Is anyone here a member of Medi-Share?

[5-Decades-a-Day]

This is a Christian cooperative organization whereby members help each other cover there medical expenses:

biblicalhealthcare.com/

medi-share.org/

It’s a biblically-inspired alternative to so-called “health insurance;” they call it a “cost-sharing ministry.”

Their guidelines specify proof of “Christian Testimony” as a qualification for membership:

All adult members must have a verifiable Christian testimony indicating a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. A leader(s) from your church may be interviewed to verify your testimony.

I just requested information and identifed my “denomination” as Roman Catholic. Anyone here a member? If so, what is your experience so far?

 

[sue_g]

I am not a member of Medi-Share but have been a member of Samaritan Ministries since 1995 and have nothing but good to say about it. Samaritan Ministries is the same concept (i am sure) as Medi-Share. I recommend Samaritan to whoever I talk to. Because we members are active church-goers, our lifestyles are healthier which makes for less expensive health care costs. My son had an appendectomy in about 1999, and I had no problem getting the monies to cover the bill.

If you’d like to ask me questions about Samaritan, let me know how to reach you by e-mail. I have a video and booklet here at home sent by Samaritan to give to others to explain the program. You can also get on their web site at www.samaritanministries.org But i’d be happy to answer your questions, too.

Sue

 

[5-Decades-a-Day]

Yes, it sounds like the same concept. I bet there are other organizations like this too. I am definitely looking at them. Thanks!

 

[Karin]

This program does not guarantee or promise that your medical bills will be published or assigned to others for payment. Whether anyone chooses to pay your bills is entirely voluntary. This program should never be considered a substitute for an insurance policy. Whether or not you receive any payments for medical expenses and whether or not this program continues to operate, you are responsible for payment of your own medical bills.
medi-share.org/disclaimer.aspx#a

---

Hmm…so no guarantee that anything will get paid and they tell you it should not be considered a substitute for insurance. So what exactly do they offer…the chance to perhaps have your bills (medical) paid after you pay a sum each month…and as their last sentence states… * Whether or not you receive any payments for medical expenses and whether or not this program continues to operate, you are responsible for payment of your own medical bills…*
Sounds great!

I would skip over this and get REAL INSURANCE!

 

[Karin]

***F. Medical Conditions and Services Not Eligible for Sharing ***

Listed are the treatments, medical conditions, procedures, and services that the Medi-Share Members have voted not to share under these Guidelines:
*Psychiatric or psychological (mental health) counseling, testing, treatment or hospitalization *

*Routine mammograms *

Routine pap smears

*Routine screening tests and procedures without medical reasons (e.g., colonoscopy without specific symptoms) *

Well patient care, for example, annual physicals, routine lab studies, mammography, pap smears and well-baby check ups.

Looks like Medishare also does not cover alot of things …and these are routine things that most if not everyone should have!

 

[sue_g]

Like i said, in my 10 years with Samaritan (which is very similar to Medi-Share), there has not been a problem.

These medical share programs are what I would refer to as major medical coverage to take care of operations, hospital stays, etc that can financially wipe a family out. For his appendectomy, my son was in the hospital for 23 hours (considered "outpatient), and even with no complications the total cost was about $9000. Without Samaritan Ministries’ coverage, I would still be paying on that 10 years later plus any other expensive medical problem that came up in the meantime.

Another alternative to full-blown health insurance is the medical savings program that the Federal Government has initiated.

 

[Karin]

sue g:

Like i said, in my 10 years with Samaritan (which is very similar to Medi-Share), there has not been a problem.
IT would seem that this coverage if the members agree to cover them is only for MAJOR MEDICAL issues not routine ones…so you really still need basic HEALTH INSURANCE so your everyday things can get covered

These medical share programs are what I would refer to as major medical coverage to take care of operations, hospital stays, etc that can financially wipe a family out. For his appendectomy, my son was in the hospital for 23 hours (considered "outpatient), and even with no complications the total cost was about $9000. Without Samaritan Ministries’ coverage, I would still be paying on that 10 years later plus any other expensive medical problem that came up in the meantime.
That is why most of us have HEALTH INSURANCE…and that is why most of us when our employers offer it have FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNTS for health care issues.
I have never paid moer than $15. for being hospitalzed (giving birth to my sons, having my appendix removed etc.)

Another alternative to full-blown health insurance is the medical savings program that the Federal Government has initiated.

 

[sue_g]

Karin:

Members don’t “agree” to cover medical costs on a one-on-one basis. There are pre-set guidelines that lists what is covered and what is not. If any changes are made, we the membership vote to include or exclude. This is not quite as scary or vulnerable as what you are seeing or reading.

You are right. These medical sharing programs do not cover office visits, “preventative maintenance,” etc. These medical sharing programs cover the tests, procedures, etc that are beyond the preventative stage. For example, it would not cover a colonoscopy because your doctor says you are a certain age and should have one every few years. But it would cover the colonoscopy if you were having symptoms and your doctor wanted to find the cause of those symptoms. It’s not for everyone, but it is a viable choice. I am self-employed and so do not have access to employer health insurance.

 

[Karin]

sue g:

Karin:

Members don’t “agree” to cover medical costs on a one-on-one basis. There are pre-set guidelines that lists what is covered and what is not. If any changes are made, we the membership vote to include or exclude. This is not quite as scary or vulnerable as what you are seeing or reading.

You are right. These medical sharing programs do not cover office visits, “preventative maintenance,” etc. These medical sharing programs cover the tests, procedures, etc that are beyond the preventative stage. For example, it would not cover a colonoscopy because your doctor says you are a certain age and should have one every few years.** But it would cover the colonoscopy if you were having symptoms and your doctor wanted to find the cause of those symptoms. **It’s not for everyone, but it is a viable choice. I am self-employed and so do not have access to employer health insurance.

So it basically says you keep healthy and god forbid you get cancer or something else we may perhaps cover the costs…but they do nothing to help you stay healthy (covering the cost of routine tests etc).?

 

[Benedictus]

Karin:

So it basically says you keep healthy and god forbid you get cancer or something else we may perhaps cover the costs…but they do nothing to help you stay healthy (covering the cost of routine tests etc).?

I think the idea is that they only pay for major, catestrophic stuff. The theory is that the purpose of insurance is to cover you when bad things happen, but you should take care of the routine stuff. Sort of like how your car insurance doesn’t pay to fix your brakes but helps you out when you wrap your car around a tree because your brakes didn’t work. Well, that’s the theory, at any rate.

Of course, these groups don’t claim to be an insurance company, or, more specifically, they specifically claim they are not an insurance company. This is one reason groups like this are being investigated by several states.

 

[sue_g]

Good analogy with the car story.

I can’t answer for Medi-Share, but Samaritan has been investigated in the past by Illinois (it is based out of Illinois). Samaritan was not investigated because of anything shady but just to make sure it was a legitimate organization with legitimate safeguards. Illinois never found anything of concern. All this was up front in the monthly newsletter that Samaritan puts out for its members. They have a lawyer on staff to oversee everything.

I do like that comparison to car insurance.

 

[savedOneByFaith]

So this thread has helped me to educate myself much more than I would have. I have definitely heard some great things about samaritan. Currently I do not have health insurance at all (by choice!) With the US Government forcing me to purchase health insurance or something similar, I will be forced to fund companies (or governments through penalties) that directly and/or indirectly contribute to the abortions of millions of children every year. In order to not compromise on my faith, this is a viable alternative. We need to stand up and come together as people of faith.

In addition, Solidarity is a USCCB - compliant health share that needs help. They are holding back on organizing until they can prove enough interest in their services. Help them out. Their literature is available at solidarityhealthshare.com.

“It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”
~Mother Theresa

 

[jmgwk]

What about the requirement from Medi-Share and Samaritan to sign a faith statement that includes affirming Sola Fide - saved by faith alone? I’m applying and asking them if I can affirm the Nicene / Apostle’s Creeds…

What did others do?

 

[Iheartcoffee]

I believe that a lot of the reasons for our high health care costs can be attributed to the fact that health insurance companies have become “cover everything” companies rather than “cover the big stuff” companies. Just look at how our society has arrived at this idea that health insurance must cover contraceptives!

Doctor’s offices have a LOT of overhead, and the insurance companies don’t reduce overhead. In fact, most offices have to have at least several people dedicated to filing claims, handling benefits, etc. Couple this with the fact that insurance companies routinely do not cover things as well as they originally stated. A person can verify benefits prior to a procedure, but it doesn’t guarantee the insurance company will actually pay for the claim. Many physician’s offices have to write off those discrepancies and they only bill the patient for the difference if the cannot afford the write-off. This results in raising prices. If the insurance company typically gives an office 75% of what they ask for, then the office will have raise prices to be able to make more to cover that 25% loss they had on earlier claims. The cycle continues and prices go up.

If high-deductible plans gain in popularity we stand to probably reduce the insurance problems because patients will pay out of pocket or from a health savings account for the day-to-day stuff and will only receive coverage in the event of high medical costs. It brings insurance back to what it was originally intended to do - which is cover a person in a time of crisis. We don’t file a homeowners claim to buy air filters, light bulbs, and faucet covers in the winter. However, we can file claims if the AC unit is demolished in a storm, the lamp starts a fire, or cold pipes burst and flood the house. We expect people to pay for the basics around the house and to even set aside money for preventative maintenance and basic care. If we apply these rules to our homes, why not our bodies as well?

 

[Salvation_Navy]

What about the requirement from Medi-Share and Samaritan to sign a faith statement that includes affirming Sola Fide - saved by faith alone? I’m applying and asking them if I can affirm the Nicene / Apostle’s Creeds…

What did others do?

I just re-read the Samaritan Guidelines, and it says:

B. Be in agreement with the following member
statement of faith:
I believe in the triune God of the Bible. He
is one God Who is revealed in three
distinct Persons—God, the Father; God,
the Son; and God the Holy Spirit.
I believe Jesus Christ was God in the
flesh—fully God and fully man. He was
born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died
on the cross to pay the penalty for our
sins, was bodily resurrected on the third
day, and now is seated in the heavens at
the right hand of God, the Father.
I believe that all people are born with a sinful
nature and can be saved from eternal
death only by trusting in Christ’s atoning
death and resurrection to save us from
our sins and give us eternal life.

Originally I did not read this as Sola Fidae, but as an absolute minimal requirement. (paraphrasing, I would interpret it as such: You must believe that through Christ all sins are forgiven, but if you believe more, that’s up to you.)All Christian religions, liberal or not, require you to have faith in Christ’s Atoning death. This would be something to pray about and ask your parish pastor for guidance on.

For me, Samaritan was the logical choice because they help to fight a greater evil, the evil of abortion-on-demand. Using my interpretation, it seemed to fit me well, but now, I must consider whether I have perjured myself in the sight of God, by misinterpreting their requirements. This gives me a great sadness, and will require prayer and reflection. I will be going over to Solidarity Health Share once they are finished with their negotiations, but I need a stopgap in the mean time, too, in order to avoid paying a fine that will ultimately be used to finance things that run against our beliefs.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I believe that a lot of the reasons for our high health care costs can be attributed to the fact that health insurance companies have become “cover everything” companies rather than “cover the big stuff” companies. Just look at how our society has arrived at this idea that health insurance must cover contraceptives!

Doctor’s offices have a LOT of overhead, and the insurance companies don’t reduce overhead. In fact, most offices have to have at least several people dedicated to filing claims, handling benefits, etc. Couple this with the fact that insurance companies routinely do not cover things as well as they originally stated. A person can verify benefits prior to a procedure, but it doesn’t guarantee the insurance company will actually pay for the claim. Many physician’s offices have to write off those discrepancies and they only bill the patient for the difference if the cannot afford the write-off. This results in raising prices. If the insurance company typically gives an office 75% of what they ask for, then the office will have raise prices to be able to make more to cover that 25% loss they had on earlier claims. The cycle continues and prices go up.

If high-deductible plans gain in popularity we stand to probably reduce the insurance problems because patients will pay out of pocket or from a health savings account for the day-to-day stuff and will only receive coverage in the event of high medical costs. It brings insurance back to what it was originally intended to do - which is cover a person in a time of crisis. We don’t file a homeowners claim to buy air filters, light bulbs, and faucet covers in the winter. However, we can file claims if the AC unit is demolished in a storm, the lamp starts a fire, or cold pipes burst and flood the house. We expect people to pay for the basics around the house and to even set aside money for preventative maintenance and basic care. If we apply these rules to our homes, why not our bodies as well?

Excellent post!

I can tell you that from my own direct experience, doctor’s offices try to cover their costs, and when they have agreements with insurance companies, the write-offs come out of some other aspect of their practice. I used to bill Medicaid for the OB-GYN I worked for. We worked very hard to find the ICDM code that would get the most money out of the state. It wasn’t fraud, but it was a game we played. We had to find the right way to bill the state or we’d get little to nothing for seeing a Medicaid patient. If we used the simplest of codes, we got almost nothing back, so it was like charity work for the doctor. The more detailed the code, the more the state would pay. The rest of the cost would be “written off,” in other words, passed on to his other patients. I used to be pretty good at this kind of billing - found a few codes that unlocked the payments and got the doctor almost all of his normal fees.

I found out years ago that the reason we are so tied in to group health insurance through our employers was from government intrusion via wage freezes during the Depression. Tying health insurance to a job was a way to lure employees without raising salaries. Thus, another reaction to over-reaching government causes long-term negative consequences. Doesn’t it always happen and when will people realize that a supreme government run by humans is NOT BENIGN…

When I was growing up, there was no such thing as all-inclusive coverage - Blue Cross/Blue Shield was for the big things, everything else, we simply paid for. And costs were reasonable. Then came Teddy Kennedy and his HMO legislation. That’s when everything went berserk. People would come into the doctor’s office for a case of sniffles, or any other complaint, because they only paid a small fee if anything. The doctors then tried to raise their fees to cover the extra cost but were told that they had to accept what the HMO would reimburse them. Some docs went out of business at that point.