CHRISTIAN SHARING PROGRAMS: AN ALTERNATIVE TO HEALTH INSURANCE

By Dr. Lawrence Wilson

As health insurance becomes more expensive - and often covers less - many people are switching to Christian sharing programs. These are technically not insurance, and they are not regulated by the government as are insurance companies. This may sound scary, but in fact they are usually much better than health insurance, and coverage costs less in all cases that I am aware of.

Some of these programs require that you attend church or synagogue. However, if you do not regularly attend religious services, some allow you to have several people send messages to them stating that you “walk with the Lord” and live a wholesome life.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Advantages of Christian sharing programs that I know of are:

1. They qualify under The Affordable Care Act of 2010 so you won’t be fined for not having insurance.

2. They do not have to follow all sorts of silly rules that insurance companies must follow. Under the Affordable Care Act, for example, insurance companies must write insurance policies for men that includes maternity coverage, and other insanities. Please write your representatives to repeal this law!

3. In general, they are much more interested in natural and holistic health care than regular insurance.

4. The program is not available for those who wish to drink, smoke, take recreational drugs, or follow a homosexual lifestyle. This ends up saving you a lot of money.

5. The monthly cost is often family-friendly, meaning that it is less costly for families.

6. Deductibles and co-payments vary, and all include catastrophic coverage and usually some choice regarding which doctors you can visit.

7. Coverage for pre-existing conditions varies.

Disadvantages for some people might be that they will not pay for abortions, and probably not for sterilization. I am not aware of any significant problems with Christian sharing programs, but I will add them to this article if I become aware of them.

HOW TO FIND A CHRISTIAN SHARING PROGRAM

The programs I am aware of at this time are:

1. Christian Healthcare Ministries: www.chministries.org.

2. Liberty Health Share: www.libertyhealthshare.org.

3. Medi-share or Christian care: www.medi-share.org.

4. Samaritan Ministries: www.samaritanministries.org.

There may be others I am not aware of.

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