A medical cost-sharing community is a group of individuals who agree to come together to handle the payment of larger medical expenses. How likely would you be to participate in such a medical cost-sharing community where all of your medical needs above $1500 are handled by the community in exchange for committing to a monthly share of around $200?
I have read about the Christian Healthcare Ministries but have been apprehensive about making changes from my Medicare-paid Advantage plan as I am on a very limited budget, which serves my needs, but does not provide for larger cash outlays. I am fairly healthy, on no prescription drugs and only see a doctor for annual physicals.
I belonged to one 14 years and paid $100/month.. Developed a tumor in my heart and had to have open heart surgery. My bill was $89,000 because I was paying cash. Every cent was paid within 2 months. I received over 360 checks and cards in the mail. It was simply overwhelmjng.
To be honest in addition to potentially programs like this that link to perhaps an ideology that are volunteer programs with like minded individuals, we need to put in place programs that permit creating tax incentatives to save for training, housing, and health care – and ultimately get away from the social security model and federal health care. Family and community action – not federal or govt.
I participate in this type of program – NOW it is called ccm_medishare – faith based program – it has been a blessing and it has help both my wife and myself. Christian Healthcare Ministries 2 year- Now! Excellent! and I support AMAC !
I belong to a health share, Liberty Healthshare. I pay $249 per month and have a $1,000 per year unshared/or deductible, as we say of insurance. Their customer service is inconsistent to poor; they are always courteous, but you have to really stay on them to be sure things are processed correctly. That all being said, they paid what they said they would and it allowed us to retire in our early 60s and NOT be on Obamacare.
I am a member of a healthshare ministry – Liberty Healthshare. It’s terrific. I use it as my secondary insurance after Medicare. Would be interested to see what AMAC could offer.
This will sound a bit abrasive but I feel it appropriate. I’ve never been a part of a med-share program but I have known those who have. Many of those were preachers, private / christian school teachers and missionary types. And while the below described scenario does not apply to many sincere persons in those fields, it does seem to apply to a new batch of people who think they are called of God to a position and that everyone else is responsible to fund their vision.
Example. A guy grows up as a missionary’s kid or a preacher’s kid in a christian school, gets a scholarship as a valedictorian (because he is the only student in the small senior class) and goes to a private college. He meets this girl with a similar background and boom, they marry and decide to be something in a “god called” field. Well, the ratio of overweight to non-overweight preachers, teachers etc is self evident. Then, there is the fertility issue that seems common also. Spitting out babies left and right.
Why are these persons entitled? Is it my responsibility to fund a hireling? a charlatan? or their offspring just because they have an opposition to using birth control? Is not the love offerings and the free Sunday dinners enough?
Sorry, I cannot buy into that type of thinking. Maybe such programs have changed since I was around them. Hopefully so. It is my opinion that each person should be responsible for his or her health to the extent that they can. And this program does none of that.
Let me know when this happens.
I have been in a cost sharing group for 4 years & it is so much better than traditional insurance. I recommend Samaritan Ministries.
We have very good medical insurance, but don’t use it often. I would be. more likely if we were sickly.
I DO NOT AGREE WITH MEDICARE FOR ALL. THIS WILL MAKE HEALTHCARE WORSE THAN THE VA’S TERRIBLE HEALTHCARE, WAITING LINES, NO CHOICE OF DOCTORS OR PROCEDURES. TALK TO PEOPLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES NOT JUST CANADA, BUT EUROPE AND OTHER FOREIGN COUNTRIES. THEY DO NOT LIKE THEIR HEALTHCARE AND THEY ALSO CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN HEALTHCARE POLICIES IF THEY WANT BETTER CARE. THIS IS A BIG LIE ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, HEALTHCARE FOR ALL WITH RUIN OUR COUNTRY WHICH HAS THE BEST HEALTHCARE IN THE WORLD. DO NOT RUIN THIS BY MANDATING HEALTHCARE FOR ALL.
Being a past business owner in CA. I have seen workman’s comp. insurance try this and they have not been very successful. The idea is good, but the group needs to be incredibly large to sustain itself from the legal segment of just a couple of members.
I have participated in such a plan for 3 years and it works great.
I already belong to a medical cost sharing community,but they won’t cover any costs that are/would be covered by Medicare ( which I only have part A).
Sharing medical costs that way is precisely what Medi-Share and Samaritan Ministries does. (There are others, but I’m not personally familiar with them).
The key to their ability to work is that they are an extended community of like-minded believers (Christians) who handle each other’s medical NEEDS, but don’t cover unbiblical (gender change, abortion, etc.) or unnecessary procedures (elective and cosmetic-only surgeries, for instance). They are also pretty strict on “pre-existing conditions” – so jumping OUT of insurance now and into a health-share system may not be feasible for some people and it may be best for them to stay where they are for the time being. But even insurance companies, though they “let you in”, are very cost prohibitive if you have a pre-existing condition. Nothing is perfect in this imperfect world.
All that being said, medical shares are a good fit for many, and should be investigated. They are much cheaper to hold (monthly cost of hundreds, instead of a thousand or more) and have successfully met the medical needs of their members for decades.
If your promising $2,400 a year for a family healthcare plan south no more then and additional $1,500.out of pocket that’s just a big fat lie. Even the Christian parents are 3x that with upfront cost for everything. I’ve had 19 surgeries (fell 4 stories) I can’t upfront pay 100k plus bills.
I have already joined a cost-sharing community for medical bills. I am part of Christian health ministries. I had cataract surgery on both eyes and had multi Optical lenses put in both eyes. They paid the full bill. I am a direct pay to the doctors and hospitals so I have to pay them first then I am reimbursed. It was five months before I received any compensation but they paid. I am very pleased. I pay $150 per month for the gold plan. I pay another hundred and $40 per year roughly for Brother’s Keeper to make mine Unlimited. I’m required to live by biblical principles. For me it beats the wank out of Blue Cross Blue Shield premiums continue to increase as does deductibles.
dripping leftists AAARP have put together a phone plan. Please put a plan together that would really help families needing 4 to 6 vrll phonrd with cheap rates! thanks.
I have been with such a plan for five years and it has provided wonderful coverage for a fraction of the cost! Sharing costs helps ALL of us to lean on each other and also enables us to choose our own doctors and to take responsibility for our own healthcare decisions rather than relying on an insurance company. There are multiple and HUGE benefits to this type plan and it gives us the freedom and responsibility that should be ours in medical decisions! I would never want to return to the INSURANCE market!
Have been a member of Christian Health share ministries for past few years. Had to file some claims this year for the first time. All claims were paid %100. A friend is using Liberty and said his back surgery was covered without issues as well. Just a FYI for those who might be considering them.
We have been a member of such a group for almost a decade and we love it. We limit costs and procedures, etc. This provides “insurance” for anything “big” that might come along.
I already belong to a health cost sharing group. I wish I knew about these sooner. Love the one I belong too. I know it works well too!
I will not be buying the health insurance as I have VA. However I didn’t want to vote no because I think others may be interested. I do have questions about how it would work.
We belong to a medical co-op now. It works great
I feel that the option for catastrophic coverage is SEVERELY lacking in the market. When insurance covers every little thing we lose the relationship between the patient and the ACTUAL cost. We certainly do not need less options of a single payer system, but a more open and robust system that allows greater choice. I should be able to buy any insurance from anywhere in the country. I think these cost sharing communities are an example of what is necessary. MORE OPTIONS NOT LESS.
My son and his family joined Christian Healthcare Ministries. They have the ‘GOLD’ plan for 400.00 per month. Dropped daughter-in-laws insurance. Public school teacher. They saved 5.000.00 this year. Yes, i am interested. There is also wonderful provision for pre existing conditions.
My family and I are Trump Jews. The Jewish healthcare share, UnitedRefuah, is more expensive than the coverage my family and I receive through my wife’s employer. I understand Liberty Share is open to all faiths. If AMAC offered such a plan, we would consider it depending on price.
Sorry, I edited the above, but it wouldn’t post. Copying a short paragraph from another site apparently needed repeating… And I had a few other comments about paying twice the normal amount in SS/M taxes as a self-employed business owner, without getting a bump in SS checks. Point is, I would rather have kept what I paid in and invested it instead of getting government checks.
This is a plan that works well for people/families who are generally healthy. For those with chronic conditions, health insurance is usually necessary. I worked for many years for an HMO to be able to have health coverage, but were my circumstances different, I might be willing (and do have friends that do participate in the type of plan successfully)
Cost sharing such as Medishare,a Christian
Group exclude applicants who have Medicare Complete coverage. Only straight Medicare
Will be considered.
I was a member of Samaritan Healthcare Ministries for three years, prior to going on Medicare. It worked fine and the cost savings were substantial. Also, it was a real eye-opener to see how procedures were billed by different medical groups and facilities. The only reason I discontinued my membership is because I can’t afford to pay both my Medicare premium and the monthly membership fee for the group.
I have been a part of cost-sharing community in the past. I currently have friends and family who are enrolled in a sharing community. From my own experience and from what I’ve observed, they are worse than traditional insurance when it comes to dealing with them.
As I found myself needing to continue working after a vested pension fund filed bankruptcy. Now more than ever is cutting costs on healthcare important. I plan to work 5 to 7 years . Finding employers who cover seniors moving into new jobs are hard to find.
I said very unlikely- but not for the reason stated. Why was there a comment on only that choice? That could deter people from selecting that option.
The cost of $200 per month is still way out of my available budget. WA State is going to offer certain plans for all of its public employees (I work as a Para-Educator) & it looks like all of us are going to be paying over $100 (@ $120) per month, which is too much for me also because we don’t get regular COLA increases even…..& this plus all the other factors in our lives (food-gas-housing-utilities etc.) keep on rising exhorbitantly! I work every little bit of extra I can just to try & make ends meet! This is all so frustrating & scarey!!!
My org is Samaritan Ministries.
You didn’t give me the option of saying that I am already a member of a medical-cost-sharing-community. I am.
We are currently in one. Samaritan Mi istries
I believe that in certain circumstances this type of pool would be warranted. As a retired veteran, I have good supplemental coverage along with Medicare (good ole social medicine wrought with fraud). If I did not have my service connected coverage, I would be very interested in a pool type of insurance scheme that would help keep medical costs down. That folks, is not socialism but good capital economics. i believe that there are groups that use this method of keeping costs down now. What they don’t need is some Johnny come lately Mr. dogooder to try and get them to move into some other insurance scheme run by an organization, such as AMAC or the NRA and others. What your organization should do is to publish information to inform the public about them.
Supposedly by having insurance coverage, we are a part of a cost sharing group! I would never voluntarily join a federal run healthcare group!
If I weren’t receiving VA healthcare (free minus deductibles) I certainly would belong to one.
While free healthcare sounds so wonderful, there are certainly disadvantages. You sometimes wait weeks or months to get into a clinic. You see the doctor they assign you, not the one you’d like. So what if that dr. can’t find his face with both hands? They have what you need and you both know it. Second opinion? What planet are YOU from? And like all other government-run healthcare it will eventually collapse under its own weight. Don’t listen; most countries that have government-run healthcare have the same problems.
If they ever give us vouchers to be seen by outside clinics, I’d be right there with a med sharing program.
I have been a Christian Healthcare Ministries member for years.
A fantastic program.
I’m convinced that any Christian, not on a company insurance program, who is not on this program ….,, does not know about this program.
Can I get off Medicare to save? I take blood pressure medication and a thyroid med.
We already belong to Christian Healthcare Ministries out of Barberton, OH. They are over 35 years old I believe and have an excellent reputation for integrity. Many deceptive programs are out there using the same name in internet searches. CHM has trademarked “bubble people” to distinguish their site. Be a wise consumer of whatever you purchase.
I’m in the ‘very unlikely’ bucket, though a tad confused with the term ‘traditional healthcare plans’. Does that mean the Obamacare era, or the before Second/Opinion/HMO era. I would prefer that everyone looks after themselves. For one, it means everyone must go look for a job. That medical insurance is available for stuff like accidents that require hospitalization/care, and other significant medical events, like the cancers etc, medical issues that stem from lifestyle choices excluded. We have a safety net in Medicaid, and seniors have Medicare. Problem is folks will find a way to game any system. So not worth it!
I am a member of Samaritan ministry and love it
I am a member of Samaritan ministry and I love it
We already share in the cost of medical care for our neighbors. It’s just that it is paid to the government in the form of taxes.
The reason I wouldn’t is because I don’t have an extra 200 a month
Not only WOULD I be willing to join a health care sharing concern, I HAVE done so — a Christian ministry (there are 3 that I am aware of), and I couldn’t be more pleased. Yes, there are requirements for joining (namely, that one professes faith in Christ, and lives accordingly). This means that costs are considerably lower, because professing and practicing Christians incur fewer risks–not harming themselves with alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, recklessness, and the agony and expenses associated with immoral sexual behavior–and they band together to pray for and give practical help to those suffering. This is SO much to be preferred to an insurance program, the incentives of which are basically to make money for the parent company and to avoid gross fraud that might land the insurance officers in jail!
And, the cost savings are phenomenal! My monthly contribution is $150 a month, with an additional $20-35 quarterly to cover extraordinary expenses exceeding $100,000. Additional advantages include the ability to choose one’s own medical providers, no requirement for pre-authorization or use of preferred hospitals/clinics/lab or testing facilities. In other words, your treatment is truly between yourself and your doctor–no middle man.
As far as I am concerned, there is no down-side.