Health Cost-Sharing Programs: Samaritan Ministries
This is the first post in a series taking a look at some of the most popular Health Cost-Sharing Programs. For some people, these can be a great complement to HELPcare Clinic membership. It can be overwhelming to read through the details of each program and evaluate the pros and cons. We want to make it easier to quickly and efficiently get the information you need to choose the program that will work best for your particular situation. Today we will focus on Samaritan Ministries, but in the coming weeks you can anticipate posts on other health cost-sharing programs.
A bit of history:
Samaritan Ministries was founded in 1994 as a health care sharing ministry based on Galatians 6:2 where it says to, "bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." In March 2018, Samaritan Ministries hit their 250,000 member milestone and have continued to grow since.
On their website they state, "Samaritan Ministries is a Biblical solution to health care. It is not insurance. We deliver authentic, compassionate, and personal service in the name of Christ to enable and inspire members to provide for one another’s medical needs through prayer, encouragement, and financial support."
The details:
Because the Christian faith is at the center of Samaritan Ministries, they do require all members to agree to their statement of faith as well as sign their membership agreement annually. As a member, each month you will send your share directly to a fellow member who has a medical need. It's encouraged that you also send a note of encouragement along with your share and pray for them as a part of "bearing one another's burdens."
If you have a need, you will receive checks and cards from other members and it would be your responsibility to deposit the checks to pay off your medical bills. Samaritan does offer help in negotiating cash pay discounts if needed.
Here is the link to Samaritan's guidelines. This is a great resource for more information on what is shareable and information on pre-existing conditions. In short, most are shareable if the condition appears to be cured and symptom-free for 12 months prior. The guidelines provide Q&A answers and more details about the membership.
Something to note—routine screenings such as mammograms and colonoscopies are not shareable with Samaritan Ministries. According to the guidelines, "A colonoscopy will be shareable when prescribed due to symptoms for a condition not evident prior to your membership, or when it results in the discovery of a shareable condition. Regular tests and checkups are not shareable"
Samaritan offers two plan options: Samaritan Classic and Samaritan Basic.
Samaritan Classic
Below is information from their website laying out the details of the classic option. Monthly shares for Samaritan Classic range from $182-$771 depending on the number of family members enrolled and the age of the oldest member. Here is a helpful cost calculator.
Samaritan Basic
Here is the overview of the basic option. The monthly shares for Samaritan Basic range from $105-$437.
Any discounts on the medical bills you are able to secure will be applied to your initial unshareable amount. For example, say I have Samaritan Classic and have a $2,000 medical need. I ask the provider for a cash pay discount and am given a 20% off. The $400 discount I received now counts as my $400 initial unshareable amount and therefore my cost would be $0 out of pocket for this need.
Save to Share
There is an add-on program available called Save to Share to enable cost sharing for catastrophic medical needs above the $250,000 for Samaritan Classic and $236,500 for Samaritan Basic. Below is a synopsis from the website explaining this program.
Samaritan and HELPcare Clinic Memberships Work Hand in Hand
Routine care and lab tests are not shareable under Samaritan Ministries membership. Their philosophy is that these are things families can budget for. It's the bigger needs where bearing one another's burdens comes into play. Since HELPcare Clinic Membership provides most of the care for most of your life a cost-sharing program such as Samaritan Ministries makes an amazing complement. Another perk of HELPcare Clinic membership is that you will be directed to the most cost-effective places to get any additional care you need. If you live near HELPcare Clinic, consider how these two memberships could work together for you.
Personal Testimonial
My husband and I have been members of Samaritan Ministries since 2012. Our youngest two children were born since we became members, and the entire cost of prenatal care, labor, and delivery was shareable for both girls. Over the years, I've called Samaritan Ministries a handful of times with a question and have always received a prompt, helpful answer from a caring customer service representative. As a pastor's family, health insurance can be hard (and expensive) to come by. It's been a blessing to us that for around $600 a month we have peace of mind to know we'd have help with any large medical bills we run into.
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