Health Insurance Option
So, prior to 2018 my husband and I both worked in positions that offered group health insurance. You know, employer offered options – $1,500 per person deductibles or $3,200 family deductibles depending on which employer we went with.
October 2017 I took a leap of faith to spend more time with our children, my husband, our home, etc and took a position where I work remotely from home for an insurance agent that has 5 offices between Maryland and Virginia.
This change came with NO insurance being provided.
It was OK though because my husband was still working at COOP and we were able to get health insurance for all of us through his employer.
Problem, we were deep in discussion of him quitting his sales position at COOP to be able to farm full-time and spend more time with our family.
So, what were we going to do?
I had already heard about Christian Healthcare Ministries and decided to do some research into our options.
We are not a family with health issues by any means so this was a valid option for us since we don’t have any pre-existing conditions, etc.
So, we signed up with the Gold Program option and added Brother’s Keeper.
For those of you that don’t know much about it or don’t understand it (or health insurance in general) I will kinda break everything down for you.
Christian Healthcare Ministries is not traditional insurance.
There are some guidelines for you to join as well – you have to be a Christian, live by Christian values, and be a regular church attendee.
This, unfortunately, knocks out a lot of individuals anymore.
You are considered self-pay and you negotiate the prices for your costs of services.
To request an Info Pack click their logo here ——–>
Gold Package
The Gold Program has a $500 per incident amount.
What does that mean for you? It means that anything $500 and less we pay for 100%
That means if you go to the hospital and the bill is $2,500 for the testing, bloodwork, ER visit, etc and you get $1,000 in discounts – the amount you are responsible for is $1,500.
So, since that $1,500 is over $500 then you will be reimbursed by Christian Healthcare Ministries the full $1,500, not $1,500 – $500.
Now, say you go for your annual physical appointment. Doctor visit, bloodwork, etc totals $437 after your discounts then you will pay the entire $437 and CHM will not reimburse any.
They do not cover certain things (same as some insurance companies) – one big one is vaccinations.
My husbands insurance covered them but only after our deductible was met. So basically, they weren’t covered until we spent $1,500 PER KID in a year.
This is not an issue as we have Indian in our blood so we can go to the health department and get the shots for free OR s donation.
Something awesome though.
Pregnancy – it’s all covered. (For married women)
So, your prenatal appointments, your hospital stay, your post-natal care, EVERYTHING.
You can ask your provider for a complete itemized breakdown prior to delivery and submit it to CHM to start the process more quickly.
As an individual that has birthed two children under ‘traditional’ insurance plans this is AMAZING.
We have literally been out of pocket $6,000-$10,000 with each birth/pregnancy. 😳👎
The Brother’s Keeper endorsement is basically to cover ‘catastrophic’ illnesses, etc. The Brother’s Keeper increases the amount that can be ‘shared’ from $125,000 per incident to unlimited with the Gold Program.
The Silver and Bronze Programs
The Silver program has a $1,000 personal responsibility per incident.
The Bronze program has a $5,000 personal responsibility per incident.
How Brother’s Keeper works with the Silver and Bronze Programs
By signing up for Brother’s Keeper with these plans it is different than those with the Gold Program.
Adding Brother’s Keeper gives you and extra $100,000 in cost support over the $125,000 per illness covered under the programs so your coverage goes from $125,000 to $225,000 per illness from the get-go.
Second year it goes up another $100,000 when you renew your Brother’s Keeper so you then have $325,000 in coverage per illness. It keeps increasing this way with every annual renewal to where you can accrue up to $1,000,000 in coverage per illness.
COST
That is the reason we are all here, right?!?
So, to break it down for you:
Gold Program: $150 per unit
Silver Program: $85 per unit
Bronze Program: $45 per unit
Brother’s Keeper
WHEW! That was A LOT of information. If you would like to sign up for Christian Healthcare Ministries please click the ‘Application for Membership’ picture below and then click ‘JOIN NOW’
If you do sign up PLEASE let me know! If you didn’t but went with a different carrier let me know too!
I am happy to know I am helping other Christians know their options and be informed.