Healthcare Sharing Ministries and Options

I’ve been asked by several patients regarding catastrophic insurance or coverage, if they don’t have insurance, so I thought I would share some of the options I’ve come across from other DPC doctors.

Healthcare sharing model fits well with the Direct Primary Care spirit of getting catastrophic coverage and pay for the day-to-day things out of pocket, without the use of insurance, similar to the practice of not using auto insurance for oil change or repairs that are less than our deductible. Many of them are faith-based because it already has the biblical teaching of community, but from what I can tell Sedera is not affiliated with any faith and is very DPC-friendly, so it was recommended by many DPC doctors. Here is some of the organizations out there that are worth checking out for catastrophic coverage:

Sedera (not affiliated with any faith ministries)
https://sedera.com
1-855-338-2831

Samaritan Ministries (Christian)
https://samaritanministries.org
1-877-678-0414

Christian Healthcare Ministries (practicing Christian)
https://www.chministries.org
1-800-791-6225

Liberty Healthshare (Christian)
https://www.libertyhealthshare.org
1-855-585-4237

CMF Curo  (Catholic)
https://cmfcuro.com
1-800-840-7471

United Refuah Healthshare (Jewish)
https://www.unitedrefuahhs.org
1-440-772-0700

I personally decided to try Christian Healthcare Ministries because it meets the ACA requirement for individual mandate for health cost coverage. The idea is if the medical cost is less than $500 (my chosen “deductible” level), then I will be responsible for it myself, while cost for treatment or tests exceeding that level will be submitted and shared among members, as long as they are not pre-existing conditions. For pre-existing condition-related costs, however, there is an option similar to the idea of a benevolent fund people can donate to help. This structure stems from the teaching from the Bible, “Carry one another’s burden’s, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2),” yet it also says later, “…each one should carry his own load (Galatians 6:5).” This means we take responsibility of what is ours to pay and carry, but when it’s more than we can handle and becomes a burden, then the community is called to help, out of love for Christ.

I am not promoting or recommending Christian Healthcare Ministries, as I’m also learning along which is the best one to use for catastrophic coverage; I’d be open to comments or ideas or recommendations!

Another option, of course, is to get catastrophic insurance through traditional insurance carriers, but trying to get a quote online led to endless calls from various insurance companies, so I have shied away from doing that. Again, any ideas or recommendations for other patients in this area would be much appreciated!