Christian Health Insurance / Health Care Sharing Ministry

[AKDee]

Hi. Hopefully this is the right subforum for this question.

Does anyone participate in Christian health insurance, which is more like cost sharing rather than traditional insurance? I am considering in the next enrollment period switching, because my health insurance is slated to go up 32% next year and I already took a 15% increase this year. This is through no fault of my own- I’m a relatively healthy person and I rarely use my insurance. In fact, it’s rare for me to even meet my full deductible in a year’s time.

People that are familiar with this, can you tell me what your experience has been? Do you like it? In comparison to a traditional insurance policy, do you prefer it? Is it affordable? By affordable, I mean something like less than $500 a month for an individual in their 40’s?

Also, is there a Catholic option? I’m aware of Medishare and Samaritan Ministries but those are protestant. With the Catholic Church being so large, and having somewhat different beliefs on health issues (such as on birth control) than protestants, I’m surprised I’m not finding a Catholic option?

 

[ChurchSoldier]

Pretty sure Medishare does not participate in birth control, and definitely does not in abortion.

It is good. One nice thing is that because it is not insurance, you can tell your doctors you don’t have insurance and usually get a lower price. This is particularly the case for expensive testing which with the “insurance” price would have your covering the “household portion”(which is what they call your deductible ~from $500 to whatever you choose), but with cash it might be a few hundred dollars.

If nothing else, these medical co-ops show that introducing the market forces of competition works.

Go to the Medishare website and put your numbers in the calculator to see how much it would be.

Good luck

 

[Lil_Cat]

I use Samaritan. It works for us - we pay everything out of pocket (but you don’t have to) and just have Samaritan reimburse us. Your share would be FAR less than $500 a month - our family of four (soon to be five) pays $405/month.

It is my understanding that they don’t cover birth control at all.

I do prefer Samaritan to traditional insurace. I have a scheduled c-section in 4 weeks and will only be out of pocket a couple hundred for prescriptions that were outside if the 120-day window that Samaritan covers. Can’t beat that!

I had a really hard time accepting that this was best for our family because they are Protestant but it has been a (mostly!) good experience.

 

[7_Sorrows]

I just heard an advertisement on the radio yesterday for one of these programs and wondered how they work. Thanks for sharing your experiences. So it is not an insurance - just exactly how does it work?

 

[slh3016]

We have strongly considered this route because being part of a religious medical “cost sharing” program exempts you from the Obamacare penalty for not having insurance. Once the penalty increases to an amount greater than a Medishare “contribution”, we will likely add on Medishare and keep our current insurance plan (that is not ACA approved). Any ACA plan comparable to what we have now is twice as expensive.

 

[AKDee]

Yes. The price increases I’ve absorbed since the ACA passed have been painful. I know it benefits many people but I’m in that grey area where I make too much money to qualify for subsidies but not enough to feel comfortable. I live paycheck to paycheck, and these cost increases are jeopardizing my ability to be able to afford health insurance.

I ran the numbers through CMF Curo today (which I found is the Catholic equivalent, I think it’s in partnership with Samaritan) and the numbers break down like this:
-I currently pay $454 a month (slated to go up to $599 next year)
-CMF Curo says my premium would be $264 a month

The next enrollment period is not until November, so I’m just trying to gather as much information as I can so I can make an informed decision. The other thing I need to find out is whether Naturopathic Doctors and care is covered as my primary care physician is an ND and that style of care works best for me.