WASHINGTON — As Congress debates whether to mandate health insurance for all Americans, several Christian ministries whose members share each other’s medical costs are hoping the final version of health care reform doesn’t put them out of business.
Officials of three major “health sharing” organizations say they are watching the Capitol Hill discussions closely, and suggesting legislative language to ensure they qualify if Congress requires a “mandate” that all Americans carry health insurance.
“We don’t just want to be left out in the cold,” said Robert Baldwin, president of Florida-based Christian Care Ministry, which offers a “Medi-Share” program to its members.
Generally speaking, members of health-sharing groups — all of whom are professing Christians — pay a monthly fee that can range from $285 to $450 a month for a two-parent family. That fee is either sent to the ministry, which in turn passes it on to other members with certain medical bills, or sent directly to members in need.
It’s an unorthodox way to pay medical expenses — and insurance regulators remain leery — but members say it’s simply the latest incarnation of a 2,000-year tradition of believers carrying the burdens of other believers.
Baldwin is working with another organization, Illinois-based Samaritan Ministries, in the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries to inform legislators about the more than 100,000 members of organizations who have chosen their alternative to health insurance.
“We are actively trying to get language inserted into any bill that would have health care sharing ministries considered quality coverage under a mandate,” said Joel Noble, public policy team leader for both the alliance and Samaritan Ministries.
He pointed to a specific provision in Massachusetts — which already mandates individual insurance — that permits an exemption for “any health arrangement provided by established religious organizations comprised of individuals with sincerely held beliefs.”
As leaders of these ministries hope for a similar provision in federal legislation, they are fielding calls from curious customers, who help one another pay as much as $2 million in medical bills each month.
“We do have our members who will contact us saying … `What is this going to do to us?”‘ said the Rev. Howard Russell, executive director of Ohio-based Christian Healthcare Ministries, who supports the alliance’s efforts.
“That’s one of the reasons that we’re encouraging them, helping them in contacting their legislators.”
All of the organizations have a range of guidelines, and offer programs for members to donate additional money to meet costs of pre-existing conditions or bills that exceed maximum limits.
“We’re facilitating this matching process,” said Baldwin, of the links members make with each other. “The organization itself doesn’t take on that risk of paying your medical bills… We tend to say, in general, we’re here to share the burdens with one another, not the minor inconveniences.”
For example, Noble said members might get a form that “said `John Smith broke his arm. Please pray for his healing.’ And it gives his address and they write a check directly to him and send it.”
The nonprofits have particular expectations from the members. For example, participants may be expected to shun alcohol and tobacco, and their clergy member may be interviewed to verify regular church participation.
The health care sharing ministries have received support from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.
“…(I)t is a benefit to people of faith to have access to a voluntary cost-sharing ministry that does not deny people membership, raise their monthly financial gifts or cancel their participation based on a medical condition,” the caucus said in a resolution adopted in December.
But insurance commissioners offer cautions, and outright warnings, about the sharing arrangements.
“At the end of the day, you just have a promise that they’ll cover you,” said Maine Bureau of Insurance Superintendent Mila Kofman, who did research on faith-based health sharing ministries several years ago while she was on the faculty of Georgetown University.
In other words, there’s no guaranteed coverage.
“This is why we really need reform. … People are really desperate and what’s out there right now is not really meeting their need and then they’re forced to look at these alternatives that may or may not pay for them when they’re sick.”
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners includes a warning about “non-licensed risk-sharing plans” on its Web site.
“Such arrangements are not insurance and the participants do not have the protections available to purchasers of licensed insurance plans,” it cautions. “State insurance regulators strongly recommend that you thoroughly investigate such plans before joining.”
In response to critics, health-sharing organizations say they follow the law, just not insurance law. And, they add, Christians have been aiding Christians for some 2,000 years while insurance companies have only existed in the last century.
“Christians have certainly been helping one another out a lot longer than there’s been health insurance,” Baldwin said. “We just don’t see why the government would want to take this option away from people.”
By ADELLE M. BANKS
c. 2009 Religion News Service
Copyright 2009 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.
Beliefnet
Advertisement
posted July 29, 2009 at 7:01 pm
“several Christian ministries whose members share each other’s medical costs are hoping the final version of health care reform doesn’t put them out of business”
Does that strike anyone else as “unChristian”? Shouldn’t they be delighted if it gives these people real health insurance they can count on rather than hope of checks coming in if the others feel they have been Christian enough and feel able to help.
In one sense this kind of arrangement is good in that (at least I hope) there’s not much overhead. The overhead of conventional insurance is why it really doesn’t work very well for us. We don’t need high-paid executives and for-profit companies to provide health insurance well. The government does it every day; it’s called Medicare.
Private companies and perhaps even highly paid executives have their place; I don’t want advances in computers, for instance, to be left to bureaucrats. But Medicare works very well in the largely cut and dried field of medical insurance.
It would really be pretty simple to put everyone on Medicare. Big companies could save a lot and compete far better with companies in other countries with similar programs. Small companies would have their employees covered and be spared the inefficiencies of their workers working sick or having to be replaced when their diseases keep them from working.
Advanced countries are giving all their citizens health coverage and saving a bundle of money in the process but the US doesn’t even give it serious consideration. Instead our legislators are more concerned with generating profits for insurance companies than with providing health coverage for our citizens.
posted July 29, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I wonder why the “advanced countries” citizen leave their country to get timely and higher quality care. A mix of coverage’s seems to work better as pressure gauges take the pressure off of a overworked system. Considering the population of this country in my opinion it is unrealistic to imagine the total elimination of private providers and paid coverage. If the requirements for paid insurance is lowered the people will make a mockery of the free services by cheating and tax this country into tremendous debt; oh that’s right we’re already there.
posted July 30, 2009 at 5:55 am
Yes we are there. Bush and his Republicans ran a stupid but very costly war on credit and cut the budgets of the agencies that should have caught the lies and false evaluations that led to the Republican Housing Bubble and to our mess.
And I think most citizens of those advanced countries would not willingly trade health care with citizens here. If it’s a choice of waiting a few weeks then getting a non-emergency service done or just not being able to afford it, I’d be willing to wait. How many people do you see struggling to pay medical costs or just unable to pay them or who have become homeless because of one illness? If you do the kinds of things you say you do, it must be a lot.
And sure, if you are wealthy why wouldn’t you pay for the convenience of getting health care for the wealthy at some US clinic most of us will never get inside.
posted July 30, 2009 at 7:17 am
cknuck, I apologize. You said your god had done very well by you, which I took to mean you are well off. So you probably can get into those clinics for the wealthy. So, I guess you might well resent paying some more taxes so a lot of people without health care can get it.
Well I’m sure not wealthy but I might pay some additional taxes for that too and you know what, it doesn’t bother me.
posted July 30, 2009 at 9:55 am
This is purely a separation of church and state issue. This argument has been used for every other legislative issue – you can’t discriminate in renting your property for religious reasons, you can’t pray aloud in the public school classrooms, etc. For the same reason, you cannot force people to go against their religious convictions and make them subscribe to a government program their conscience is against.
posted July 30, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Terry is it personal knowledge that leads you to say they do this rather than insurance out of religious convictions? I ask because I don’t see that stated in the article. Might it not be cost and/or personal preferances?
posted July 30, 2009 at 1:09 pm
nnmns,
I don’t know about Terry, but for me and a great many other members of need-sharing ministries, the low cost and excellent benefits were the initial lure to membership, but the more I learned about health insurance, the more I learned about Medicare, and as I experienced my own needs being met and prayed for by the other members, I came to a deep spiritual conviction that we should not ever assume to “transfer the risk” of our health and well-being to a corporation or government agency that does not care about me and cannot protect me or keep me healthy or heal me. In our ministry, the “risk” remains where it should be–in the hands of God. And His body, His church, meets the needs that are greater than those I can bear myself. If I claim to have “faith”, then I should put my trust and reliance on God, not on men. For someone who doesn’t have faith, they can choose to bet on getting sick when they pay their health insurance premium, but as for me and my house, we choose to be generous every month, and to depend on the Lord to meet our needs every day. It’s a whole different mindset, that I don’t necessarily expect non-believers to understand, but what we are asking congress to do is simply allow us to continue practicing our faith in this practical way. The cost savings IS significant, though, because it allows my family to give more of our money to others in need. We don’t have much, but as we trust the Lord and give to others, we always have enough.
posted July 30, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Michael says “If I claim to have “faith”, then I should put my trust and reliance on God, not on men.”
Michael, Jesus taught many a lesson using parables and stories.
Here’s a story for you to think about.
- As the flood waters rose near a faith-keeping man’s house the local policeman knocked on his door and the cop said ‘Mister, the water is rising come with me to safety’. The man said ‘No, God will take care of me.’ The policeman left.
A few hours later the man had retreated away from the flood to the 2nd floor and a fireman in a boat knocked on the 2nd floor window and said ‘Mister, the water is rising come with me to safety’. The man said ‘No, God will take care of me.’ The fireman left.
A few hours later the man was now on the roof when a National Guard heleicopter hovered overhead and using a bullhorn the soldier said ‘Mister, the water is rising come with me to safety’. The man said ‘No, God will take care of me. The soldier and the helicopter left.
Minutes later the faith-keeping man was swept away to his death. When he arrived in Heaven he asked God why He had let him drown to death. ‘After all he said, I’ve been a faith-keeping man all my life.’
God looked at him and said ‘We’ll I sent you a policeman, a fireman, and a soldier in a helicopter.’
So Michael, use the common sense God gave you while you’re here on Earth. Insurance is about spreading the risk of the few across the many and it is heavily regulated to protect consumers. These so called faith-based plans are essentially unregulated junk and many are outright frauds.
Good luck to you Michael.
posted July 30, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Michael says “If I claim to have “faith”, then I should put my trust and reliance on God, not on men.”
Michael, Jesus taught many a lesson using parables and stories.
Here’s a story for you to think about.
- As the flood waters rose near a faith-keeping man’s house the local policeman knocked on his door and the cop said ‘Mister, the water is rising come with me to safety’. The man said ‘No, God will take care of me.’ The policeman left.
A few hours later the man had retreated away from the flood to the 2nd floor and a fireman in a boat knocked on the 2nd floor window and said ‘Mister, the water is rising come with me to safety’. The man said ‘No, God will take care of me.’ The fireman left.
A few hours later the man was now on the roof when a National Guard heleicopter hovered overhead and using a bullhorn the soldier said ‘Mister, the water is rising come with me to safety’. The man said ‘No, God will take care of me. The soldier and the helicopter left.
Minutes later the faith-keeping man was swept away to his death. When he arrived in Heaven he asked God why He had let him drown to death. ‘After all he said, I’ve been a faith-keeping man all my life.’
God looked at him and said ‘We’ll I sent you a policeman, a fireman, and a soldier in a helicopter.’
So Michael, use the common sense God gave you while you’re here on Earth. Insurance is about spreading the risk of the few across the many and it is heavily regulated to protect consumers. These so called faith-based plans are essentially unregulated junk and many are outright frauds.
Good luck to you Michael.
posted July 30, 2009 at 3:05 pm
If more people would pay closer attention to the Church Health Center in Memphis, or to the healing ministry site that they have (http://www.hopeandhealing.org)more communities would be helping out their own. For 21 years, the Church Health Center has given integrated health care to working uninsured. If you go to HopeandHealing.org, you will find all sorts of resources to help your community or Church be a more healthier place – BODY & Spirit
posted July 31, 2009 at 11:07 am
The real question is, how many people will die because of the Republican party? We know a lot of people are uninsured and many get little or no health care. The Republicans in congress will vote no on anything that would get them insurance. That will cause people to die who would not need to.
The only question is, how many will it be? Hundreds a year? Thousands? Time will tell.
posted July 31, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I don’t understand why Christians need health insurance when they have the power to heal.
Progress! Bob Johnson
posted July 31, 2009 at 6:35 pm
nnmns quote, “cknuck, I apologize. You said your god had done very well by you, which I took to mean you are well off. So you probably can get into those clinics for the wealthy.”
nnmns you do know what the word assume breakdown. So you set up a crazy argument that you will feel foolish about when you find out the truth. You know that’s why a lot of people who use their so-called intellect cannot know the meaning of scripture. The well that God has done in my life has nothing to do with money, I also pay my taxes and have never used a shelter (don’t make enough money)
posted July 31, 2009 at 6:37 pm
To commenter surreptitiously claiming to have God’s wisdom,
You say, “use the common sense God gave you while you’re here on Earth. Insurance is about spreading the risk of the few across the many and it is heavily regulated to protect consumers. These so called faith-based plans are essentially unregulated junk and many are outright frauds.”
If you have common sense, then surely you have evidence for your claims? Name one of these plans which is a fraud, and any other that is junk? Then explain why you think so, based on reason and evidence. I am a member of the largest of these sharing plans, and members share about $3M every month according to clearly stated guidelines. There is complete transparency, since shares are sent directly to the member in need, rather than into the pockets of salesmen and executives. Our financial statements are also independently audited and available to the public. A recent bill proposed –by the insurance industry– in South Dakota to regard such programs as “unregulated insurance” was dismissed out of hand in committee after hearing the testimony of members involved. There was simply no evidence against the benefit and validity of this method of meeting medical needs.
posted July 31, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Christians are fair game for disgruntled miserable folk to take swipes at.