Christian Healthcare Ministries questions

[Ntuttle15]

Hey guys, I'm newly married and on the search for Healthcare stuff. I've heard a lot about CHM from their endorsements like Dave Ramsey and such, but I wanted to just reach out and see what you guys may have experienced first hand that use them for their Healthcare. I'm not very well versed in the insurance world, so that is partly why I am asking. Just curious to see what others have learned and if it would be the best option for my wife and I.

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[dtrkyman]

No personal experience, however one of my best friends uses it, loves it, much cheaper than typical insurance.

His only complaint they can be slow to reimburse, I guess you pay first then get reimbursed.

I have considered going back to church in part for the coverage.

 

[stonewall]

I use it. It’s been great. Pm me your phone and we can discuss at length. Pros and cons

 

[nrh6.7]

I joined last month, but haven't used it yet so can't really comment. I can say that due to being self employed I would have to be on my wife's insurance at over $800 per month. I can get 6 months for just a little over that through CHM.

@stonewall
I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the cons if you don't mind PMing me. Or I could send you my number if you prefer.

 

[Ntuttle15]

Thanks for the input guys,

@stonewall I sent you a PM. Appreciate your reaching out

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[CougarBlue]

I don't use it but have several family members and close friends who are on it.

There's good and bad. The bad, you've seen here. It can take a while to get the reimbursements and you have to come up out of pocket to cover the costs.

The good: You can typically get a cost break on medical care by negotiating on cash payments with providers. And they aren't a PITA to get reimbursements. Haven't seen or heard of much of anything getting rejected.

If I was a self-employed. It's the route I'd take.

 

[DJB]

I just joined Solidarity Heath Share this spring and have not turned in a bill yet so I haven't gone through the billing/reimbursement process. You should check with the health care provider you use and see if they do direct billing to health shares, some do. Mine doesn't so I need to turn in my bills and get reimbursed which takes between 30 and 60 days. Congratulations on your marriage!

 

[Crowmangler]

I talked to several people who have been with them over the years. All had positive things to say. So I joined about 18 months ago. Haven't had to use it yet but the $800 + savings per month sure is nice

 

[Thedeerfarmer]

We used medishare for two years after we got married, however since we were young everything was “preventative” and nothing was covered. We also had some issues with seeing eye to eye with them on Everything. If you want to message me, I can share more.
-DF

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

Personal experience thus far has been fantastic. Since you do Dave Ramsey Speak, if you are in baby step 3 the process is even better as you don't have to pay minimum payments on hospital plans, etc. Write the check, wait for reimbursement. Three pregnancies so far with them and haven't paid a dime out of pocket and because I have referred friends...several months have been free.

 

[Ntuttle15]

We used medishare for two years after we got married, however since we were young everything was “preventative” and nothing was covered. We also had some issues with seeing eye to eye with them on Everything. If you want to message me, I can share more.
-DF

Interesting. Maybe that's a distinction with a different sharing coverage? I'll look into that with CHM. Thanks for the feedback

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[Ntuttle15]

Personal experience thus far has been fantastic. Since you do Dave Ramsey Speak, if you are in baby step 3 the process is even better as you don't have to pay minimum payments on hospital plans, etc. Write the check, wait for reimbursement. Three pregnancies so far with them and haven't paid a dime out of pocket and because I have referred friends...several months have been free.

Will send you a PM! Thank you sir.

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[LLRJ17]

No personal experience yet, though we will definitely go that route when I leave the corporate world. The wife and I have led six FPU classes and have direct feedback from two couples who use a health share ministry and highly recommend doing so.

 

[eddielasvegas]

I have considered going back to church in part for the coverage.

We call that the S2S plan.

You know, get saved to save.


Eddie

 

[stonewall]

I joined last month, but haven't used it yet so can't really comment. I can say that due to being self employed I would have to be on my wife's insurance at over $800 per month. I can get 6 months for just a little over that through CHM.

@stonewall
I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the cons if you don't mind PMing me. Or I could send you my number if you prefer.

we've been using a sharing network for about 7 years now and have shared a handful of needs now. we're quite happy with it.

the thing that always held be back from doing going this route initially was that at the end of the day, it's not actually insurance...so you're trusting the members to do their part. since we finally took the plunge, it has indeed saved quite a bit

as already mentioned by others, sometimes it takes a while to get reimbursed. we so far have been able to pay for our needs and wait the 2-3 months for the reimbursements to come. sometimes there's 1 or 2 who don't send their monthly share, and it simply delays things (not that big of a deal). if you had a really large expense that you couldn't immediately pay out of pocket, you'd have to just work with the hospital (or whatever care provider) to be patient on getting paid

I think in theory it's possible that needs/expenses could exceed the monthly inputs from members - i know ours has had that happen before as there have been "rate" increases (it's voted on by the membership). I'm not sure how they handled the needs though (I think initially they are prorated...maybe you get 9/10 of your need initially and the rest made up in future months). i'd have to go back and read up on how they handle that. that said, this is something I'd investigate with whatever sharing group you're looking at (and maybe I should go back and review ours)

 

[Thedeerfarmer]

Interesting. Maybe that's a distinction with a different sharing coverage? I'll look into that with CHM. Thanks for the feedback

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That very well could be. We weren’t on the top tier but still had nothing covered for any sort of pregnancy or anything. Was more of an emergency thing for us. It was also tough finding places that would work with them in Colorado.

 

[nrh6.7]

we've been using a sharing network for about 7 years now and have shared a handful of needs now. we're quite happy with it.

the thing that always held be back from doing going this route initially was that at the end of the day, it's not actually insurance...so you're trusting the members to do their part. since we finally took the plunge, it has indeed saved quite a bit

as already mentioned by others, sometimes it takes a while to get reimbursed. we so far have been able to pay for our needs and wait the 2-3 months for the reimbursements to come. sometimes there's 1 or 2 who don't send their monthly share, and it simply delays things (not that big of a deal). if you had a really large expense that you couldn't immediately pay out of pocket, you'd have to just work with the hospital (or whatever care provider) to be patient on getting paid

I think in theory it's possible that needs/expenses could exceed the monthly inputs from members - i know ours has had that happen before as there have been "rate" increases (it's voted on by the membership). I'm not sure how they handled the needs though (I think initially they are prorated...maybe you get 9/10 of your need initially and the rest made up in future months). i'd have to go back and read up on how they handle that. that said, this is something I'd investigate with whatever sharing group you're looking at (and maybe I should go back and review ours)

Thanks for the insights.

 

[SDHNTR]

What happens if there’s a catastrophic accident or something else totally unexpected? You could rack up a 6 figure bill very quickly. You’re supposed to front that out of pocket? I’d bet the vast majority on this plan don’t have that kind of cash floating around. What kind of assurance do you have that the pool of funds will always be sufficient to cover expenses? What’s it backed by? Are the financials made public to prospective purchasers?

No personal experience with this idea of “insurance”, just curious. I don’t understand it. I am a finance professional, yet also a Christian, so I find this concept fascinating, even though it’s a textbook Ponzi Scheme.

 

[dtrkyman]

When you get priced out of insurance you look for alternatives!

The unaffordable health care act priced successful self employed people out!

My wife and I had a plan got from 250 ish a month to 1200 in 4 years, neither of us are smokers and zero drugs or health issues, I haven’t been to a doctor in 30 years!


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[stonewall]

What happens if there’s a catastrophic accident or something else totally unexpected? You could rack up a 6 figure bill very quickly. You’re supposed to front that out of pocket? I’d bet the vast majority on this plan don’t have that kind of cash floating around. What kind of assurance do you have that the pool of funds will always be sufficient to cover expenses? What’s it backed by? Are the financials made public to prospective purchasers?

No personal experience with this idea of “insurance”, just curious. I don’t understand it. I am a finance professional, yet also a Christian, so I find this concept fascinating, even though it’s a textbook Ponzi Scheme.

Large bills you’d negotiate the payment timing with the med provider. More and more they are getting familiar with these sharing things. So far the sharing group we have used has been able to handle the catastrophic cases. No guarantee it will always be that way though

there is no assurance that the pool of funds will always be sufficient to cover expenses. i know the one we use will prorate when there isn't enough...and i *think* the rest is made up in future months. 3 months of underfunding and they propose increases to the membership (which is voted on). it's becoming apparent that i need to go back and review...it's been 7 years since i looked at the details

The concept is essentially…the members have x amount in bills this month, it’s split amongst the members and expenses are shared. the facilitator (sharing org) isn't really the one paying the bills. the whole thing works by members trusting each other to do their part...

one has to be ok with all that. it's not a ponzi scheme at all...there's no one person or org handling the money...in our case, our checks go directly to the one(s) in need