Christians Flock to Groups That Help Members Pay Medical Bills

New York Times ^ | March 10, 2016 | ABBY GOODNOUGH

[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.

[JimRed]

I heard a radio ad for that the other day. Interesting.

[JimRed]

My concern is that anyone can say they are a Christian organization then walk away with the money.

Same concern I have about the dozen-a-day emails I get from orgs labeled with "Tea Party", Freedom, Liberty, Patriot, Minuteman, etc. They all want to scare me into sending money. Some are probably legitimate, but which ones?

[BBB333]

Each provider has different upper limits.

The group we belong to, Christian Healthcare Ministry (CHM), has a $125,000 max per diagnosis.

For an additional (approximately) $10.00 per month, per person, there is no cap. It’s unlimited. I understand that CHM has paid out over $3,000,000 on an occasion or two.

Other plans have similar coverage available.

Hope this helps.

Stay well!

[BBB333]

“$180@month is too much for me.”

Christian Healthcare Ministries has plans that start at $45.00 per month.

That’s $540.00 per year.

The Obamacare fine this year is a MINIMUM of $695.00.

What do you get for $45.00 per month?

$5,000 deductible, $125,000 max payout per diagnosis.

For approximately $10.00 more per month the max cap is $1,000,000.

There is also a $85.00 per month option with a $1,000 deductible.

Hope this helps!

[Jmouse007]

1,500 pastors leave their ministries each month. Often times it isn’t the pastor or teaching elder who needs to be “vetted”, but the deacons, committee chairmen, the rich who hold the purse strings and political “power brokers” who all seek to maintain their control over the churc, the pastor, his message and all that takes place during the service on a weekly basis.

[PIF]

Thanks -I’ll bookmark it for future ref. Looks to me like the Gold $150 plan is the only one really worth the cost.

[BBB333]

My wife and I have that plan.

She had an issue that cost $7,900.

We paid small payments to doctor, clinics, hospital, anesthesiologist, etc. Our initial out of pocket was $1,600 over three or four months.

They sent us a check for $7,500+ and we paid the outstanding balances so our out of pocket was $390.

We are very happy.

[KC_for_Freedom]

Thanks, I wondered how they cover this problem. Our son was in an accident and quickly ran up 2.2 million of health care expenses. We were able to cover him by switching from one plan to another after his first plan reached their limit.

[txjeep]

There are qualifications for deacons in Scripture as well, which should be followed, including the part about the deacon’s wife.

The problems you describe are very real, and related to churches that structure their leadership like a business, or in a way inconsistent with what the New Testament teaches. Elder and deacon are the only church offices given in the Scriptures, and they have specific roles. A church needs multiple qualified elders, all with equal authority. The elders have oversight of the church, not deacons or committees. That said, elders do not rule in autonomy, but are under-shepherds of Christ, and should be removed if found to be domineering or biblically disqualified.

If people with money are allowed to hold the church hostage, that is the fault of the church leadership. People who try to control things are domineering, and should be corrected, not allowed to dominate others. When churches get into debt, they become more dependent on the offerings of those with higher incomes, which opens to door to tyrannical members who want control.

You can talk all day about this issue, but the main point is that when churches are not governed biblically, they will have more problems than a church that is structured properly. I would never join a church that did not have a plurality of elders, with a good constitution and by-laws, which prescribe a biblical process by which the congregation can hold elders (and deacons) accountable, or remove them.

As far as what the those elders teach, that gets back to expository preaching. I would add that subscribing to a historical confession (i.e. WCF, LBC) further insulates the church from false doctrines, but that is another discussion.