Health care is a substantial concern for most Americans today, and unfortunately, this problem hasn’t been adequately addressed by the Affordable Care Act in 2010, more popularly known as Obamacare.
After all, according to a study by the Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, many individuals experienced an increase (not a decrease) in out-of-pocket costs and high deductibles since the beginning of Obamacare. This study showed that people in the median income range paid more for their health care than 50% of the population. On average, those in a median income range on Obamacare, spend 14.5% of their income on health care-related expenses.
Those who chose to forgo Obamacare aren’t spared the rising expense of insurance either due to an increase in premiums from private plans, brought on in part by regulations that were put into place in conjunction with the ACA.
Finding an alternative to traditional health insurance is a task many Americans are considering for the first time in their lives thanks to the government’s increased involvement in health care issues.
There are a few options if you want to avoid Obamacare, but don’t want to have to pay the fine.
Medical Sharing Plans: A Christian-Based Alternative
Medical sharing companies keep their costs low by maintaining an exclusive community. They also don’t legally have to cover all preexisting conditions.
These services are able do this because they are considered a ministry rather than an insurance company. This allows them to set their own guidelines and thus save their customers or participants thousands of dollars each year on health care costs. This also makes their customers exempt from the tax penalty.
Medi-Share and Samaritan’s Ministries are two of the most popular ways conservative Christians are using to avoid former President Obama’s health care debacle.
Medi-Share
The monthly premium you pay as a Medi-Share member is called your “monthly sharing portion.” It ranges anywhere from $64-$627 a month. This number is based on the amount of people in your family, the oldest member’s age and your out-of-pocket max.
When signing up, you select your out-of-pocket max. It can range anywhere from $1,250-$10,000 annually. The higher your out-of-pocket max, the lower your monthly share portion and vice versa. There is no limit to coverage once you hit your max out-of-pocket. However, routine well checks and immunizations aren’t covered, even once you hit this point. You are expected to take care of those visits on your own.
Medi-Share gives you a card just like any other insurance company that you can present during a visit to the doctor. It also has a pharmacy number, which does provide a discount on your medications, but isn’t a true prescription plan.
You will have a $35 copay for any doctor’s visit. The doctor will then mail your bill to Medi-Share where it is processed, and reduce it based on their preferred network. The doctor will then bill you the remaining balance, until you meet your out-of-pocket max.
Once that happens, your bills will be shared, which means Medi-Share will pay them out of the pool of shared resources. Payment is secured and other members have no access to your bank account information.
Samaritan’s Ministries
Monthly sharing or premium amounts range from $180-$405. Out-of-pocket max is $300 annually for individuals or $900 per family. When using Samaritan Ministries, you negotiate with doctors for the best price at or before your doctor’s visit. You will then pay your bill. You send the bill into Samaritan’s Ministries for reimbursement.
In the event you have to go to the hospital, you send the bills you receive into the ministry headquarters when you receive them, no need to pay them and wait for reimbursement. When the need is processed, you will get checks from members to pay your bills.
In this ministry, members are told where to send their “monthly premium” or “share portion” each month. As a member, you will receive other members’ checks when you have bills to pay. The idea here is to create a close community among members by encouraging interaction.
Medi-Share and Samaritan Ministries are not the only medical sharing companies you can try; these are just two great examples. Each are substantially better for families than Obama’s government overhaul.
~ Conservative Zone
