cc: Samaritan's Health Coverage Ministry

[eaglei]

Does anyone have any firsthand experience with Samaritan's Ministry health coverage that they would be willing to share?

It sounds good - is it?

TIA!

[eaglei]

I am bumping this, hoping that someone has some information on this health *insurance* . . .:001_smile:

[Jean in Newcastle]

Perhaps this thread will help. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223277&highlight=Samaritan

 

Or this one: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63118&highlight=Samaritan

 

Or this one: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=971&highlight=Samaritan

[creekland]

Yes, we are members and have been members for quite a few years now. We've had two claims that were both paid with no problems whatsoever. We would never go back to "for profit" insurance as we save money and enjoy helping others the way this program does.

 

I suggest reading those other threads to get pros and cons, then feel free to ask any other questions. I'll try to watch this thread or you can send me a pm. It's not for everyone, but it's certainly for us!

[....]

Hi. Dave Ramsey addressed this at one time - I remember seeing it on his website. I'm going to go on there and see if I can find it. If I remember correctly, he was OK with this and said they were legit. If I can find what he said, I'll repost.

[Faline]

We are SM members. We are a very healthy family and have only had to make claims maybe 3 times (2 births and a minor incident involving stitches but costing several thousand dollars). We received all our money each time. One of the times there was a member who did not pay, so SM assigned someone else to pay that part. We are very happy with their ministry and enjoy sending out money directly to other members in need rather than feeding the ever-hungry insurance monster.

[....]

Hi. I found Dave's talk about this topic. I'll rephrase what he said...

 

Many of these companies are reliable, but make sure you know exactly what is covered and what is not.

 

Know that technically you do not have a guarantee on what's covered.

 

Don't choose a company that doesn't have decades under its belt.

 

Know that you're going off the grid in doing this. They're not regulated by the insurance commissions.

 

 

This is basically what he says about the topic. Sorry, I'm a gigantic Dave Ramsey fan...I always "check with Dave". Good luck.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I would not do it IMHO since it is not insurance and there is no guarantee of coverage at all according to their own web site.

 

I worked in acute and critical care for decades and saw many dire situations in previously healthy people who easily ran up bills in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and even over a million dollars:(

[mommyoftwinboys]

We have them(along with a high deductable catatrosphic policy). We have just submitted our first bills for our pregnancy and they are supposed to submit them next month-hopefully, it will all go well (-:

[vonfirmath]

One of my favorite bloggers has them and writes about them semi-regularly

http://inashoe.com/2009/01/samaritan-ministries-an-alternative-to-health-insurance/'>http://inashoe.com/2009/01/samaritan-ministries-an-alternative-to-health-insurance/'>http://inashoe.com/2009/01/samaritan-ministries-an-alternative-to-health-insurance/'>http://inashoe.com/2009/01/samaritan-ministries-an-alternative-to-health-insurance/

 

10 kids (So obviously lots of opportunity for medical costs): http://inashoe.com/2009/01/samaritan-ministries-an-alternative-to-health-insurance/

[eaglei]

Thank you, everyone, for your replies, and also for the links. I have just finished reading each link. Clearly, there are pros and cons, and this is a major decision to pray about!

 

Just about a year ago, we opted out of our insurance policy, leaving our ds as the sole person on it. As a two-time cancer survivor, this was best for him. When we originally took out the policy, he was listed at the highest health level. Since this was an existing policy, ds remains at the highest level, which is good. The bad part is that his particular policy has, in recent years, become a very high priced one and of course the rates keep going up. Nonetheless, leaving him on this policy gives him coverage for likely the rest of his LONG life.:)

 

Dh and I took out a different policy with lower rates, but it is still high and our premium just went up quite a bit - again. We are overall healthy people. The issue for us, I think, is that we are getting older. :D And, no one knows the future. The cancer certainly was a complete and totally unexpected shock. Dh and I have been considering switching to one of these *ministry* plans for us only, and leaving ds on the traditional plan.

 

Other questions come to mind, too. For example: What about prescription coverage? What about taxes? Are the contributions that people send to you going to be considered income? I know someone mentioned on another thread that it was considered a gift and therefore not income; however, in these changing times, will the law of the land be changed? If these payments were suddenly taxable as income - ouch!

 

I can see completely why various posters on this thread and on the links have emphasized praying about it.

 

I'll check back again later to see if anyone else has weighed in on these programs. :)

[creekland]

 

Other questions come to mind, too. For example: What about prescription coverage? What about taxes? Are the contributions that people send to you going to be considered income? I know someone mentioned on another thread that it was considered a gift and therefore not income; however, in these changing times, will the law of the land be changed? If these payments were suddenly taxable as income - ouch!

 

I can see completely why various posters on this thread and on the links have emphasized praying about it.

 

I'll check back again later to see if anyone else has weighed in on these programs. :)

 

There's no prescription drug coverage, but they did send notice that prescriptions can be bought at a cheaper price through some sort of service (with a card, at your pharmacy). I just didn't pay attention at all as we have absolutely no prescriptions outside the very occasional antibiotics.

 

There are no taxes on "income" since they are gifts and I really can't foresee that changing. The average check is less than $400. Is congress really going to decide that every time someone gives you $400 or less that you need to declare it as income? I seriously doubt it. Each check each month goes to a different person. I've only had the same person twice. Even for large claims you aren't getting a huge amount from any one person to where it could be taxable.

 

As to whether it's right for you and your situation or not, that's up to you. All I can say is I'm VERY satisfied with the program and coverage from it. I would never switch back to traditional insurance and its higher cost that essentially provides profit for someone down the road.