A Look Inside Christian Healthcare Ministries... Sarcasm Included!

Howdy world! If you're just tuning in, the wife and I have signed up for a Christian healthcare sharing organization as an alternative to Obamacare. (Click here to read why.) It's been a complicated solution to figure out because, essentially, we have had to learn all of this insurance mumbo-jumbo ourselves.

So we signed up with Christian Healthcare Ministries a couple weeks ago (click here to read about that if you're curious) and yesterday we received our welcome package—or as I've come to call it, "The Book of Forms." The 34-page member brochure introduced us to Dr. Michael D. Jacobson, who has served as medical consultant for CHM since 1995. He's apparently the go-to guy if you've got medical questions.

To contact him, fill out the enclosed form.

We were also made aware of one member's health concerns—a man named Mark, from Ohio, who is trying to get his blood pressure under control. Members can send notes of encouragement and pray for Mark.

To send him a card, fill out the enclosed form.

One thing I forgot to sign up for when I enrolled is the Brother's Keeper program, a separate fund to safeguard members from medical bills exceeding $125,000 caused by catastrophic illness or injuries. It's a quarterly gift of $25—in addition to your monthly portion—as well as an annual $40 administration fee. I'm thinking the wife and I will sign up for this, so I guess... oh! How convenient...

...they've included a form for that, too!

There's a page explaining that if we can sucker anyone else into joining, we'll get one month of membership for free. Any takers? All you have to do is...

...fill out the enclosed form.

There's information on what to do if you need medical care—along with an enclosed form—as well as a list of forms to fill out:

• The Checklist of Understanding Form
  I understand that my participation is voluntary... I understand the guidelines... I understand the risk... I understand that this is not insurance.... Check. Check. Check. Check.


• CheckEase Direct Giving Enrollment Form
  To save me the agony of having to write a check every month, I can have my money sent to them automatically.


• Authorization for Disclosure or Use of Protected Health Information Form
  Uh-huh. Got it.

All kidding and sarcasm aside—actually, scratch that, I won't renege my sarcasm. This whole process is an annoyance. Not that I'm not grateful for ministries like CHM, or Samaritan Ministries, or MediShare, but the convoluted politics that have necessitated this lifestyle change make it a circumstance that I resent. So...

Deep calming breath. Relax. Breeeeeath.

Smiley face :-)

Honestly, CHM's Book of Forms isn't so bad. I'm just clinging to the amusement caused by all the forms as a means of easing my suffering.

The good news is that our total monthly membership fee—for both Dani and I—is less than $300. Under Obamacare, even with assistance, it would cost about that much for just ONE of us.

So, despite all my frustrations and my naturally pessimistic personality, I consider myself blessed to now be a part of a healthcare sharing ministry like CHM. I even look forward to praying for other members like Mark and encouraging them through their difficulties.

"And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."

—Hebrews 10:25

Keep pinchin' :-)

If you found this information helpful, and choose to use Christian Healthcare Ministries, would you consider signing up under us, as a thank you for all our research? You can use this link to do that Christian Healthcare Ministries.Christian Healthcare Ministries

The Horrendous Healthcare Hunt, Part 2: The Why

Stock photo by Kurhan
www.freeimages.com

I know. I know! I said I was done shaking my fist at the government in my last post about healthcare, but the truth is I just don't shake my fist as often. Still, every time the subject of healthcare comes up I turn toward Washington and extend an obscene finger—not really, but I'm thinking it.

And Dani and I are not alone. There isn't a single person we know who doesn't roll their eyes at the mention of our country's laughable "affordable" healthcare system. Almost everyone within our circle of family and friends has had to make radical life adjustments to their finances, their jobs, or living arrangements in order to be able to afford the massive expense of Obamacare.

Dani and I have been on the hunt for affordable healthcare for the last couple of months, looking at several Christian sharing programs. We'll blog about what we've found on a later date—so stay tuned—but for now I wanted to address the "whys" behind our reasoning.

Yes, it has a lot to do with the fact that we literally cannot afford insurance through the Affordable Care Act—informally known as Obamacare, which is what I will call it from this point on because I can't type "AFFORDABLE Care Act" without laughing so hysterically that I lose the ability to type. But, seriously, we CAN NOT afford it. We would have to go hungry or forgo putting gas in the car or not pay our mortgage in order to get the government's insurance.

But there are other reasons that we oppose it—reasons I believe every Christian should hold to.

WHY #1: Caring for the sick isn't the government's job.
Let me paint a picture for you. I love my wife. I'm sure that you want me to love my wife. You can desire for me to love my wife all you want, but it's not your role to love my wife FOR me. You would be taxing yourself too much if you tried to love my wife... and your neighbor's wife... and all the wives in the world. It's just not up to you.

The same goes for the government regarding health care (among other things). The government's role is to do things like protect our borders, execute justice, and fight threats (Romans 13:4, 1 Peter 2:13-14, the Preamble to the Constitution). They are not tasked with caring for the sick.

What begins to happen when the government steps in and starts doing things it's not supposed to be doing is tyranny. In regards to health insurance, when the government starts handling healthcare it cannot help but intrude upon people's lives and impede their freedoms.

WHY #2: Obamacare creates bondage, not freedom.
An addict is enslaved to their own addiction. A non-believer is in bondage to sin. Obamacare claims to allow choice, but does so within such strict confines that true freedom doesn't exist. In actuality, Obamacare creates bondage. When we do not have the freedom to choose if or how we want to spend our earnings, then we are in bondage. And with Obamacare we are in bondage to the government.

Scripture is clear on this: God hates slavery. He sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to free us from slavery to sin. The Apostle Paul warns us not to become slaves to men (1 Corinthians 7:23).

Ultimately, Obamacare is theft, but, unfortunately, our government has come to believe that the ends justify the means. Stealing from one person to give to another—even if it is for a good cause—has become acceptable. Anytime money is taken from us involuntarily to fulfill a purpose not expressly stated in our Constitution, it is theft, even if it's for a good cause.

WHY #3: Obamacare violates Biblical truths that we hold sacred.

One of the worst aspects of Obamacare is that it forces Christians to violate their conscience and subsidize things like abortions, sterilizations, and contraceptives. The government should not put itself above the Christian principles upon which it was founded. In the New Testament, Peter says that Christians must obey God before men (Act 5:29). And when it comes to Obamacare, we will NOT participate if it means murdering innocent babies.

WHY #4: Lowering healthcare costs through the government is a lie.
One of the biggest lies perpetuated by Obamacare is that government regulation can lower healthcare costs. But think about this: the government gets its money from the people it governs. If it decides to enact a massively expensive healthcare program, who is going to pay for it? The people of course! When the government demands that everyone have health insurance, healthcare costs are going to increase for two reasons: 1) demand increases, and 2) competition decreases. Government oversight actually raises healthcare costs exponentially.

The goal in any free economy should be to shop for good medical care like you shop for a good mechanic. With healthy, economical competition among healthcare providers, costs go down. This is what should happen in a free society. This is the kind of society our forefathers wanted to establish, and the kind of society my grandfather fought for.

WHY #5: America needs to become more responsible with its debt.
Obamacare has inflated our national debt beyond anything anyone ever could have imagined. We are currently spending as a nation more money than we possess. This is NOT good financial stewardship! This is NOT being responsible! God's warnings against debt are all throughout Scripture, and they don't apply just to individuals, but families, businesses, and nations too.

For Dani and I, the main reasons for not wanting to be a part of Obamacare is the way it violates our Biblical beliefs, robs us of our freedom of choice, and the massive expense of it. We are hopeful that some day a different solution will be found, but until then the horrendously time-consuming, difficult task of finding affordable healthcare continues.

Keep pinchin' :-)

Click here to read "The Horrendous Healthcare Hunt Begins."

The Horrendous Healthcare Hunt Begins!

Ok. Healthcare. Whether or not we want it, it is being forced upon us, in one form or another. I suppose if our imaginary kiddos are ever going to become real we're going to need insurance, or some kind of alternative, because life without it just isn't feasible, or wise.

Where to begin? Now that we're done shaking our fist at the government, it's time to stop fooling around and figure something out, which requires a lot of research, time, and effort. Moreover, we finally have our budget where we want it, and adding healthcare to the mix means rebuilding it practically from the ground up. And who wants to go there? Definitely not the Free Spirit—AKA the hubby.

Initially, we thought the best option would be getting healthcare through our employer, but that's expensive and, because of ObamaCare, funds things we don't agree with—like abortion and the morning after pill.

So what are our alternatives? There's Medi-Share, which we hear about on the Christian radio station all the time. It seems to be a good program, but in some ways it acts as an insurance in that there is an Annual Household Portion that you have to pay prior to making any claims. They also have provider fees that you have to pay for each visit. Is this good? Bad? Hard to say at this point.

Then there's Samaritan's Ministries, which also appears to be a good program. They do not have an Annual Household Portion because they point out that you are responsible for your healthcare costs, not a portion, but all of it. They're not insurance. They're a sharing ministry, which can be hard to wrap your head around if you're new to the concept, but it's worked since 1994. However, the downside to this alternative is that there is a minimum of $300 in order to make a claim. Who knows how many visits we'll make to the doctor that are under $300—probably not many in today's healthcare world—but you never know.

What else is there? We could pay Obama's hefty fine, but we hate the thought of giving people money who don't deserve it. Then there's always the possibility of having my husband deliver our children here at our home, but he tells me that's not going to happen. Hey, it's an alternative. I didn't say it was a good one.

If we've learned anything about health insurance from Dave Ramsey it's that living without health insurance is like gambling with your financial future. All it would take is one accident to ruin everything we've fought so hard to achieve, and that's not a gamble we're willing to make.

So what is your experience with healthcare alternatives? Have you any advice on Medi-Share or Samaritan's Ministries or even another option? Let us know in the comments below.

Keep pinchin' :-)

Insurance. Oi vay!

The great thing about going through Financial Peace University the second time is paying closer attention to all those parts you were too overwhelmed to think about the first time.

Before when Dani and I took the class, the first three of the seven "Baby Steps" dominated our to-do list—1. Get a $1,000 emergency fund in the bank, 2. Pay off all debt except the house, and 3. Put 3–6 months of expenses away in savings. Well, we've done all that. Now we're ready to start thinking about other aspects of the plan, things that, until now, have simply been lurking in the back of our minds.

Like insurance.

Oi vay! Insurance. Nobody really likes spending money on insurance. It's basically something you pay for over and over and over again and hope to never actually need. However, when that major, unexpected something happens, we all suddenly love insurance—as long as we have the right kind.

Dave says there are seven key areas of insurance that people need to understand and get—like, immediately—if they don't already have them. They are:

1. Homeowner's or renter's
2. Auto
3. Health
4. Disability
5. Long-term care (if you're over 60)
6. Identity Theft
7. Life

In the next couple months, Dani and I are going to be exploring these insurance types and trying to figure out how in the world we're going to pay for them on a budget that's already stretched pretty thin.

Last week's Financial Peace University lesson was about the role of insurance and it concluded with a heart-breaking story of a man named Steve Maness who died of brain cancer, leaving behind a wife and baby boy. Fortunately for Steve's family he had heeded Dave's advice and got the right insurance policies in place before he died. It was truly a wake-up call for us to get serious about the role of insurance in our lives. It's not fun to figure out, and it's financially painful to put in place, but it's all part of practicing good diligence.

Keep pinchin' :-)

PS Go here to find out what we chose!