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"His family did not have traditional health insurance. “We could not afford it,” said his father, Mark Collie, a freelance photographer in Washington, N.C.
Instead, they pay about $530 a month through a Christian health care sharing organization to pay members’ medical bills. But the group capped payments for members at $250,000, almost certainly far less than the final tally of Blake’s mounting medical bills.
“Just trust God,” the nonprofit group, Samaritan Ministries, in Peoria, Ill., said in a statement about its coverage, and advises its members that “there is no coverage, no guarantee of payment.”
More than one million Americans, struggling to cope with the rising cost of health insurance, have joined such groups, attracted by prices that are far lower than the premiums for policies that must meet strict requirements, like guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions, established by the Affordable Care Act. The groups say they permit people of a common religious or ethical belief to share medical costs, and many were grandfathered in under the federal health care law mainly through a religious exemption.
These Christian nonprofit groups offer far lower rates because they are not classified as insurance and are under no legal obligation to pay medical claims. They generally decline to cover people with pre-existing illnesses. They can set limits on how much their members will pay, and they can legally refuse to cover treatments for specialties like mental health."
Read the entire article. Bottom Line: These plans are not insurance. People need to know that before getting sucked in.
One doesn't get "sucked in" if one understands the risk. This is has been discussed in detail on many other threads - and has been stated many times these ministries are not insurance. Liberty is NOT Samaritan is NOT [you name the ministry]. If you've read the other thread and gone to the Liberty and other websites you know they offer plans that could pay for up to $1MM - family plans at $550/mo.
We've also had reports on user experience - also on the Liberty thread. If it is a a choice of NO INSURANCE or $1,800/mo. with unaffordable deductible or paying $500/mo. for a plan with a small deductible to a well-regarded ministry which makes good faith efforts to pay - and I really felt I needed coverage, I would choose the ministry and hope for the best. Hundreds of thousands have. Many of these ministries have been around a good long while.
We, unfortunately, live in a country which has a lousy health insurance environment - making money off sick people. A complete oxymoron - which is why these alternatives which are not insurance have been established.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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I actually used Christian Healthcare Ministries. I had the basic bronze plan for my family. My 21 year old son ended up hospitalized with pneumonia and racked up $10,000 in bills. They sent us a check for the $5,000 (we had a $5,000 deductible). I was paying something like $135/month for family coverage. It took about 3 or 4 months to get the check. We had to maintain coverage while we waited for the check. It worked for us.
I also had a short term policy. The short term insurance policy (Independence American, if anyone cares) denied so many things as non covered it was ridiculous. They denied his hospital claim (it was an emergency room admittance) because we didn't have pre-authorization. I filed a complaint with my state insurance commissioner and won. That insurance company only paid a little over $2,000 (after the deductible and they denied alot of stuff as non covered). They didn't even pay until 9 months later. I didn't fight the denied charges because the providers forgave them based on my son's income.
We reimbursed the Christian Healthcare Ministries for the money we got back from insurance.
Overall, I was happy with Christian Healthcare Ministries. They did what they said. I am not sure I'll be using them now, though. I live in Maryland. Maryland residents only are now supposed to send contrbutions directly to other members. I'm not comfortable with that and I don't know if there are enough Maryland members for that to work. I'm trying to contact them, but so far no response. I think MD may have changed it's law, but I'm just not sure. Also, CHM did raise their rates.
I'd add that we don't qualify for subsidies and there is no way we can afford obamacare. We took our chances with CHM and it worked out. Now, I have no idea what we'll be doing.
We also have CHM, thanks for sharing your experiences. We've never had to use it but many of our friends also had good results.
It's not insurance. In fact, on the home page there is a huge section that states it isn't insurance. We didn't think it was insurance and I find it nearly impossible to believe that anyone would.
Bande - I see there's a link for Maryland residents, if you stick with it, let us know how things work out, maybe it will be even better.
These Christian nonprofit groups offer far lower rates because they are not classified as insurance and are under no legal obligation to pay medical claims. They generally decline to cover people with pre-existing illnesses. They can set limits on how much their members will pay, and they can legally refuse to cover treatments for specialties like mental health."
Insurance companies do everything they can to avoid paying medical claims. They deny claims all the time, even with the so-called "legal obligation". They set all sorts of limits as to what they say they will pay. They refuse to cover many different treatments. Up until recently, they also refused pre-existing conditions. They also make things as confusing as possible so that it is easier for them to deny you when you don't follow all of their rules (in-network, out-of-network, co-insurance, etc. etc.).
Insurance companies are motivated by profit and pleasing their stockholders, therefore it is in their best interest to avoid expenses as much as possible. That conflicts with the interests of their customers who are wanting their medical bills paid.
I doubt anyone who joins a healthshare ministry is being mislead into thinking they are insurance companies. The plans they offer have well-known exclusions and limitations in exchange for a much lower cost. For people who are unhealthy blobs, druggies, or spend a lot of time at the county jail, then Obamacare plans are probably more suited to their lifestyle.
I thonk the Christian sharing ministries are excellent for those who try to take care of themselves just a little bit.
NO ONE is forced into joining them, so OP should just lay off. Seems to be trolling.
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