It’s no secret that the healthcare system in the United States is beyond broken. What’s worse, Congress does not seem capable of fixing it anytime soon. Despite spending far more per capita than any other country on medical care, the United States does not even rank in the top 50 countries for life expectancy. This is exactly why health care sharing is growing exponentially in recent years! People are FED UP.
Attempts to fix the problems have only seemed to make matters worse. Medical costs have continued to explode since the creation of Medicare in the mid-1960s despite new regulations being periodically enacted over the years to attempt to control costs.
The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is the latest attempt to “control” costs and bring sanity to the healthcare insurance industry. Unfortunately, as of this writing, health insurance premiums continue to increase with individuals and families required to pay for an ever-larger share of their coverage even when employed by large companies, companies which only a few years ago, covered most or all of the cost.
A full-time teacher I know recently confided that her out of pocket expenses for health care through her employer more than doubled (same company, same coverage) with the recent launch of the Affordable Care Act, a law which has yet to live up to its name.
For those following a healthful diet and lifestyle who rarely if ever require a doctor’s care, the frustration with healthcare insurance is two-fold. First, the sobering realization that the rapidly rising expense for medical coverage is due in large part to the GMO-ridden Standard American Diet and high stress/low activity lifestyle of a consenting majority suffering from a plethora of serious health problems being “managed”, never resolved, by overpriced pharmaceutical drugs.
Secondly, the knowledge that in the event healthcare insurance is ever needed, that conventional drugs and surgery would be the only treatments covered by insurance with any holistic or alternative treatments paid for out of pocket.
This reality hit home with me a few years ago when I tried in vain to have a preventative breast thermogram covered by my medical insurance instead of a cancer-causing mammogram. You can read about that saga here.
In essence, relying on healthcare insurance is being caught between a rock and a hard place. Not only is it very expensive, but even in the event of serious illness, you won’t get the coverage and treatments you desire if you are alternatively minded.
For example, let’s say you or a loved one is diagnosed with colorectal cancer. With healthcare insurance, you would in all likelihood be forced into surgery/chemo/radiation even if you have identified a different treatment protocol with a higher probability of success with less toxic side effects.
Makes no sense does it?
Rather than continuing to flush money down the toilet every month paying for healthcare insurance we felt was throwing good money after bad, my husband and I decided to seek out a completely different approach to meeting our family’s health care needs.
What we discovered is a concept that is very new, but at the same time, very old.
Health Care Sharing: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Our primary goal was to identify a financially sound approach to meeting our family’s health care needs that preserved our freedom of choice when it came to treatment options. We started to investigate the historical concept of “mutual aid societies,” organizations that were crucial to American life up until the beginning of the last century. In 1910, an estimated one in three Americans belonged to such an organization, which provided temporary help to those who became ill or lost a job, for example.
The rise of government programs such as food stamps, Medicaid, unemployment insurance and welfare gradually caused the disappearance of mutual aid societies and the insurance model to take its place.
In the 1990s, the concept of a mutual aid society formed the basis for the development of a new model for meeting an individual or family’s health care needs: Health Care Sharing. It is important to understand that health care sharing it is not healthcare insurance, but rather a way to meet health care needs by balancing them with the shares the members fund on a monthly basis.
Why We Switched to Healthcare Sharing
After much investigation, thought, and discussion, we ultimately decided to take the bold step and cancel our healthcare insurance with Humana and enroll with Samaritan Ministries, founded in 1994 and the largest of three health care sharing organizations in the United States. When I originally wrote this post in March 2014, Samaritan had 105,000 members (33,000 households) in all 50 states. As of February 2017, these numbers have more than doubled to more than 224,000 members and 68,000 households.
Our decision to switch was primarily based on the positive testimonials from friends who were longtime members of Samaritan and had used it for everything from heart attacks to births of babies. In addition, my husband who is from Australia was very keen on the idea as mutual aid societies similar, but not identical, to the concept of health care sharing are popular in his home country and he had used one for years for medical coverage prior to moving to the United States.
While the monthly cost of Samaritan is not significantly different than the $450/month family policy we had with Humana, the peace of mind knowing that when and if we have a medical need, we get to choose our health care provider and course of treatment with 100% of the need being met is priceless. In addition, Samaritan members share in needs starting after the first $300 spent (Samaritan Classic), while the Humana policy we used to rely on had a very high deductible.
Another big plus is the tremendous satisfaction of knowing that our health care dollars are not going to support treatments and therapies that we don’t philosophically agree with.
Different Samaritan Policies
Note that Samaritan offers different policies. Our family has Samaritan Classic, where the monthly cost never exceeds $495, but there is also Samaritan Basic where the monthly cost for a family is $250-400/month.
In addition, policies start at $100/month for a single-person membership with the oldest head of household 29 or younger. To compare both plans and the monthly cost based on household size, download an information packet or go to this online calculator.
Health Care Sharing vs Obamacare or Group Insurance
Perhaps the best news of all is that health care sharing societies such as Samaritan Ministries is a cost-effective alternative to ObamaCare and individual insurance policies. It’s even cheaper than the group insurance offered by large companies in most cases.
If you are in a similar quandry about your health care situation, I would encourage you to investigate the concept of health care sharing for yourself.
Click here for more information or to download an information packet.
*Please note that Samaritan Ministries is not for everyone. Depending on where you live and your religious affiliation, you may not meet membership criteria. However, if you know of other organizations with a health care sharing philosophy, please include this information in the comments section.
UPDATE on our Samaritan Experience
We’ve now been with Samaritan Ministries for almost 7 years and couldn’t be happier or more satisfied. We still often wonder why we didn’t switch sooner. We would have saved so much money and stress! Our Samaritan policy is even covering one of our children now in college!
graphics used with permission of bestnursingmasters.com
Sarah, I think you need to add your link to this sentence:
“You can read about that saga here.”
For anyone interested, I found the link to Sarah’s thermography saga post:
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/thermography-not-a-perfect-alternative-to-mammograms/
What do you plan to do about the plenty under the ACA for not having health insurance? It’s upwards of 74 per person or 1% of income and raises every year you are not covered…
As mentioned in the post, health sharing plans are exempt from Obamacare and the ACA penalties.
The way I’m understanding it is being a member exempts you from the penalty because the program recognizes you as having health care insurance even though it isn’t a “traditional” plan. You are getting some sort of coverage for yourself so not a burden to they system (or whatever) should you get sick. The idea of the penalty is to discourage people from not paying in but taking “free” coverage if they have a major health event. This is covering yourself so you wouldn’t need to go to the “system” without a means of paying.
There’s another company who went to Washington and got the exemption written in the bill that was passed which is why there are no penalties. I believe they’re just called health share. So far we haven’t had a problem with my husband’s insurance, but when we do,we’re switching.
Also, nothing was mentioned in the article about the required health analysis requirements ans preexisting conditions that may keep someone from being able to join.
It was actually the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries of which was founded by Samaritan Ministries International & Medi-Share who are the two largest Health Care Sharing Ministries.
http://www.healthcaresharing.org/
I’ve come to the same conclusion that health isn’t provided by Health Care companies.
It has always seemed odd to jump through hoops to get the few health issues my family has had paid for by our Health Care Insurer. What a waste of money to invest monthly premiums in an organization that routinely abandons its customers in their hour of need. Fortunately, we’ve never truly needed our Health Care Insurer to support us through a medical emergency. I thank God for that.
It is a racket.
I have been looking into Samaritan Ministries as well.
I too faced a health care “crisis” with the advent of Obamacare. My costs would have increased beyond my ability to pay, yet I do not qualify for assistance. I believe the Lord led me to participate in a similar ministry. I appreciate knowing that my health care dollars are being more wisely spent and that I am able to help fellow believers in need. I would encourage others in this situation to investigate the possibilities.
What incredible information! Thanks a million for sharing this. My thoughts and laments have been exactly parallel to yours regarding the current health”care” insurance. I feel like I’ve been handed a million dollars in receiving this info! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I joined SMI this fall, after discovering that I am not poor enough for medicaid but not rich enough for subsidized policies, which left me nothing but paying full price through the exchange, which would double my cost. What I love most about SMI right now is that I am sending my money to a real, live person. Once per year the share cost goes to headquarters for administrative costs, but the rest of the time I send directly to another member. So much of my insurance premiums was like paying into a black hole just in case of an expensive emergency. This is so much more efficient.
We’re thankful to be a part of Samaritan Ministries and joined about two and a half years ago. We were encouraged and provided for during the birth and subsequent NICU stay for our third child last year. It was busy administratively to keep track of the bills and send in payments…but I didn’t mind.
Just wondering if this works once retired with/without medicare?
You will need to check Medicare fist if you are thinking of canceling. I know one person and heard of another who didn’t sign up for it since they didn’t need it and they were fined. Now they have to pay fines and can’t enroll.
This is an interesting idea.
Right now my husband is basically tied to a job he hates because of the insurance benefits. He would love to start his own business but I know insurance coverage would be outrageous for our family of 5 (and I really don’t want to use the exchange.)
We’re struggling with figuring this out right now. I wonder if something like this would be plausible while we have 3 small children?
This would definitely be an option to consider for your situation. Nothing worse than being in an breadwinner position and feeling stuck because of the benefits.
Hey, Sarah. My wife and I came to a very similar place in our lives as you did two years ago. The appeal of SMI for us was the direct sharing with other members. After two years of sending shares, and after finding it to be such a blessing in our lives (especially when our monthly shares went to a family that was welcoming a new baby into this world) I actually left my family business to go and work for SMI. Shortly thereafter I discovered a tumor on my lung which required a third of my right lung removed. This month I began receiving the shares from other members for my thoracic surgery…which was not cheap! But God is good! and with those shares, believers I’ve never met, sent me cards, prayers, words of encouragement, and even some home remedies! My two boys are seeing firsthand that God’s people help one another… because they’re helping their daddy.
I’ve had heard stories just like yours many times over in my community … it is because of these positive stories that we had the confidence to ditch healthcare insurance. We should have done it a long time ago … we’ve know about Samaritan for at least 7 years. I’m so glad we finally made the switch last Fall. Cody, all the best to you for a complete and uneventful recovery. Thank you for sharing your story.
Thanks, Sarah. I am doing much better and lymph nodes were clear, which was great news!