I am wondering if you or any of your readers
have any advice about health insurance. My husband’s company does
provide our health insurance–at least, they obtain it and then put a
certain amount towards the premium each year and we pay the difference (it is an
HMO policy–optical insurance and dental insurance are not offered).
The
premium went up last year, and my husband was just informed that it may
increase again this year–by between 20-60%. We are beginning
to research alternate forms of insurance for our family. Do you have any
experience with Samaritan Ministries? We contemplated using them last year,
however, my husband was concerned (and still is) about what would happen if we
should have a major medical expense arise (such as a major surgery or cancer
diagnosis). -Wendi
We personally have private health insurance through Humana (PPO-HSA). We shopped around quite a bit to find a policy which not only had an affordable monthly rate for a family plan (we pay $347/month) but which had the kind of coverage we were wanting.
Since we have a fully-funded emergency fund, we are able to have a higher deductible which, in turn, allows our monthly rates to be lower. Currently, under our plan, we have a $5000 deductible per year and 100% coverage above that. For me, I like the assurance of knowing that were we to have a major medical expense, we would be covered.
We've seriously looked into Samaritan Ministries and other such insurance alternatives but found we felt our current insurance plan was better suited for our family's needs.
I would recommend knowing what is important to you and your family in an insurance plan, knowing what you can afford as far as a monthly payment and a deductible, and then taking some time to really shop around and see what various plans and options are out there.
I'd love to hear from the rest of you on health insurance. What do you have? What kind of rates do you pay? And do you have any suggestions or input for Wendi and her family?
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I use Altrua Health Share, which is like Samaritan, but it is open to those that cannot sign the statement of belief that Samaritan makes its members sign. Altrua is still a religious based program, and you still need to sign a form saying that you will live a certain way (no smoking, etc.), but it does not stipulate that you have to believe a certain doctrine. I have been more than pleased with them. This is a good option for those people that live healthy moral lives, but would not be able to be accepted in Samaritan. We have the highest deductible, and I plan on also opening up a HSA to cover those costs soon. I pay about $137 a month for myself and four children. My husband receives free insurance through work.
We are self employed and have 7 children. We went on ehealthinsurance.com and got a HSA (medical savings) policy through Humana. Ours is less than $400 a month for the family policy, plus we put a certain amount into the health savings account which has tax benefits for small businesses like ours. We chose a high deductible, but it is fine for us because we rarely go to doctors anyway. If your family visits doctors often or has ongoing prescription medication needs, then a high deductible HSA probably wouldn’t be a good option. The website I mentioned has a section to help you choose which kind of policy would be best for your family.
My husband pastors a church and we buy our own health insurance. For the past 2 years, we have had Sure Health. We pay $239 a month for a family of 6. Last year, one of my sons fell and required stitches. They also did a cat scan in the ER. $3400 worth of medical attention. I was responsible for the $100 deductible. Insurance paid every penny because we went to a provider they cover. Definitely, worth looking into!
Julie @ Kingdom Klipper
Re: Maternity costs Also wanted to add to my previous, post, our HSA policy with Humana doesn’t cover routine maternity care, so we use some of the money from our Health Savings Account to cover that. It says the insurance DOES cover complications from pregnancy or with the newborn, though I’ve never had any so I’m not sure how much they cover.
We are very fortunate to have insurance through my husband’s employer. We only pay about $175/month for it. Although there were years that my husband satisfied his deductible I had not satisfied mine in 24 years, until 2007. In the span of one year I broke and dislocated my ankle which required 2 surgeries and I also had another minor surgery unrelated to my ankle. Those surgeries totaled over $85,000. My husband also had a brain tumor and had to have surgery. His medical bills were over $70,000. I don’t know what we would have done w/o insurance-a insurance that the hospitals recognized.
When my husband was a youth pastor, the church provided something called Good Samaritan. I’m not sure if this is the same as the Samaritan Ministries you mentioned, but I do know that there were so many exclusions, especially for maternity, that we decided it was cheaper to self-pay for daughter’s birth than to be saddled with tons of bills that didn’t qualify. I wouldn’t do Good Sam again.
One of the common concerns expressed about Samaritan Ministries is: “What if we have a major catastrophic illness?” It seems everybody knows someone who has had a quarter million, or half million, or million dollar health need. Or if they don’t know them personally, they know someone, who knows someone.
First of all, large needs like this are not nearly as common as you might think. Less than 1% of medical needs go above the $100,000 threshold that Samaritan Ministries has set per illness. In our first 10 years of ministry we had fewer than 20 needs that exceeded $100,000. As medical expenses have risen, the needs have been breaking that $100,000 threshold more often. I would say that in the last year we may have had 1 or 2 or 3 needs over $100,000 per month, but this is out of over 400 medical needs per month submitted.
Several years ago, in anticipation of the rising costs of medical care, we instituted an optional ministry called Save to Share, which addresses needs above $100,000. About 40% of our total membership is enrolled in Save to Share.
It is also interesting to note that insurance companies have a lifetime cap on the amount that they will help with medical expenses. Samaritan Ministries has no lifetime cap.
Just thought I would fill in some missing facts. “The truth will set you free!”
Ted Pittenger Founder & President of Samaritan Ministries International
We have an HSA plan with Anthem. It has a $6000 deductible, then we are 100% covered after that. Also, all preventative doctor’s visits and test are 100% covered, regardless of the deductible. Our premium is just under $300 for a family of three.
We’ve had Samaritan for 8 years. The only thing we’ve turned in is the birth of our daughter, which they were great about.
My dad had double bypass heart surgery a couple of years ago. His bills were well over $100,000 and he didn’t have Save to Share (for bills over $100,000). Samaritan helped negotiate with the doctors and hospital, and got the entire bill written off.
Of course, they don’t cover things like well-baby check-ups and immunizations.
We’ve been pleased with them.
If you can afford it, I highly recommend that you keep a policy with extremely good coverage instead of trying to get cheaper insurance. My husband and I are very healthy and we had just one healthy child. Then our second child was born and he has a medical condition (btw, many medical conditions, including the baby’s, are random and unexpected and although rare, really can happen to anyone). His medical care for less than a year is nearing a million dollars and he’s really not even very sick. Without good insurance, we would obviously be in horrible financial shape.
Just saying that you should not ignore the idea that a family member or yourself will get very sick and need a lot of medical care. Keep that in mind when you are insurance shopping.
I used Medi-Share when I worked at a non-profit organization. However, even though I never had medical bills, my monthly premium kept being raised. Also, their customer service was terribly unhelpful, and it took them several weeks before they “found” my file when I decided to cancel. Since then, I’ve used Blue Cross Blue Shield. They have yet to raise their premiums in the 2 years we’ve used them, and their customer service is great!
Samaritan Ministries is awesome! We have used them numerous times with no problems at all. Like others have said, it is good to know where you money is really going as you send your share directly to the family in need. I am now covered by insurance through my employer and it is amazing to me how expensive co-pays, etc. can be even with insurance. The price you pay is not expensive when you consider many insurances cover only 80% etc. of hospital stays, surgeries, etc. You have a very low deductible with Samaritan Ministries. I highly recommend them!
We are a family of 6 and have insurance through my husband’s employer. The rates just went up, again, and we are now currently paying just shy of $150 per WEEK. The insurance itself, Healthnet, is good coverage but it’s expensive, as are the copays. I live in CT where the state has a health plan that they offer but you have to meet certain income guidelines, and we do not.
We are EXTREMELY fortunate in our medical coverage. My husband works for a major hospital in Chicago, and our portion of the premium is $325 per month for a family of three, pre-tax. This reduces our income for tax purposes each year. We have a $20 copay for doctor visits, and $40 for specialists. There is also a co-pay for prescriptions. However, as long as we use his employer’s system of hospitals and health facilities, we have no deductible and 100% coverage for everything beyond the co-pays. This has been a huge blessing.
We also have $1000 per year ($38 per paycheck, pre-tax) deducted into a Flexible Spending Account. We can use this for all co-pays, over the counter medicines, dental and vision needs.
When my son was born last year, within a few hours his blood sugar dropped dangerously low. He was in the NICU for 9 days, and I was in the hospital for 5 days post-partum. Thankfully, he recovered, and there are no permanent medical issues. I was shocked when the Explanation of Benefits started arriving from our insurance company. The total billed for both of us was $86,364! The only expense we paid was $40 to the OB/GYN as a co-pay for the entire pregnancy.
To Wendi, please consider that major medical issues can occur unexpectedly when considering which plan you purchase. Good luck in your search!
I really appreciate this post. We too have looked into many insurance options. We have seriously considered Samaritan’s Ministries and we were about ready to sign up but the one thing that stopped us is since Samaritan’s is not insurance, if you ever want to go back to tradtional insurance and you have had a major problem ( heart, cancer) a group policy can deny you because you have had a ‘lapse in insurance’ and, of course, private insurance would be very expensive after a major medical problem. We decided to stay with my husband’s group plan at this time even tho we do not have any history of major health issues. I am open to change though and it has been helpful to read this post!
For what it’s worth, my husband and I have never had Sameritan, but my parents have. My dad had to have an emergency gall bladder removal while on vacation in Florida, and while it took a little while to be reimbursed, it was eventually all covered. They are now on a plan similair, but with another company.
We are self-employed and members of Good Samaritan and have been more than pleased with them. We pay $285 a month for a family. When the needs for the month are less than the shares, they will lower the cost that month! That has happened a few times. We have had 3 babies while on Good Samaritan and paid $60 for one and nothing out of pocket for the other two. We did have them with a midwife at a birthing center, but everything was handled so well. Even when we have had needs that were “pre-existing”, they list it as a special need and people have sent money to help along with incredible encouragement and prayers.
Has anyone heard of this? Do you know if it is legit?
http://www.maternityadvantage.com/sresults/?cid=9626&sid=11506&pid=0&mid=7394
This is probably obvious, but insurance rates vary considerably from state to state. A plan someone else has that sounds good might be totally different if you sign up for the exact same plan in your state.
I agree with the person who said to run from NASE. They are HORRIBLE. We literally lost THOUSANDS of dollars with them. Their premiums are sky-high, and they don’t cover anything. Also, beware of any coverage that has a ceiling (like they’ll pay 80% up to $1,000 for ER visits, for example.) We learned this the hard way. An ER visit in my state cost $2600. Thanks for nothing, NASE.
We now have Golden Rule, an HSA through United Health, and we LOVE it. We pay $430 a month and have a $3800 deductible. Even when you haven’t met your deductible, they still work with health providers to give you a discount. For us, it’s generally been around 50%, and b/c I also deposit an extra $100 into my HSA every month, I have very rarely had to pay anything out of pocket, despite the fact that I have a 1 year old and a 2 year old who have had the usual litany of well-baby visits and immunizations.
Also, after weighing the options, we decided to pay OOP for maternity and birth. My OBGYN worked with us, as did the hospital, since we didn’t have maternity. And, even though it wasn’t covered, Golden Rule somehow finagled us over a 50% discount on my baby’s hospital bills. We probably paid $2500 b/c I used my HSA money to pay for almost all of the prenatal care. It kind of drained my HSA, but luckily, we didn’t have any major medical issues otherwise. If we did, we have the savings to cover the $3800 deductible.
I would definitely recommend this plan, especially if you live in a “bad” health insurance state, like we do, or if you are self-employed and have to go private, like we do.
What a big decision! My hubby is self-employed and we have an HSA- we have a very high deductible and pay OOP for most things from our fund. Through 5 births we have negotiated with the Dr. and the hospital for lower rates. Also- check your bills- ask for an itemized bill- we did not stay at the hospital overnight for our last daughter’s birth- we were at the hospital for approx. 7 hours and when we recieved the bill we were charged for a private room and many items we did not use. It drastically reduced our bill when my husband called to complain.
My husband I had Samaritan Ministries for a short time while we were in the ministry. It did not cover my pregnancy because we got the insurance AFTER I became pregnant. However, at nearly seven months I had my appendix removed and it covered me completely. It was nice having people (the Samaritan community) praying for me and sending me notes of encouragement.
We’ve been with Christian Healthcare Ministries for about 2 1/2 years now. I worked with them to cover expenses for my 2nd pregnancy and are now submitting expenses to them for a 3rd. We have been very happy with the costs and coverage. When I quit my job to stay home (hubby is self-employed) I shopped Christian cost-sharing programs (Samaritan, CHM, Medi-Share, etc.), private health insurance, and other programs for self-employed. We found CHM to best meet our needs–especially regarding maternity coverage. They’re not for everyone (pre-existing is not covered), but certainly worth looking into.
We went from active duty military (full medical benefits) to the ministry (zero medical benefits) in 2005. We did join Samaritans Ministries – with some trepidation – but much faith in its biblical approach. I do think there is accountability with the organization – I know we vote on trustees or something to that extent. I also think if they were dishonest, it wouldn’t work! God couldn’t bless the ministry as He has. In fact, we’ve had months where our share was REDUCED because not all the money was allocated to needs. It’s been amazing, especially now that we’ve published 2 needs (one for me having severe anemia & needed hospitalization & blood transfusion – and now I have an ovarian cyst). Highly recommend it!
We’ve been very happy with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield’s high deductible plan. We also use an HSA to save for medical expenses. We did use a Dave Ramsey ELP to find this insurance, and we’ve been incredibly happy with her for 2 years now.
There are four in our family and we have an HSA through BlueCross BlueShield. We love it! I think part of it has to do with the fact that overall we have been blessed with good health, so it’s not much of a stretch for us to pay for our few doctor visits or checkups out of our HSA account. Our insurance costs a little over $400/month and our deductible is $4,500. Everything is covered at 100% once we reach that deductible.
Think and pray very carefully about this issue. As a nurse, mom, and patient I have been on a lot of sides of this issue. I have seen families destroyed by health problems. Of course MOST people won’t need catastrophic coverage. And nobody needs it at all…until you do. Some illnesses are like hurricanes and they come with pretty clear warnings and you may be able to prepare somewhat. But there are also earthquake illnesses that have zero warning and can’t be prepared for. So don’t kid yourself and think it couldn’t happen to you.
While I agree it is a good idea to talk to people and find out about their experiences, remember that is more about investigating a customer service issue. Important but possibly not as important as what is covered, when, for whom, and with what exceptions. Furthermore, what is the company’s ability to make good on promises? While using a company that is fast, polite, and caring is ideal, you FOR SURE want one that is going to be there if you need it. You wouldn’t buy a car with a perfect exterior from a super polite person for cheap UNLESS it gets you where you need to go. Ask lots of questions, get answers in writing, and make sure you find the best match for your particular situation. A single person’s needs are very different from a growing families, or a person with special needs. Good luck.
my BIL used to sell Ins he has always recommended HSAs, try Anthems HSA with Lumenos $3000 ded, we got a quote for $555/mo for a fam of 4! not too shabby, we will be switching later this year. Best of luck!
There are several things to keep in mind, with health insurance:
1. the time to buy it, is when you’re healthy – if you can afford it
2. once you have stuff wrong, in most states, private policies that you buy, won’t cover that stuff wrong already.
Like car insurance, it’s for unexpected/unintended claims, not expected claims. If you’re already pregnant, it’s too late to buy ANY health insurance, except Medicaid.
If you can’t afford traditional insurance, another NON INSURANCE program that’s been around a while – is Medi-Share (www.medi-share.org). It requires to you be living a Christian lifestyle in order to qualify, though.
We have very good medical insurance through my husband’s employer ($11/wk for family), but there is no dental or vision. I researched online and found the same dental that I had when I worked at a factory, Delta Dental, and I pay 51.84 a month. It covers 2 cleanings/exams a year and then the coverage is 80/20 for fillings, etc. and 50/50 for major, which is the exact coverage I had when my company supplied the insurance. I also found vision insurance for 23.15 per month–Spectera. I have had both of these for over a year and had no issues with either, they cover what they say they will.
I have a group policy through my husbands work for Blue Cross/ Blue Shield of Alabama and I love it. I am not sure how much individual policies cost. They are wonderful to work with though. I have never had a claim not get paid or even have to call them about one. Yes, we have had some major medical and everything was great. I have heard horror stories about dealing with companies. This is my first company I have been through and they are great. They do have individual plans and you don’t have to live in Alabama. We live on the west coast. May be worth looking into.
We, too, are members of Samaritan Ministries. We have been for over 5 years, have had 2 babies with it plus a number of other not too big needs. They have been totally met, but more than even that blessing is the blessing of KNOWING you are helping other Christians with YOUR money as you send out your check each month. When it was our turn to be on the receiving end, it was so surprising to be receiving not only the gifts, but the cards and messages saying ‘we’re praying for…’ our specific need! Highly Recommend it! Feel free to email me. And if you do join, you’ll do any of us who are posting here a favor by using our name…
a discount for the month with a referral. There’s a number of people who have posted so please use one of them!
Kristen:
We have a board of directors who are unpaid, and who oversee the ministry and set our salaries. The monies each month (about $3 Million in bills getting shared every month!) go directly from one family to another. I know my gift goes to another Christian family who needs it because I send it to them with a note or a card, and not to a big office in Nebraska.
We also are regulated as charities. Our ministry is a 501 (c) (3) charity and files an informational return every year to the IRS and has our finances audited every year by an outside accounting firm. We supply copies of these audited statements to anyone who asks for them.
Anyone, again, can feel free to email me directly with any questions about Samaritan.
James Lansberry
Vice President, Samaritan Ministries International
My family has used Samaritan Ministries for the past 2 years, and we have been very satisfied. We were pregnant within the first 18 months of our membership, and any time during the first 18 months they will cover up to the amount you’ve already paid into the program for maternity. For instance, if you’ve been a member for 10 months when the baby is born and you’re paying the rate for a couple ($240), you will be eligible to have $2400 shared with other families when you send in your bills, and any amount over that would be added to the special prayer needs which allows those who have extra to send you extra if they want to. Since we had a home birth with a midwife that wasn’t very expensive, our entire amount will be shared and we will receive checks from other members that will cover all of the expenses for the birth.
Even though the previous commenter wasn’t impressed with what you get for what you’re paying, our family has been very impressed. We’re getting almost all the money back that we’ve put into the program just with this first birth, and we are also able to help other families who have needs & can encourage them & pray for them at the same time. Although it isn’t regulated by any outside agency, it’s governed by a board & all regulations are agreed upon by members when they join. We’ve found it to be a great program!
Thank you MSM for this great discussion. Health insurance certainly isn’t a one size fits all decision.
I’ve read all the comments and think one thing is missing. A couple people mentioned that traditional insurance companies have a maximum benefit and that is true. For mine it is 2 million dollars per person.
What was not clear is that these big insurance companies have a discount with all their providers. In my experience (I watch every claim closely) the insurance pays about 20% of the billed amount on average. So if you were billed $10,000, the insurance company pays $2,000 (or whatever), the rest of the bill gets written off and only the $2,000 actually paid gets counted towards your maximum per person. This makes a big difference.
Just another piece of the puzzle to consider! And it is puzzling!
I’m looking in Colorado or Wyoming for customers of Samaritan Ministries, Christian Healthcare Ministries or Christian Care Medi-Share. These are health insurance alternatives generally offered through Christian churches. If you or someone you know uses one of these services and would be willing to talk, please contact me at jbrady@npr.org.
Jeff Brady
NPR reporter
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