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CHRISTIAN HEALTHCARE MINISTRIES REVIEW
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What is a Christian Healthcare Sharing Ministry?
My Christian Healthcare Ministries review will show you how Christian healthcare sharing ministries work. Healthcare Sharing Ministries are voluntary associations of people sharing each other’s medical burdens, so the rates only reflect the amount needed to pay those costs. It’s the most affordable health insurance around!
For those who say that there is no guarantee with the ministries like there is with insurance…
We had Reliance Insurance Company while I was pregnant with twins and unbeknownst to me, they were in the process of bankruptcy! I’m fortunate my children were a month early because all but last $10,000 in NICU bills were paid by the judge. Had my girls been on time, I’d have been completely out of luck! So no, insurance companies are not a guarantee of payment.
ACA–Affordable Care Act
Our insurance was canceled for not meeting the ACA guidelines and the new rates and deductibles were shocking! The new PPO rates were three times the old rate with a higher deductible. We immediately looked for other options and we found that Christian Healthcare Ministries offers a national health “insurance” plan which we needed for business travel, for close to what we were paying for the PPO.
Requirements for Healthcare Sharing Ministries The ACA contains a provision that allows Health Care Sharing Ministries, providing they have operated continuously since December 1999. There are four such Christian healthshare ministries that I know of; three (CHM, Samaritan, and Medishare) are based upon shared religious beliefs of sharing each other's burdens and the fourth, Liberty Health Sharing, is based a shared philosophy of helping your neighbors.
All require an adherence to a biblical lifestyle of refraining from risky or immoral behavior as defined by the Holy Bible, and none that I’m aware of will accept members who smoke tobacco. Each medishare ministry has their own, member chosen set of rules and needs that they will share with the liberty health sharing group, but they generally believe that you should budget for preventative care and they do not cover general dentistry or psychiatric care.
Requirements for Healthcare Sharing Ministries The ACA contains a provision that allows Health Care Sharing Ministries, providing they have operated continuously since December 1999. There are four such Christian healthshare ministries that I know of; three (CHM, Samaritan, and Medishare) are based upon shared religious beliefs of sharing each other's burdens and the fourth, Liberty Health Sharing, is based a shared philosophy of helping your neighbors.
All require an adherence to a biblical lifestyle of refraining from risky or immoral behavior as defined by the Holy Bible, and none that I’m aware of will accept members who smoke tobacco. Each medishare ministry has their own, member chosen set of rules and needs that they will share with the liberty health sharing group, but they generally believe that you should budget for preventative care and they do not cover general dentistry or psychiatric care.
Christian Healthcare Ministries
We chose our Christian healthshare ministry chose CHM because it met our needs better than the others. I haven’t closely examined the other three, so I’ll focus on Christian Healthcare Ministries and review my experience with them.
What are Shares and Units? Each month, you pay your “share”, that is based upon the sharing level that you wish your needs to be shared and the number of units in your family. Two parents and all children are equal to 3 units.
What are CHM Levels? The Gold level ($205/unit) works for us because more conditions are shared, and we only pay the first $500 of an incident. For each person, any subsequent incident over $500 within the year is shared in it’s entirety. We also added the catastrophic program called Brother’s Keeper which is now billed monthly at $20 per unit per month.
There are two lower levels with higher “deductible” (called personal responsibility) and a smaller set of needs that are shared by the group and they are extremely reasonable. The Silver level is $125 per unit with a $2500 personal responsibility, and the Bronze level is only $85 with a $5000 personal responsibility. CHM and Pre-existing Conditions For people with a pre-existing condition, CHM’s Gold level members share some of the expenses over the first three years at which point the member’s needs are fully shared. CHM has a prayer needs page for people who are members, but their pre-existing needs have exceeded the amount allowable. Each month, the newsletter lists the patients and their needs with a statement saying that “all of the needs on this page could be met if every member family sent an extra $$”. It is completely voluntary; usually around $8 or $9 a month, and has gone down from $12 with the addition of so many new families. I received a thank you note from someone to whom CHM sent my extra donation.
There is a lot of information on the website and should be explored thoroughly for those who are interested.
What are Shares and Units? Each month, you pay your “share”, that is based upon the sharing level that you wish your needs to be shared and the number of units in your family. Two parents and all children are equal to 3 units.
What are CHM Levels? The Gold level ($205/unit) works for us because more conditions are shared, and we only pay the first $500 of an incident. For each person, any subsequent incident over $500 within the year is shared in it’s entirety. We also added the catastrophic program called Brother’s Keeper which is now billed monthly at $20 per unit per month.
There are two lower levels with higher “deductible” (called personal responsibility) and a smaller set of needs that are shared by the group and they are extremely reasonable. The Silver level is $125 per unit with a $2500 personal responsibility, and the Bronze level is only $85 with a $5000 personal responsibility. CHM and Pre-existing Conditions For people with a pre-existing condition, CHM’s Gold level members share some of the expenses over the first three years at which point the member’s needs are fully shared. CHM has a prayer needs page for people who are members, but their pre-existing needs have exceeded the amount allowable. Each month, the newsletter lists the patients and their needs with a statement saying that “all of the needs on this page could be met if every member family sent an extra $$”. It is completely voluntary; usually around $8 or $9 a month, and has gone down from $12 with the addition of so many new families. I received a thank you note from someone to whom CHM sent my extra donation.
There is a lot of information on the website and should be explored thoroughly for those who are interested.
Why we chose CHM over the other Christian ministries
* Higher risk people don’t pay more nor do they reject anyone, unlike the others.* Lowest overhead of the three Christian groups.* Only group that covers pre-existing conditions.* Money sent directly to CHM, who sends the money to the patient. (not sent to patients, like another ministry).* At a patient’s request, CHM sends cards to membership with a request for prayer.* Catastrophic plan that is managed at their facility and is unlimited at the Gold Level—all of the other groups have a limit on
the catastrophic needs. * CHM has the highest rating at the Better Business Bureau! – All of the Christian healthshare ministry groups are required to be audited yearly by an outside agency.* A * A $500 baby plan for married couples at the Gold Level.* CHM does not prorate the sharing amount if there is a shortfall one month–sharing will just be postponed to the next month in the order the needs were received.
Christian Healthcare Ministries has been exceptional!
If you’re looking for a negative Christian Healthcare Ministry Review, you won’t find it here! They’ve returned numerous emails and phone calls when I’ve had general questions and specific need sharing questions. They sent a check to me when I had a need that exceeded $500, as promised. They phoned to ask if we wanted our daughter’s health need to be published and prayed for. My brother’s kid shattered a femur and CHM negotiated the $59K bill down to $27K and sent the check to my brother quickly.
New Benefits
* Christian Healthcare Ministries now has free Telemedicine support for minor issues like colds, flu, and pinkeye, which means there is no cost
for “sick visits” under $500.* We pay cash at every doctor visit which is the same as when we had a $3500 insurance deductible. The medical clinics are familiar with
healthcare sharing ministries and I now receive a 50% discount!!* In an emergency, hospitals are required to treat the patient, then send a bill. CHM negotiates for discounts by promising to pay quickly,
however the check will come to the patient who must pay the bill as soon as the check is received–it’s part of your agreement with CHM.* For extensive hospital treatment, CHM discusses the details with the hospital and assures them of payment.
If you decide to join CHM, please use my member number as a referral. Thanks for reading and God Bless you and yours!Suzanne Bell #165341