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We’ve discussed about different healthcare options for those of us who are self-employed. Some scavengers have said they pay into a “Christian health care sharing organization” like https://samaritanministries.org/.
An article today makes it clear that this is NOT health insurance.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/health/christian-health-care-insurance.htmlSince its run by a religion, it’s exempted from government oversight. The groups do not have to pay anything if you get sick. They dont have to agree with the treatment you want. They can deny payment if they deem it a pre-existing condition.
I know these cost sharing groups are cheaper and many people trust churches, but please buyer beware. Sounds some of these cost sharing groups take the money and then want people to beg for debt relief from the hospitals or push them on Medicaid in an emergency.
We have affordable insurance through http://healthcare.gov that will cover us if something catastrophic happens. We go through an insurance company that is regulated and must cover us under specific rules.
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Also the word “Christian” is misleading. It is only for a certain type of Christian – as they define it.
But if it works for you and you are their type of Christian, go for it.
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Maybe “Health care sharing ministry” is a better term.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_sharing_ministryBut if you look at the list of Health care sharing ministries, they are are christian denominations. They all have religious pledges you must agree to before joining: https://freedomhealthshare.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/UHM_-Shared-Values.pdf
I’m making no judgement on Christianity, just the reality of these groups that say they help pay healthcare. Buyer beware.
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I wasn’t criticizing or disagreeing with anything in your post. I was just trying to point out an additional misleading thing about these organizations.
Samaritan Ministries home page says “Join the community of Christians helping Christians with health care.”
Well, I’m Christian, so I decided to look into it. (Merriam-webster.com defines “Christian” as: one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ).
Well, turns out Samaritan has a much much narrower definition of what a Christian is, so I find just that simple tag line on their home page very misleading. And then I saw the pre-existing condition exclusion and that turned me off completely.
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Says “Statement of faith” yet (unless I missed it) there’s no faith required- just a list of behaviourial requirements.
Which preselect a group that don’t smoke, take drugs, catch STDs, drink to excess or have lawyers on speed-dial. Most of my neighbours are like that, so if they amend it to “Must attend church 3 times a month or a mosque 2 times a day” they could expand their membership somewhat.
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My mother has been the church/christian school secretary for 40+ years at the church/school which I attended. They were involved in one of these cost sharing programs for several years, until several members were left high and dry on their coverage. Now they participate in a more conventional insurance program.
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