibiotics.
If your open enrollment period for corporate insurance is leaving you less than thrilled because of higher co-pays and more out-of-pocket costs for healthcare every year, or if you’re self-employed, there’s no reason to be uninsured, underinsured or just plain ticked off.
When my husband worked a corporate job, we were actually very fortunate to “only” pay about $250/mo. for our company-provided health insurance. Compared to many in this era, he had great benefits. How we would compensate for the loss of health insurance was a huge factor in our decision-making process as we weighed the options for him to leave and join me to be an entrefamily.
With the support of other colleagues in the blog world and learning from their experiences, we felt very comfortable exploring the various Christian healthcare sharing ministries. There are three major options, all of which are permissible under the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare).
Health Insurance or an Alternative to Insurance?
Health cost sharing ministries are NOT insurance, but thankfully they all sought and were granted approval under the Act, which means that at tax time, you have no penalties and no real paperwork hassle either – one simple form or box to check on your taxes.
We would have had to pay over $1000/mo. through the government for incredibly basic health insurance with over a $10,000 deductible (’cause that’s super “affordable”). With Samaritan Ministries, we paid $405/mo. in 2015, which increased to $495/mo. halfway through 2016, but that’s still so much less than insurance that we can’t complain for a hot second.
Why Choose a Healthcare Sharing Plan?
I think a healthcare sharing plan is a perfect fit for Kitchen Stewardship, because it allows us to feel more able to choose our own care, whether we need the medical model for something big or prefer a more natural approach. It’s also clearly a huge budget saver, so we can finally put into practice the adage:
Pay for food now or medical bills later.
I thought I’d take a little break from the kitchen and explain how this all works, in case anyone is in a situation where it’s a good fit.
I’ll discuss a little about how healthcare sharing ministries differ from insurance, the differences between the 3 major options, the pros and cons we tossed around when looking into them, and some of the situations that lend themselves very well for participating in a sharing ministry.
If you find it helpful and end up signing up for Samaritan Ministries, please mention us as your referral: Kristopher Kimball, Michigan. We’ll get a credit on our share (and you can do the same by passing on the news to others). If you opt for another sharing ministry but are grateful for this post anyway, you can say “thanks” by starting with this Amazon affiliate link for any of your shopping there! As long as you buy something within 24 hours of clicking on it, I’ll get commission without changing your experience at all. Thanks a ton!
UPDATE: Medi-Share reached out to me after discovering this post and offered referral credit as well, and I’m happy to support their organization too. Here’s the referral link to check out Medi-Share, and please email [email protected] to request access to a spreadsheet comparing the big three and some more info on our experiences after two years with Samaritan.
What is a Healthcare Sharing Ministry?
In a nutshell, a Christian sharing ministry puts into practice the early Church’s habit in Acts of everyone pooling their resources and helping the whole community when in need.
Practically, it means that all members send in an amount of money, and from that pool for the month, any members with medical needs (that fit that ministry’s guidelines) get covered.
It is NOT insurance in the traditional sense at all (nor is it defined as insurance by anyone who counts for anything). There aren’t corporate offices, payment does not go to doctors or hospitals (it comes to you and you pay your bills), there’s no coding of appointments or procedures, far less red tape, and technically, no guarantees. If there’s not enough money in the pool that month, then a medical need might not get covered.
The three major options are:
- Samaritan Ministries
- Christian Healthcare Ministries
- Christian Medi-Share
- (and a fourth bonus of CMF CURO, a Catholic version of Samaritan)
For all of these ministries, you DO have to make a statement of your faith, committing to be a practicing Christian. For some, you need your pastor to sign a piece of paper stating that you’re involved in your community, etc. Things like out of wedlock pregnancies, alcohol and drug abuse and rehab, sterilization – they’re not covered because they go against Biblical teachings.
How do the Healthcare Sharing Ministries Compare?
Where You Send Money
The MAJOR difference with Samaritan vs. the other two is that it’s the only one where you send your check directly to the person in need.
Some people love that – the connectedness to the body of Christ, the personal prayers and notes. Some people just want to automate the process and be more private about it (since if YOU are the one in need, your medical issue is published publicly).
Legally, there’s a small chance that the other two major sharing programs could come under fire someday because of the system, because they collect and redistribute funds and may look more like “insurance” than “sharing.” So far, they’ve had no problem though. Samaritan feels that they have an extra layer of protection with the government because no money goes through their hands/offices.
I actually thought I’d really dislike that part because I adore automation, especially when it comes to boring things like paying bills. I’ve been surprised.
Most months, I really do appreciate knowing where our money is going, and we’ve definitely paid a little extra in a separate envelope for “special prayer needs,” medical bills from members that aren’t publishable, either because they’re not within the guidelines (like dental or eye) or because the condition existed before the person became a member.
So I guess I’m saying don’t let that part scare you, and even if you have a pre-existing condition or pregnancy, I’d encourage you to call the Samaritan offices and talk to them. It sure sounds like MANY members end up with even un-publishable needs mostly covered by the community of Christians that makes up Samaritan. It’s amazing…
Structure of Samaritan
In general, here’s how Samaritan Ministries works:
- Any medical need under $300 is not publishable – that means you pay for it yourself.
- Any approved need over $300 is “published” and people are assigned to send checks to you. You pay your own bills starting with $300 of your own money and then using what you’ve been sent (which is equal to the rest of your bill). Note that there are things that aren’t part of the plan, like dental care, motorcycle accidents, and preventative care like physical, well-child checkups, colonoscopies and mammograms, as well as the handful of “non-Christian” issues I mentioned above. See below for how pre-existing conditions are handled.
- Multiple appointments for the same medical issue/incident all count as “one.” So if you have an $180 bill for a doctor visit for a sprained wrist plus a $250 X-ray plus two follow-up appointments to make sure you healed okay at $180 each, you will only pay the first $300 of all of them added up (if I’m understanding it all correctly).
- Your $300 is reduced if you can get your bills reduced, so many people talk to payment offices, get their bill reduced and end up paying $0 for an incident.
- If you have 3 published incidents in a year, everything publishable after that is covered in full for the whole family.
If you do go with Samaritan, thank you for using our name (Kristopher Kimball, Michigan) as your referral!
For a family of 6 with our fairly good health history, we pay $495/mo. at Samaritan for regular membership plus about $15-20 extra for Save to Share for added maximum coverage.
Structure of Christian Healthcare Ministries
Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) and Medi-Share both allow you to choose levels and sort of accept risk – you pay less per month for a higher payment per incident. CHM’s levels are
- Bronze – pay $5,000 per incident with limited coverage ($125,000); fees would be $135/mo. for our family
- Silver – pay $1,000 per incident with limited coverage; fees $255/mo. for us
- Gold – pay $500 per incident with unlimited coverage; fees would have been $450/mo. for us
You can put different family members at different levels. So for example, if you were trying to conceive, you might put mom on Gold because you know she’ll have a big cost that year.
Structure of Christian Medi-Share
Medi-Share has more than 3 levels but in essence has a similar structure to CHM. For both, you send your checks to a central office and the organization divides the money and sends checks to those in need. It’s less of a hassle for the members, certainly, but may come under fire from the government later.
Medi-Share is also the only ministry we looked into that has a “network” where in and out of network docs would cost differently and be covered vs. not.
Fees are set for office visits and emergency room visits (very reminiscent of traditional insurance), and you can pay using a credit union debit card that gets automatically loaded when you have a medical need.
A few of the levels are as follows, for our family of 6:
- pay out-of-pocket $1250 max per year, $497 monthly payment
- OOP $5,000 max per year, $276 monthly
- OOP $10,000 max per year, $146 monthly
Believe me, those low monthlies under $200 were very tempting! But we worried about the out-of-pocket unknowns eating at us, so we went with a little more “known” security.
Here are some numbers on Medi-Share that show the “Annual Household Portion” you can choose at various levels (similar to what you’re familiar with as a “deductible” in insurance terms – the most you have to pay in case of a medical need). With each option, you would definitely pay the middle column, the “monthly payments,” which go down as you assume higher risk.
The third column is the total you’d pay if you had to use your whole deductible because of a major medical need or “disaster.” Notice that total out-of-pocket increases as your risk increases.
Note that these costs are all based on the date-of-birth of the person applying, so born in 1979 in our case and 3+ in the family. There are significant savings for passing their test of “healthy” based on waist measurement, BMI and blood pressure. This chart reflects the “healthy” rates, which apply to both adults in the household.
Catastrophes are What Insurance is For
Another difference is maximum payout.
With the basic Samaritan plan, you only get $250K coverage per incident, max. We added the Save-to-Share option via Samaritan (which isn’t much more money, only about $15-20/month) and will get up to $1 million if something absolutely catastrophic happens.
Christian Healthcare Ministries has unlimited coverage at the gold level (more expensive per month) and Christian Medi-Share has 100% unlimited all the time.
Coverage – What Counts?
All 3 Christian health cost sharing ministries have slight differences in what they cover, but none of them were major factors in our decision. It’s worth reading the FAQs or terms and conditions at each though to watch for that.
If you have any chronic or current conditions, you’ll want to research those in depth. All 3 ministries do not cover currently active chronic diseases, but some (Samaritan included) will cover something like my husband’s Crohn’s Disease if it’s been inactive for at least 3 years without any treatment (it has, thanks be to God).
EDIT: a reader shared a bit more about how CHM works with pre-existing conditions:
They pay for pre-existing conditions on a sliding scale – $15000 the first year, $25000 the second year (15,000 from the first year plus an extra 10,000) and $50,000 the third (15000 first year, 10000 the second, and 25,000 the third) . After the third year, the condition is no longer considered pre-existing. We filed a claim for my husband’s recent medical issues and they paid all the bills without question and gave us credit off of our deductible for the discounts I arranged.
I looked up a little more and if a condition is treated only with “maintenance” then anything that pops up will be covered via CHM.
Bottom line on pre-existing conditions: You’re really going to want to read alllllll the Guidelines for each ministry you’re interested in and perhaps call the office to make sure you fully understand your exact situation!
Here are a few specifics that may catch your eyes as they caught ours:
- Natural/alternative treatments are covered with approval at Samaritan (some are, some aren’t); no alternative treatments are covered with CHM.
- Maternity is fully covered at Samaritan and CHM (Gold only) as long as the pregnancy was completely within membership dates. Medi-Share is similar at the $1250 level and up. It looks like all three will cover midwives under certain conditions (which may make participating in a sharing ministry less expensive than traditional insurance if yours won’t cover the kind of birth you want!)
- If you want a natural birth, by the way, this is the class you need, 100% online. Don’t you love it!?
- Prescriptions related to an eligible condition are published for 6 months with Medi-Share.
- Well-child care through age 5 is eligible at Medi-Share. In general regular well checkups/physicals are probably less expensive via Medi-Share because they have a set rate. We were not able to get a discount at our family doc, so every visit is $160-180 with Samaritan.
- Motorcycle accidents are not fully covered via some of the options; if you drive a motorcycle, read carefully!!!
Our Many Healthcare Financial Discussions
Last December/January, this issue certainly took up a lot of our couple time. It goes far smoother with a glass of wine and a good meal after the kids are in bed…really. 
It’s a little scary going out on your own with healthcare, and here are some of the factors we tossed around:
- Catastrophic coverage was important to us. We wouldn’t be wiped out by a few $200 doctor visits or even a few thousand for a broken bone, but cancer and its hundreds of thousands would bankrupt us. We felt the lower maximums were far too risky and went with Samaritan’s add-on Save to Share to raise the max to a million dollars.
- Having just been through paying OOP for a home birth, the acceptance of midwives was a relief all around (although we don’t know what God has in store for us, we feel our hearts and minivan are full…but you never know…)
- I was extremely hesitant about Samaritan’s system of sending checks different places each month. I prefer to automate everything I can. I have a colleague who did NOT choose Samaritan because of that portion; she also didn’t like that medical needs are published so publicly. I got over my reservations and I really don’t mind it now. It’s only one check a month, and I do appreciate knowing what we’re paying for and praying for our recipient.
- If a need is unpublishable but you still need help, Samaritan sends out your address in their newsletter and recommends that people give $20 or so to help you out. It’s very personal, and from what I understand, many of those needs are fulfilled through the unrequired generosity of the other members. I’ve personally sent checks to the “additional needs” about four times in 18 months, for situations like a little boy who had been diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, a family in my own community, and a few months where our payment was under $20 because of referrals so I couldn’t help but feel generous. You can even send an extra payment right to Samaritan and have it be tax deductible and anonymous for an additional need.
- Samaritan and Medi-Share have both been around over 20 years. I used to think Samaritan was the oldest, but Medi-Share may be by a year.
- Samaritan seems to be the most airtight as far as following the rules set forth by Obamacare – because the other two collect and redistribute money, there’s a chance they could be called into question as an “insurance company.”
Final Decision Making
- We heard from colleagues with very good experiences with all 3 major options.
- Although we are Catholic, we didn’t go with CMF CURO because other than the convenience of a card with which to pay bills, we couldn’t determine any real value over Samaritan, which is the engine running CURO anyway. It’s nearly 20% more expensive than Samaritan.
- Medi-Share was out because we read that “permanent, lifelong diagnosis/conditions are ineligible for sharing.” We understood that to apply to my husband’s Crohn’s Disease. Samaritan doesn’t publish pre-existing conditions for sharing UNLESS it has basically been “in remission.” My husband’s Crohn’s was okay because he hasn’t needed real treatment for it in 10 years and hasn’t seen a doctor for anything at all related for at least 5 years.
- Because we wanted catastrophic coverage, we would have had to go with the gold level at CHM, and the monthly payment would have been about $45 higher than Samaritan, and the minimum expense per incident was also a few hundred dollars higher. I decided we’d try it and I could deal with writing one check by hand per month.
So far we’ve been happy with the ministry as far as their obvious heart for caring for the community and just the fact that we can break from the system and be autonomous and not have to pay crazy amounts for health insurance. It definitely makes you think about whether you really need to see a doctor for such-and-such when you know that $170 office visit will be completely out of pocket!
We have not had any needs published yet, praise be to God. We personally know others who have published needs and they have only good things to say about the process, so I feel confident that we’ll be taken care of. Any inconvenience from having to record each check received will likely be compensated 100-fold by the joy in receiving notes and cards from others in the Body of Christ that I don’t even know.
Are You on This List? [Good Fits for a Healthcare Sharing Ministry]
I don’t think this option is for everyone, especially if you have great insurance through work, but it’s perfect for these situations and many more:
- Any Christian who is self-employed, hands down
- A family paying more than $400 out of pocket for their insurance through work should take a hard look at these options and run some numbers
- Generally healthy people who greatly dislike the “system” they’re in, especially if that system forces them to go to certain doctors. Healthcare Sharing Ministries give you the option to be far more autonomous!
- Families who want the option of having midwives or home births covered
- Anyone fed up with insurance red tape
- An employee whose company offers a kickback if they don’t take the insurance plan, especially one who wants more autonomy in healthcare providers – run the numbers to see if it would work out for you!
- A Christian whose insurance covers procedures they find morally reprehensible and who hate the thought of contributing to that
- People on Medicare who want to be able to make their own choices about care (and who have savings to potentially spend a little more on healthcare) – again, run your own numbers. Note that Medi-Share has an option for those over 65 that pairs with Medicare A & B!
But Sharing Ministries are NOT for…
- Those with active, chronic, expensive illnesses
- Those who feel the need to go to the doctor for every little thing
- Those who can’t budget money to set aside
- Anyone with great insurance who is happy with their current doctor
- People on multiple, ongoing prescription drugs who wouldn’t be able to pay for them out-of-pocket
I truly hope this departure from the kitchen was helpful for many of you! If nothing else, even if you are happy with your insurance and don’t need this info, it’s interesting (and encouraging) to me to know that there are options out there beyond insurance, which drove me nuts.
If you have any questions for me that aren’t answered in the post, I’ll certainly try my best to answer them in the comments. Feel free to leave your own experiences with a healthcare sharing ministry if you like! We have a spreadsheet comparing all the fees and expenses with each ministry; if you’d like a copy to work from, dash me an email at katie at kitchenstewardship.com.
Disclosure: This post is not sponsored and is 100% our opinions and research based on what we needed in late 2014. We did update the numbers to reflect current prices and will continue to do so as much as possible. We will receive a credit on our Samaritan account for any referrals and a referral payment for Medi-Share – neither change your price at all.
Thank you for sharing this! We are in the process of debating between Samaritan and CHM. We are in a similar situation as you and the hardest part of the decision is my husband has Ulcerative Colitis, although he has been able to control it with diet for the almost 2 years. Praise God. We have a few friends with Samaritan and have had multiple published needs that were 100% paid for! That might be our better options. Thanks again!
Great info. I’m so glad you shared this. I wish I’d seen it before we made our decision.
We went with CHM about 3 years ago on the recommendation of a friend. It’s right for us with the automated payments.
We don’t go to medical doctors, and have never had to use it. Basically, it’s insurance against the IRS for the ACA, and for the unforseen accident, ie broken bones, stitches. etc.
Again, thanks.
Thanks so much for sharing this information! We’re currently happy with my husband’s insurance plan through work, but ya just never know…. Anyway, my question is whether or not vision needs are covered. Everyone in our household needs corrective lenses and the cost can be quite prohibitive, even with the excellent plan we have. Just wondered about that since nothing was mentioned.
Thanks again!
Good question, Christi – vision and dental are not included in any of the options, if I remember correctly. It only affects one in our family, so it’s not as big of a deal. –Katie
Thanks, Katie. I figured as much but thought I’d ask just to be sure.
Hi Katie,
Do you have any opinion on Liberty Health Share?
Brian
Yes, I have the same Question about Liberty.
Also, I read somewhere else that the actual number of members for each varies quite a bit, but have not been able to find “how many” members each ministry has, or maybe more of telling, how much it fluctuates each month or year, by members and percentage.
Thank You Katie. Sure appreciate your time and sharing of this information. God bless you. -Wayne
The main 3 ministries of Samaritan, CHM and Medishare all have over 200,000 members. Liberty has about 30,000 according to a comment I saw on another blog. The biggest increases come during open enrollment. Especially January 1 as they switch off old insurance. We are members of Samaritan and love it!
Heather and Wayne, I’m not sure that’s accurate about Samaritan – I could swear that a recent newsletter announced that we just passed 40 or 45K or something – much smaller than 200K. But they’re very open with their numbers and I’m sure someone could get on the phone with you, Wayne, to answer questions. 🙂 Katie
Samaritan has over 60,000 households which is the number they tend to focus on, but those households make up over 200,000 members, and they are very similar in size to the other 2 primary ministries. 🙂 I actually just got those numbers updated by Samaritan a couple weeks ago.
I found this on the http://thehealthcoop.com/ website FAQ:
How many people are members of Samaritan Ministries?
As of October 2015, there were more than 51,000 households representing more than 160,000 individuals.
Apparently Samaritan can be included in a “The Health Co-Op” membership, or one can use Samaritan stand-alone.
Sorry Brian, I’ve not even heard of that one – but search the comments here because some people have mentioned other sharing projects and maybe that one.
Brian, we’re researching Liberty and they told me today on the phone they currently have over 60,000 members. Or households. What I like about Liberty is that wellness visits and tests are included in the shareable costs, outside of the annual deductible.
Sue, I like the sound of wellness exams being covered by Liberty.
Makes you want to strive to stay well!
Preventive procedures like annual check ups, mammograms and colonoscopy exams were covered under my “Well Woman” program previously offered by my Blue Cross plan; but I cannot sustain their heightened premiums.$450 is way more affordable than the Bronze level of Blue Cross@$700++
Katie.I appreciate your analysis..is Samaritan a good plan for a healthy 61 year old retired widow? could my taking thyroid meds be considered a pre existing condition?
Thanks.
Hi Charlotte – I do believe that Samaritan’s plans for a single person are very affordable, but I admit I didn’t study them closely. 🙂 As for the pre-existing condition, I would give them a call and ask directly. That’s the one area I can’t even predict! Good luck! 🙂 Katie
We have been with Christian Healthcare Ministries for over a year now. It is WONDERFUL!! I don’t have to worry about my money going to fund abortion or contraception. I also get to choose my own healthcare provider. Now with the big pharmaceutical push, I am not worried about an insurance company dictating my medical care. So glad to hear that Samaritan Ministries is strong as well. CHM worked better for us due to pre-exiting medical issues.
Roxy – that’s great to know! I must have missed it – CHM accepts pre-existing conditions then? I should amend my post, thank you! 🙂 Katie
They pay for pre-existing conditions on a sliding scale – $15000 the first year, $25000 the second year (15,000 from the first year plus an extra 10,000) and $50,000 the third (15000 first year, 10000 the second, and 25,000 the third) . After the third year, the condition is no longer considered pre-existing. We filed a claim for my husband’s recent medical issues and they paid all the bills without question and gave us credit off of our deductible for the discounts I arranged. Anthem never did that 😉
Thank you much, Roxy! I added your note to within the post. 🙂 Katie
Thanks for this timely post! My husband recently quit a great job so that he could start his own business and work from home. We’ve been trying to figure out what to do. Thanks for sharing this unique option.
Maybe I missed it, in my fast reading with lots of kids in the background….how does Samaritan officially comply with the ACA?
Hi Heather – congrats on the new entrepreneurial lifestyle!! It’s exciting and scary I’m sure, but good for you guys to take the leap!
To answer your question, YES, healthcare sharing ministries totally comply. All 3 were very careful to get that straightened out when the ACA began. Here is from the Sam. site:
“This approach satisfies the federal health care law’s (Affordable Care Act, U.S. Public Law 111-148) requirement that you have insurance or pay a penalty-tax (see 26 United States Code Section 5000A, (d), (2), (B)). Members of health care sharing ministries demonstrate their exemption by using IRS Form 8965 when filing their tax return. If you are not required to file a tax return, you do not need to do anything to prove your exemption. http://samaritanministries.org/healthreform/”
Blessings on your new adventure! 🙂 Katie
I guess I’m a little slow at understanding. Do you pay a monthly fee to Samaritan? Or does the monthly fee go to someone who needs it? If you pay it to Samaritan what do they do with the money? And do you pay the monthly fee plus the sharing amount? Thanks for the info.
No worries, Patty – the “monthly fee” goes directly to another member. Nothing goes to Samaritan each month. So the sharing amount and monthly fee are the same. Technically the first two months went to Samaritan for office expenses, but then after that we receive an actual name and address each month and send the entire $405 to them. Hope that’s more clear! 🙂 Katie
Thanks for sharing this info! My children don’t have health insurance because we cant afford $600 a month and they only go in for well checks which are yearly and dental checks twice a year. I’ve never heard of these options before but they seem very helpful. We are stressed about getting penalized this tax year because of not taking the insurance offer by Marketplace. It just doesn’t make sense to us and we are Christians so I appreciate you sharing this information. Thanks.
This sounds like a good fit, Alica – I hope it works out for your family! 🙂 Katie
I began researching the various Christian HealthShare options about this time last year. Samaritan’s has always been my #1 option. I haven’t switched from my employer’s insurance yet but I’ve decided it will be better if I do. I’ve paid for almost two years now for insurance I never use. In essence I feel like I’m throwing my money away right now with my insurance through my employer. Though the premiums in our group health plan are pretty affordable, the deductibles are now so high for that low premium that I will be unable to afford the bills to cover the deductible alone. My only remaining question before switching to Samaritan is the topic of preventative care. My current plan does offer 100% (no deductible) for things like Mammograms and PAP. Are things like that considered along with all other medical care in the “above $300” description?
One more thing… can you give more information on the natural/alternative coverage? Or where can I get more information on that? That is a big deal and exciting to read since I choose natural over anything else first. But wondering how far that description reaches. Thanks for the great post!
Hi Diana,
Unfortunately, preventative care is not publishable with Samaritan. We spaced out our well-child checkups a bit more, PAPs are only rec’d once every 3 years now (I have midwife who does them for about $50, so that’s awesome!), and we’ll probably do adult physicals every other year instead of yearly. Some members have found that they can get colonoscopys and such in Costa Rica for less than here – including the plane tickets and a vacation! I’ve been impressed with Samaritan’s newsletter and the interesting ideas they offer for finding appropriately priced healthcare options.
I wish I knew more about what natural and alternative coverage Samaritan offers. They are very helpful in the office so I’m sure you could call if you have specific questions. Here is a bit from their guidelines:
“Alternative Medical Practices (or non-
conventional treatments)
—An “alternative
medical practice” or “treatment” is a treatment
proposed by a member for a condition lawful
–
ly diagnosed by a licensed, medical profession
–
al, but not prescribed by the member’s pro
–
vider. The member must present the request
in writing, describing in detail the proposed
treatment, the length of time envisioned for
the treatment, their source of information
about the treatment, and why it is not being
prescribed by their provider. Alternative treat
–
ments may be published with prior written
approval from Samaritan Ministries. Approval
is based upon factors such as the less invasive
nature of the proposed treatment, demonstra
–
tion that such treatment will prevent more
costly conventional treatments, consistency
of the treatment with what a licensed medical
provider would prescribe for illness or injury,
and the member’s acceptance of appropriate
preconditions for publishing the expense”
And actually colonoscopy was on the same page:
” colonoscopy will be pub
–
lishable when prescribed due to symptoms for
a condition not evident prior to your mem
–
bership, or when it results in the discovery
of a publishable condition. Regular tests and
checkups (see #34) are not publishable”
Hope that helps! 🙂 Katie
Great explanation and summary. We’ve been with Samaritan Ministries for over 11 years now and love it. We’ve had great experiences each time we submitted a need and appreciate knowing that our shares are going toward the actual medical needs of real people.
We have been with CHM for over 12 years now. We are able to put aside $5000 to deal with our personal share, so we only pay $135 per month for our whole family. The one time that we had a large expense ($27,000 for a broken arm/surgery) we were able to get a reduction from the hospital, and that reduction was applied to our personal share, so we had no out-of-pocket expense at all. Read the allowable shared stuff very carefully. With CHM, at the bronze level, they don’t share anything at all for office visits, they only share hospitalizations and emergency room care (also home birth midwives) after the family has paid their $5000. Also, they don’t share anything for car accidents, so they recommend that your car insurance has a high coverage for personal medical costs. It can be confusing at first, but I can’t imagine spending hundreds or thousands per month for insurance (we are self-employed), and still have high deductibles, when we almost never go to doctors. Also, CHM offers an additional sharing program called Brothers Keeper which will share expenses up to one million dollars. We are happy with our choice.
Actually, the limit for Brother’s Keeper (through Christian Healthcare Ministries) is not one million. There is no limit.
The CHM website says Brothers Keeper has a $1 million limit for the Silver and Bronze plans so I think she’s correct for her level. Only for gold members is it unlimited.
Great article and timing!
My husband is self-employed and we are uninsured – so far we’ve paid the penalty but the yearly increase in penalty is going to get out of hand soon so here I am trying to find a way around ACA…
So basically when a person reports a large medical bill/need to the collective whole they come alongside and pay it (within reason & restrictions) and each month your portion goes to help another believer…. That’s cool
What happens if you can’t write the check for the month?
Jessica,
That’s a really good question! Here’s the answer from the FAQs:
“SMI will send you a checklist so that you can keep track of who were assigned to send to your need. If we learn that someone on your list has stopped sharing and will not be sending to you, that amount will be reassigned in the following month to a member who is sharing. You must be current in your sharing responsibilities and other member requirements to have a need published.”
Your bills should always get covered as long as they are eligible! 🙂 Katie
We signed up for Christian Medi-Share about a year ago. Several months later, my husband was in an accident while on his motorcycle. It wasn’t his fault at all as he was going the speed limit, wearing a helmet, ect. Long story short, he had to be flown to a trauma unit, lost his left leg and spleen, and had 4 surgeries total. Medi-share then informed us that they have a maximum payout for motorcycle accidents. It’s only $100,000. This of course, is a drop in the bucket compared to what we owe, which is close to half a million. That’s not counting a lifetime of prosthetics (ranging from 60-100 thosand dollars each) which need to be replaced about every 5 years. My husband is in his 30’s!!! All this to say, I’m sure they have other “stipulations” that no one knows about, that are written in the fine print of the fine print of their agreements. Just do your research before signing up. Just as a side note, we sought legal council, to see what we could do. We were told this was the worst possible “insurance” anyone could have. I can’t speak for the other two options, but he didn’t have anything good to say about medical sharing in general.
Oh, my goodness, that’s awful. I’m so sorry. What a traumatic experience on so many fronts, and to find out that you couldn’t be covered….oy. Does Medi-Share have a way to share needs that are ineligible to help you out? It is a really, really good reminder to read every single word of the guidelines. I assume the motorcycle part was in there? If not, you’ve got to have some grounds for a suit. I’m so sorry for you and your husband!! – Katie
Sorry, I’m just getting back to this question. Yes, they said we could sign up for a program to share the ineligible costs. The problem is my husband would need a life time of medical bills (prosthetics are expensive and need to be replaced every 3-5 years). Medi-share would pay for 1 for his lifetime. And with the $100,000 maximum payout, the sharing would have to total millions over his whole life. Not something that we felt was possible. Also, they have subrogation rights. That means they can claim any money we get from car insurance, etc (and they always do). So, to us it wasn’t worth pursuing since we thankfully had a few other options. Since, now I know how the story ends, I’m glad we chose to not use our health coverage. But it was a very stressful year and Medi-Share certainly didn’t make it any easier.
Wow that’s awful. Did your auto insurance not cover the medical? Trying to figure out all the worst case scenarios….
The boy who hit my husband was under insured. Our under insured/ uninsured did pay out some, but not nearly enough. What we received TOTAL from both those insurances was enough to cover his first prosthetic, and possibly his PT. When you are looking at over half a million in current medical bills and another million or more for future medical needs and everyone involved just kind shrugs and walks away, it’s pretty infuriating. Thankfully, my husband was working at the time of the accident (he does sales and was travelling for work). WC even tried to play the shrug and walk away game, but we were able to prove he was working and after about 9 months of fighting, we finally got a settlement. Yay!! Now we know his future needs will be met, and that’s a good feeling.
Wow, praise be to God for that coming through!! Way to fight it out!!
We have been with Samaritan since we moved here from Canada 3 years ago. We have had 2 accidents and a baby published.
We have never had to pay the $300 per incident, because I always spend a couple of months negotiating with providers for discounts to make things more affordable to everybody. It took some time and effort, but saved everybody money.
Samaritan reimbursed us for a home birth with a lay midwife. I called right away and worked out the details as soon as I knew I was pregnant. We paid her out of pocket and at the end I showed our expenses by the check register and prenatal chart – there were no receipts. It worked well.
I’m glad to hear how well it has gone for you. Can you explain a little more on your process that prevented the $300 offset you are responsible for? Did send initial bills to Samaritan for publishing and THEN negotiate the costs with the provider which allowed for the deduction that avoided the $300 you would have had to pay?
My husband broke his leg and the bills totaled about $5000.
I asked for discounts and kept negotiating with the billing departments of the hospitals/labs, etc. for several months. The different billing departments went around and around because they are not used to tenacious people who don’t just write a check the first time something gets “lost”, but they eventually ended up giving us varying discounts, based on our income or cash pay discount, etc.
I negotiated the total of all of the bills down to $1500 total, paid the bills and turned in the receipts to Samariatan. The $300 we were responsible for was considered paid by the discounts. (Negotiating the cost down leaves more money in the pool for other needs). Samaritan published the need and the next month I received 8 checks from Samaritan members that totaled $1500.
Thank you for this information.
This blog entry and comments are very helpful as my husband just left his full-time job to work as an independent contractor. It is clearly the best decision for our family and his health, but since we missed the 60 day window to enroll in insurance we were looking at the options of getting COBRA at $1,500 per month or having no coverage and spending up to $300 a month in penalty! We are very minimalist when it comes to using medical care and I would rather spend the money on other things that make us healthy, good food, exercise options, etc.
I also appreciated the comment about the motorcycle accident. We need to look at that closely as my husband rides a motorcycle. : (
Let me know if you need any more info, Theresa, and may God bless your search! 🙂 Katie
Thank you for this post! My family will likely be moving back to the States soon, and I am choosy about my medical provider, so this information is a God-send. I’m curious to know what these three sharing ministries consider a medical provider. Only MDs and DOs? Are naturopaths, homeopaths, chiropractors, licensed nutritionists, etc considered medical providers or natural/alternative treatments?
Also, I like to get routine blood work done every year as a preventive measure. Am I understanding correctly that it would not be covered/published unless the test picked up a condition that is covered/publishable?
Hi Robin,
Very good questions! Yes, blood work as preventative measure is not covered – some docs will be able to reduce your cost if you’re self-pay, but not all.
A for alternative treatments, from my notes it looks like (at least a year ago) CHM does not cover alternative treatments, Medi-Share I’m not sure about (but they have a doctor “network” so I feel like that might be a bad sign), and Samaritan will approve alternative treatments on a case by case basis. At least it’s something! More than you’d get with traditional med insurance. Samaritan will cover midwives.
Hope that helps! 🙂 Katie
for blood tests, go to http://www.lef.org.
We chose CHM after thinking about it (and scared about it) for a long time. We had a great experience with the company. They were better than the traditional health insurance we had before. I would highly recommend them. We stopped using it when my husband and I both got jobs where insurance was a paid benefit.
i’m considering going this route so your post is very helpful. thanks. 🙂 do you know offhand if either of the other two, CHM or MediShare, cover preventative costs? it looks like if you have lots of medical bills under $500 with CHM’s Gold program it could get pricey, but i like their unlimited coverage for catastrophic care with their add-on option. i read an article in the ny times and they said with Samaritan you need your pastor to verify something. is that just that you are an active church member or was it more than that?
Hi Linda,
You should definitely look into it more, but from my notes it sounds like *maybe* Medi-Share would sort of cover preventative because they have more a traditional insurance-type co-pay of $35 for office visits…but I’m still not positive it covers preventative.
As for the pastor’s signature, yes, just that we’re actually members of the church I believe. Nothing too scary. 🙂
What our family has found helpful is to combine Samaritan with membership in a direct care physician practice. These docs don’t usually take insurance and are a joy to deal with. We pay 175.00 monthly to our D.O.(just like an MD but does spinal and joint adjustments). The monthly fee covers a multitude of office procedures: adjustments, EKGs, minor labs (addt’l fee for those sent out),minor surgical procedures(biopsies,cyst/wart removals etc.),casting/splinting, OB care, PAP tests, yearly physicals. It covers most of what you would see a physician for. When we are seen he spends a long time with us discussing all sorts of things and giving a thorough physical exam – if you want that. I prefer minimal bother and he’s OK with that too.
What falls through the cracks are CAT scans, colonoscopies,MRIs, all the expensive diagnostic stuff. Our doc is great at finding the most cost-effective places to do these tests, but it is still a big expense. Many people recommend going to Costa Rica or Thailand, India etc, but as a former ICU nurse, I refuse to entertain the thought of having an invasive procedure somewhere that I can’t safely drink the water. Your surgeon is scrubbing for surgery in that very same water, as is the rest of the staff. Your food is also being prepared with that water,etc. There is also the question of how malpractice is addressed in a foreign country and I have read some horror stories. Sometimes people have no recourse.
You don’t actually have to be a church member, just a regular attender.
Greetings! I am so thankful for your blog about this. I am currently pregnant with baby #6. This is the first time none of us have insurance, first they dropped our pharmacy and now us. Dreadful! My question to you is if it’s too late to sign up for this when you are already pregnant? Thanks for your time.
With Christian healthcare Ministries you do need to be enrolled before you are pregnant for the birth to be covered. Congratulations!!!
I know Samaritan will, if you join, submit it to their members as what’s called a Special Prayer Need. Your pre-existing pregnancy will be excluded from standard sharing procedures, but the Special Prayer Need will be published in the newsletter sent out to ALL the members with a suggestion that all those who can send at least 20.00. Not sure how much you would get, but let’s face it, Christian folks love new members of the body of Christ and we love large families, so it would be better than nothing. Maybe someone else can chime in about how the other ones would handle it?
Thanks for this article and keeping all of the comments.
I’ve lived in the world of outlying medical conditions for about a decade. And I have had to learn how to be my own advocate sometimes going against doctor advice and traveling for medical treatment. Very scary stuff coming from the daughter of a hospital administrator.
We have finally realised that whilst we want to be good stewards of money and take wise precaution, choosing one of the healthshare ministries is really an admission of knowing God’s going to take care of His flock.
I want to write this here because of the motorcycle incident above. That is horrible. And it has been one of my biggest fears. I am probably one of the few people who knew about the limit on prostheses (and we aren’t even members of any of the groups yet!). But I know that stuff because of my obsessive “what-if” scenarios. As we prayed for clarity, God orchestrated several things in our lives to demonstrate His headship and care for us.
At the end of the day, was I trusting Aetna, BlueCross, United Health, Samaritans, MediShare, CHM, etc, or was I going to trust the Lord to provide and care for me via any means He chose? The young couple with the horrible motorcycle accident above is a prime example of this concept. MediShare was not the way God chose to care for them; yet they are cared for. He was faithful. He will be faithful.
I am writing this for others to be reminded as they read these comments, but also for my own self because that “what if” fear loves to creep up and strangle me. It’s in God we rest; not insurance and not healthcare sharing.
So take heart, Friends! You cannot make a wrong move in choosing your coverage.
Katie,
I tried to read thoroughly, but maybe I missed it. Does one (or all) of these count as insurance for those of us who live in states where insurance is required or you get a tax penalty? Do you get “proof of insurance” around tax time?
Christian Healthcare Ministries counts. No trouble with my taxes this year. CHM sent me instructions on how to fill out the tax forms.
Christian Healthcare ministries are by law exempt from obamacare requirements. As long as they existed before (I believe) 1998. There is a form you need to file with your taxes, but it is very simple and I know Samaritan and CHM send a notification about it.
Another option is a Direct Primary Care practice that offers membership like this place http://www.rekindlefamilymedicine.com/ You pay a monthly and all your visits with the physician are covered 100%. Combined with a catastrophic insurance, it complies to ACA. It would be a great addition to a sharing plan to cover preventive, well visit or even sick visit for younger children. We are hoping to own a business shortly and will be losing health coverage when we do, this is great information.
We love our Direct Care doc! They spend the time with you to really find out what’s going on. We find it cost-effective too, you just have to realize that you need to find the best deals on diagnostic tests etc, because you are going to pay out of pocket and costs vary wildly without rhyme or reason. What I have found is that something like a colonoscopy is thousands of dollars more when done in a hospital as an outpatient than when done in a free-standing surgical center. Do your research if it’s not an emergency and negotiate!
Thanks for the shout out, Caroline. Direct Primary Care is the way to practice medicine in the future, in my opinion. What’s not to love about having 24/7 access to your doctor, saving money, and having a relationship with your physician who cares about you and your health. It is truly a win-win situation for patients and doctors! This is a well written article comparing the various health sharing ministries as an alternative to traditional insurance. As insurance becomes more and more unwieldy and unaffordable, more value based options will arise. Direct Primary care is part of the answer! Patients are becoming savvy consumers and are comparing costs (as they should) and are demanding up front pricing (such as the costs posted on my website). Ultimately, competition in the marketplace will drive costs back DOWN where they should be! I’m so glad that word is catching on about Direct Primary Care and Rekindle Family Medicine.
Katie, can I link to this blog from an upcoming post I’m writing about the costs of healthcare, insurance, and alternatives?
I’m so excited to hear more about direct primary care too, Dr. Nalda, thank you for visiting – and of course you may link to this post, happy to share! 🙂 Katie
Thank you for sharing your evaluations of the plans you examined. I offer a point of correction, or maybe clarification, regarding your bullet stating that “Any need over $300 is published.” We are Samaritan Ministry members, however, we learned that preventive screenings like colonoscopies cost $4000 or more in our area and are “not publishable” in Samaritan Ministries. So, the word “any” is misleading I am afraid. For us, we could send in for the “unpublished” help but there are no guarantees in this case. The conventional insurance option my employer offered would have covered this procedure and we may even be able to save a little bit of money when comparing monthly payments and deductibles between the two plans. I advise, as you did, for readers to be sure to do their homework in detail. Look forward in time for the big ticket preventive items that may be coming up (like mammograms and colonoscopies) and to be sure you are not caught off guard like us. Contributing to a personal savings account for health as one might for a new car is good idea.
Once again, thank you for your review!
Samaritan shares all qualifying needs (meeting the guidelines, which are available on their website) above $300. You are right that a routine colonoscopy isn’t shareable ($4000 is high, though, wow)… but if they find something during the procedure, like polyps, then it becomes shareable. And if you had to get one because of symptoms, then that’s shareable also. And, you can ask for discounts on that $4000 because you’re cash pay and not bound to an insurance contract. A resource like healthcarebluebook.com is a good starting point for find what something should cost in your area. I think members get pretty good about shopping around and asking what things cost. Definitely do homework before joining a ministry. They are a great thing, but just different enough from insurance we need to ask the questions that matter to us.
Definitely shop around for prices on the colonoscopy! Also, be up front with the doctor right away and let them know you are a “cash” patient. The should be able to provide with assistance forms right away! Don’t be afraid to fill our financial need forms-it can greatly reduce or even eliminate your bill.
How is maternity and child birth covered? Does it matter whether you have a hospital or home birth? Or need emergency procedures at birth?
Hello there!
I am diving into my own research on medical sharing ministries as we prepare to bring our first baby into the world later this year! We are hoping for me to be able to stay home with our baby, medical insurance is a big concern!
What I am not finding about Samaritan Ministries is the Annual portion or Personal share that is required for each family. Other plans tend to have an amount that is required for families to pay before the help comes in from other members. Can you provide some clarification on how this works with Samaritan??
Thanks!!
Hi Katrina,
With Samaritan, it’s pretty simple: You pay for any incident under $300, Samaritan starts sharing at anything over $300. So if you get treated for something and it’s $200 for labs and $150 for the doc visit, you can submit that for sharing. There’s no minimum that you have to pay OOP before you can get needs covered. Hope that helps! 🙂 Katie
Hello Katie,
This article is very helpful, especially to those who have never heard of Health Share accounts. I joined Liberty Healthshare in April and I am not sure if they are recommended by you or approved by the ACA.
Any thoughts?
Much thanks,
Jax
Jax – so sorry, never heard of that one!
HI Katie,
Thank you again for your overview. As with many, we are in a situation where I lost my job and subsidized family medical coverage. Because my wife and I are older, traditional healthcare options (Traditional, COBRA) are all incredibly expensive (over $1,200/mo) with very high deductibles. Similarly, short-term policies are ~$800 with $10,000+ deductibles (and these are non-compliant).
Therefore a Christian healthcare option seems ideal (or at least a great option). Though we’re both committed Christians and have been active in praying for the sick (I was involved with the Healing Rooms for three years) I have no problem with traditional medical care, only the cost and outrageous deductibles.
After reading through your post and online materials I’m drawn to both Samaritan’s or Christian Healthcare Ministries. Since we are fine self-paying lesser amounts and pray we’ll back on an employer-paid policy in 3-6 months my main concern is catastrophic coverage so I’m trying to compare Samaritan’s including Save to Share with CHM’s Gold plus Brother’s Keeper.
Samaritan’s basic rate is $440/mo. plus a “Yearly Set-Aside” of $266 for Save to Share. CHM Gold would run $300/mo. plus ~$50/month for Brother’s Keeper.
The area I’m most confused with is Samaritan’s “Yearly Set-Aside.” Can you explain how that actually works?
Are there any other catastrophic coverage differences that I should focus on?
Your brother in Christ,
Hi Paul,
We do the save-to-share, and it adds around $10 to our monthly check. Set aside might mean that you commit to having that much on hand in case of catastrophe? I’m honestly not sure, sorry! Sounds like CHM might be a better deal for you – the one big thing to check for catastrophic is if there’s a limit. You hate to only get $250K if you have a million dollars in bills. Katie
Thank you Katie,
We went ahead and joined Samaritan Ministries. We also referenced you as our source, so hopefully you’ll get the referral credit.
Blessings,
Paul
Awesome, thanks Paul!
Katie, I’m so glad you have had a positive experience with the health share you chose.
I strongly urge anyone looking into options for Health Care Sharing plans to be very careful about whom they select.
We were very enthusiastic about the idea of saving 50% on monthly premiums with potentially a much lower out-of-pocket costs due to cost-sharing with like minded individuals who try to treat their bodies in a way that honors God. We chose to sign our family up with Medical Cost Sharing (MCS). Although they were close to impossible to reach when we had question or wanted to update our billing information, all seemed to be going well and they gladly took our automated payments for several months UNTIL I had an injury that could possibly result in surgery. Shortly after submitting our doctor’s bill (which we already paid for out of pocket and negotiated the lowest possible rate) I received a letter of termination. In the letter they are claiming pre-existing conditions that I was not seeking reimbursement for, as well as stating that I have a condition (based on a medication I am taking under doctor’s order for something else but is typically used to treat a specific condition that I do NOT have). They said not to bother appealing the decision – their board is overwhelmed with the case load and has never overturned a termination. So now I am out thousands of dollars that I paid to them in contributions, plus the hundreds (plus more in the future) of dollars in current medical bills. I am sick inside that people claiming to be Christian and spout scripture stating we should help others turned their back on us the minute we had a legitimate need.
If I go to any other cost-share program now, my injury will be considered a pre-existing condition. My only option is to go back to looking at traditional ACA-compliant health insurance, which was exactly what we wanted to avoid. Do not waste your time looking at MCS. You will only waste your time, money, and your faith in humanity.
Oh no, that’s terrible, Lauren!!! 🙁 🙁 🙁 I wonder what Samaritan would say if you called them – they have people on the phone available to pray with you immediately, and honestly, I feel like they are so upstanding they might even accept the injury anyway – or at least your need would be published as an “extra” thing that many people respond to. I’d say it’s worth a call to see if these brothers and sisters in Christ would make up for the lack of Christian behavior at MCS. I’m so sorry you experienced this, ugh…thank you for sharing here so we can beware!! Blessings to you, Katie
Does anyone know if “Medical Cost Sharing” is the same as “Medical Cost Share”? On the bottom of the web site for Medical Cost Share is printed: “MedicalCostShare.com is proud to be an authorized Liberty HealthShare Member Sponsor”. So, are Liberty and MCS the same?
I, like others, am looking at Christian health share medical options and have been researching them. I will be retiring early and will loose my employer provided health insurance. I found information on another health share medical organization that a few has asked about above and looks like another viable option. It is Liberty Health Share at http://www.libertyhealthshare.org. Their site has information that also explains they are exempt from the ACA IRS penalty and have a link to a letter from the HHS. They appear to have some good options comparable, or in some cases, maybe even better than some of the others. I am still doing my research on them all but wanted others to be aware of this option as well.
For the first time we are looking at other options for our health care costs after receiving our new premium rate with our conventional insurance for 2017 and it increased by 32%! My question is whether or not the amount that I pay to any of these shared health cost ministries would be tax deductible.
No Terry, it’s not tax deductible. But it’s so much less than standard insurance that for us, that’s a non-issue. Good luck on your search! 🙂 Katie
Thank you for all this information.We are with CHM but I am reaching 65 and am not eligible for medicare. CHM will only pay what is left after medicare has paid so I may need to find something else. How does Samaritan view those not eligible for medicare?
Thanks for the all the great information Katie! As both a naturopathic physician and a chiropractic physician, I have never had insurance! Crazy, right? I just don’t believe in it, as it stands. Unfortunately accidents do happen and God has put in on my heart to go this route. I have a few comments and questions.
The problems I am feeling with these ministries is that they want you to believe exactly as they believe – at least this is what I think and what I have read. What I mean is, yes, I can call myself a Christian. Yes, I do go to church every week and yes, I do not smoke, drink or otherwise – but can they deny you care, if somehow they discover that your “brand” of Christianity isn’t what they thought was the “best” version?
Also, what I notice, out of reading all the comments, is that there consistently only a few groups that actually will do what they say they will do:
– CHM = https://www.chministries.org/
– Samaritan = http://samaritanministries.org
The ones that I felt the best about included:
– Liberty Health Share = http://www.libertyhealthshare.org
– CHM
Although Samaritan, is well-talked about, I think them and CHM seem to be more restrictive in what you “should” believe. Again, this is just my humble opinion.
Anyways, thanks bringing this conversation to the table.
God Bless.
Hi D!
I will definitely concur that Samaritan has an “angle” that they take on things, conservative, etc. (based on their newsletter articles). However – I don’t think they can deny you care after you’ve signed everything, so as long as you get a pastor to sign off and you’re approved, your valid claims should be fine. There are specifically laid out claims that aren’t publishable because of morals, like drug treatments for example. But they don’t decide those on the fly based on a judgment of your Christianity. I hope that helps clear it up! 🙂 katie