Health care sharing ministry

A health care sharing ministry is an organization that facilitates sharing of health care costs between individual members who have common ethical or religious beliefs in the United States. A health care sharing ministry does not use actuaries, does not accept risk or make guarantees, and does not purchase reinsurance polices on behalf of its members. Members of health care sharing ministries are exempt from the individual responsibility requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,^[1] often referred to as Obamacare. This means members of health care sharing ministries are not required to have insurance as outlined in the individual mandate.^[2] Members of health care sharing ministries see it as a benefit that their dollars are only used for tests and procedures that align with their faith.

Twenty-eight states have laws that recognize healthcare ministries as distinct from health insurance organizations and under a different regulation regimen. ^[3]

Biblical basis

Some health care sharing ministries are founded on the biblical mandate of believers to share each other’s needs.^[4] Their goal is to apply Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ” to medical costs, which can be quite burdensome for anyone, single or married, young or old. It is a principle that has been around since the birth and growth of the early Church. The Book of Acts reports, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need,” (Acts 2:44-45)^[5]

Membership

According to www.healthcaresharing.org, an alliance of the two largest ministries in the US, over 240,000 Americans participate in health care sharing.^[5] Among those 240,000 participants, more than $180 million are shared per year to pay for one another’s medical bills.

The monthly cost of membership in a health care sharing ministry is generally lower than the cost of insurance rates.

Examples

Some of the largest health care sharing ministries are Christian Healthcare Ministries (established around 1990), Medi-Share, a program of Christian Care Ministry (1993), Samaritan Ministries (1994), Liberty HealthShare (1998), and Altrua HealthShare.^[6][7] Most such ministries are oriented toward practicing Christians, with restrictions like abstaining from sex outside of marriage. Liberty HealthShare is more inclusive and welcomes those of less restrictive religious and ethical beliefs. All such ministries require that members subscribe to the ethical principles that we are individually responsible for our own health, and that we should help others when they are in need and we have abundance.

Federal definition of a health care sharing ministry

• Must be a 501(c)(3) organization
• Members must share common ethical or religious beliefs
• Must not discriminate membership based on state of residence or employment
• Members cannot lose membership due to development of a medical condition
• Must have existed and been in practice continually since December 31, 1999 (a grandfather clause)
• Must be subject to an annual audit by an independent CPA which must be publicly available upon request^[8]

References

1. ↑ Pub.L. 111–148 Sec. 5000A(d)(2)(b)(i)
2. ↑ http://www.npr.org/2013/09/28/227238887/the-religious-alternative-to-obamacares-individual-mandate
3. ↑ Safe Harbor Laws
4. ↑ Whyte, Liz Essley. Philanthropic Freedom: Sharing Health. Philanthropy Magazine. Summer 2014.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://www.healthcaresharing.org/hcsm/
6. ↑ Health Care Sharing Ministry Members Share Their Experiences, Self Pay Patient.com, November 2013
7. ↑ Make That Five Sharing Ministries, Self Pay Patient.com, November 2013
8. ↑ Pub.L. 111–148 Sec. 5000A(d)(2)(b)(ii)