Let's help spread the word! Jesus is the Word of God!!! Posted for no financial consideration whatsoever - posted for no promise of any gain either. Posted to help further the kingdom of God!!!
Posted free of charge! Posted in the hopes of spreading the word!!! To say that there are no problems with the new Health Care Law is like saying that there aren't any problems here in the United States!!! There are problems with the new Health Care Law. Let's call on our loving, gracious, merciful Creator Lord's help, and help to repeal, or change all the problems with, the new Health Care law today!!!
Dear family, and friends, and all others concerned,
Greetings on this glorious day that the Lord has made! I hope that you and the loved ones are in good health and are getting along. Good health is such a wonderful blessing from the good Lord, our Creator Lord! How is your spirit on this glorious day? Please remember that we humans are more than flesh and blood. Please remember that we humans are created by our Creator Lord, in His image, with inalienable rights! Let's call on our Creator Lord, our loving, gracious, merciful Creator Lord and ask for His help at this time, and in the future! Let's try to repeal, or change all the problems with, the new Health Care Law. It's a shame that many don't know what's in the new law (it's over 1,000 pages long!), and it's also a shame that people don't want to change, or do away with, all the problems in the new law (and to say that there aren't any problems in the new law is like saying that there aren't any problems here in the United States!).
Government shouldn't ration health care. Also, government shouldn't be allowed to pay for abortions. Rationing health care is not protecting life. Rationing health care is not supporting life! Also, abortion is the destruction of life - life given as a gift from the Lord, our Creator Lord! The Holy Scriptures tell us about our Creator Lord, and how we are created by our Creator Lord, in His image, and how we should value life, and how we should protect and support life, and how our Creator Lord loves us so much that He sent His only Begotten Son Jesus into this world to shed His blood and to die on a cross for us sinners, so that we might have eternal life! The Holy Scriptures are pure, perfect, powerful, profitable for doctrine and teaching, and cannot be broken! Our Creator Lord is faithful! Our Creator Lord is true! Our Creator Lord cannot lie! Our Creator Lord can be taken at His Word!!! Jesus is the Word of God! Our Creator lord is good! Our Creator Lord is good all the time!!! Our Creator Lord is LOVE! Love always hopes. Love always protects. Love always trusts. Love always perseveres. Love does not delight in evil. Love rejoices with the truth. Love is the commandment from the beginning. Love never fails.
The House of Representatives voted to repeal the new Health Care Law, and the Senate has not chose the right path at this time (perhaps in the future they might!). Please help to repeal, or change all the problems with, the new Health Care Law!
Thank you very much for all your help! Hope that you and the loved ones have a joyous and peaceful day. Please remember to pray for our leaders, and the leaders of the world! Hope that you call on our Creator Lord for help at this time, and may the good Lord, our Creator Lord, bless you and the loved ones with love, joy, peace, and patience, and with the wisdom and understanding needed to help repeal, or change all the problems with, the new Health Care Law! !
In hope, peace, and love,
Ken Miller
Main St. Rm. 103
kmillerbloggerablogbyken@gmail.com
still one of the working poor - if only in spirit!
We love, because He first loved us. 1John 4:19
God is love. God is love.
Jesus is the Holy One of Israel! Jesus is the Living Water!!! Jesus is the Bread of Life!!!
With God, all things are possible! Jesus is our Rock!!! Jesus is our Refuge!!!
All glory, honor, praise , and thanks be to our Creator Lord - maker of heaven and earth - Messiah and King!!!!
How about justice for the unborn children??? Let's seek justice for the unborn children - the preborn children!!!!
There is an effort underway to recall abortion!!! Visit the website: www.recallabortion.com
Posted at no charge!!
Let's help spread the Gospel of Peace - the GOOD NEWS!!!
12/31/14
Dear family, friends, and all those concerned about justice,
Greetings on this glorious day that the Lord has made - let us rejoice and be glad in it! Hope that you and the loved ones are in good health and are getting along. Please read the letter that I'd received from Liberty Counsel Action that describes an injustice that occurred here in the United States! Please help make the health care system better here in the United States!
Dear Kenneth,
You probably have heard about the shocking story of Justina Pelletier, then-14-years old, now 16-year old young girl who was taken from her parents by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.
I have spoken about this tragic case on Glenn Beck's TV and radio, Fox News' Megan Kelly and Gov. Mike Huckabee's Show, in the Boston Globe, the Washington Times, and several hundred other local and national media.
Justina Pelletier's is the Connecticut ice-skating competitor who was, without any due process, shockingly taken from her parents and her Tufts Medical Center team by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF).
She has been incarcerated now for 16-months, deprived of medical treatment, religious services, education, and barely able to see her parents only one-hour per week. She has gone from a competitive figure to being confined to a wheelchair because of maltreatment for a metabolic disorder.
The story of Justina Pelletier is like a horror movie - or something that happens in police-state Communist countries! (I have enclosed an insert telling more of this shocking story).
Kenneth, can you imagine the anguish for both Justina and her parents at being FORCIBLY separated?
Over a year ago, Justina's parents made sure she was being treated for mitochondrial disease, a rare genetic disorder, by Dr. Mark Korson at Tufts Medical Center. Because Justina GI doctor from Tufts transferred to Boston Children's Hospital, Dr. Korson recommended she be admitted to Boston Children's Hospital when she developed a flu-like symptom and experienced gastro-intestinal distress.
But at Boston Children's Hospital, a new, young and inexperienced intern doctor, in ONLY the seventh month of his internship, took it upon himself to call in a psychologist and CHANGE the working diagnosis from mitochondrial disease - into "somatoform disorder" - a mental disease.
Right away Justina started suffering and going downhill when her physical disease was no longer being treated. This once active teenager is now in a wheelchair.
When Justina's parents, Lou and Linda Pelletier, were presented by Boston Children's Hospital to follow a new treatment plan, one that called for the discontinuation of all medical treatment, medications, and no second opinions - they asked to discharge Justina to take her back to Tufts Medical Center.
That is when Boston Children's Hospital called in DCF, and DCF took Justina from her parents. During the past 16-months Justina has had virtually no medical treatment, no religious services or access to clergy, and no education.
Massachusetts, prisoners are entitled to regular visits, education, and medical care - but Justina was treated worse by DCF than incarcerated felons. She had one-hour supervised visitation per week, no education, and abysmal medical care. Seeking to silence the parents, DCF filed a complaint to hold the father in contempt of court for violating an alleged gag order that was never put in writing.
I was outraged when I heard about this crime against Justina and her family.
I knew I had to help them. As Chairman of both Liberty Counsel, our legal defense group, and Liberty Counsel Action, our educational lobbying group -
- we immediately went on the offense in support of Justina and her parents. We began a series of legal actions against DCF while at the same time raising the alarm to the public and lawmakers over this criminal act against Justina and her parents.
Massachusetts DCF bullies had no idea they would be challenged over their criminal actions and under legal pressure and the scrutiny of the media and the public, which DCF wanted to avoid - they finally agreed to drop their contempt motion against the father, and not oppose the motion we prepared to provide medical treatment to Justina by transferring her back to Tufts Medical Center.
But then the judge overseeing this case in the Suffolk County Juvenile Court in Boston inexplicably ordered that Justina remain in DCF's custody. So the battle to free Justina goes on.
As I write you this letter we have filed a significant pleading at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and a motion in the Massachusetts Juvenile Court requesting that Justina Pelletier return to her home to be with her mom and dad. Now that they have been exposed - DCf says they will not object to our motion.
This is clearly a significant event for Justina and the Pelletier family, and we hope that the family will soon be reunited. But this is NOT the end. What if DCF and/or the judge in this case change their mind? We cannot let up for one moment.
The ones responsible for this atrocity must be held accountable for their extreme conduct!
I am asking you to help me let Justina and her family know they have the support of America in this battle over parents' and individual rights - against these out-of-control government bureaucrats and judges.
Justina need our encouragement and prayers. Please sign and return to me the enclosed WELCOME HOME Card to be delivered toher along with thousands of others. If you want, write a short note on the back to let Justina know of your support - and that you are supporting us in our defense of her rights.
And I am asking that when you rush back your signed card to Justina - that you will also include the best gift you can to help our efforts to defend her rights and the rights of her parents - and bring those accountable to justice. Please let me hear from you right away.
Sincerely,
Mat Staver
P.S. If you agree that DCF violated the rights of both Justina and her parent's - and must be heldaccountable - then I am asking you to do three things: 1) pray for Justina and her family; 2) return your WELCOME HOME card to Justina with your own short note of encouragement if you want; 3) and include the best gift you can to help us continue to expose and hold accountable those responsible. This type of government bureaucrat arrogance must not be allowed to stand!
end of letter .........
For more information: Mat Staver, Chairman, Liberty Counsel Action, P.O. Box 190, Forest, VA 24551
Please help spread the word! Please help further the kingdom of God!!!
Dear friends, family, and those concerned about justice,
What a sad and tragic story - the story of Justina Pelletier ...................
Justine Pelletier's story is of a 15-year-old ice-skating competitor who was taken from her parents by the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF), locked up for over a year, and is now confined to a wheelchair because of maltreatment for a metabolic disorder.
Fox News' Megyn Kelly Reports on Justina's declining health "The story of Justina Pelletier is like a horror movie," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel Action. Before she was admitted to Boston Children's Hospital, Justina was being treated for mitochondrial disease, a rare genetic disorder, by Dr. Mark Korson originally at Tufts Medical Center. At Boston Children's Hospital, a new doctor, in the seventh month of his internship, changed the working diagnosis from mitochondrial disease to somatoform disorder, shifting her treatment from physical to mental.
When Lou and Linda Pelletier tried to discharge their daughter the following day, February 14, 2013, and return her to care at Tufts Medical Center, DCF took Justina as a ward of the state and moved her to Bader Five, the psychiatric ward, where she remained for eleven months. Today Justina is confined at Wayside Youth and Family Support, a nonmedical treatment facility. She is suffering every day with excruciating pain, and her health is rapidly declining.
In Massachusetts, prisoners are entitled to regular visits, education, and medical care. Justina has been treated worse by DCF than incarcerated felons. She has one-hour, supervised visitation per week, no education, and abysmal medical care. Seeking to silence the parents, DCF filed a complaint to old the father in contempt of court for violating an alleged gag order that was never put in writing.
Then Liberty Counsel Action got involved.
Under legal pressure and the scrutiny of the media and the public, which DCF wanted to avoid, DCF agreed to drop the contempt motion against the father for speaking to the media, not oppose the motion Liberty Counsel prepared to remove the gag order, and provide medical treatment to Justina by transferring her to Tufts Medical Center. Since that order, however, DCF has refused to tell the Pelletiers what steps they are taking, if any, to comply with that order. Justina has told her parents that Dr. Korson wants to see her every week to two weeks, but DCF has told Justina they will only allow her to see him every eight weeks.
Then Judge Johnston in the Suffolk County Juvenile Court in Boston inexplicably ordered Justina remain in DCF's custody, with that order to be revisited not prior to June 2014.
end of Liberty Counsel Action info. sheet.
For more info: Mat Staver, Chairman, Liberty Counsel Action, P.O. Box 190, Forest, VA 24551, www.LCAction.org
Let's continue to call for wisdom from our loving, gracious, merciful Creator Lord! He is wise, and good , and awesome, eternal and true!!! He is faithful!!!
We love, because He first loved us. 1John 4:19
posted free of charge .......
12/31/14
Let's help spread the Good News - the Gospel of Peace! Y'shua was sent from heaven above (He did not evolve from a lower life form), was crucified on a cross, shed His blood, redeemed us from our sins, and arose again and ascended into heaven, and promised to return again for us sinners, so that we might have eternal life. Y'shua is our Redeemer! Y'shua is our Atonement!
Directly below is an excerpt from a recent mailing from Online for Life:
The TRUTH about PLANNED PARENTHOOD ... They perform more than 300,000 abortions a year ... they are "proud" of the abortions they perform ... they are lavishly funded with your tax dollars ... they have powerful players like President Barack Obama and Sen. Harry Reid doing their bidding in Washington ... Online for Life needs your help to get the truth out and save children's lives.
Online for Life is the polar opposite of Planned Parenthood. They are "proud" to perform abortions... we are honored to help save the lives of innocent, unborn babies - so that every child can make their mark. On behalf of our Advisory Board and staff, the individuals we have helped and especially the babies we've rescued, thank you for helping us end abortion is America!
Online for Life, P.O. Box 5052, Frisco, TX 75035-0201
Online for Life: ONLINEFORLIFE.ORG
This is posted for no financial gain or any other gain, nor for any promise of anything in return, but to make others rich!
The Holy Scriptures tell us about our Creator Lord, and how we humans are created by our Creator Lord, in His image, for His glory, and how we should value life, and how we should protect and support life, and how our Creator Lord loves us so much that He sent His only Begotten Son into this world to shed His blood and to die on a cross for us sinners, so that we might have eternal life. The Holy Scriptures are pure, perfect, powerful, profitable for doctrine and teaching, and cannot be broken! Our Creator Lord is faithful! He can be taken at His Word! Our Creator Lord is love.
Why not share the Gospel of Peace with others over the internet?
Why not share the Good News - especially if you have the means to do it???
12/31/14
How is our Health Care
System? How can we improve it?
The
Continued Deterioration of Our Health Care System
by Bobby Schindler /
Washington DC / LifeNews.com / March 20, 2014
It was nine years ago,
March 18, 2005, that my sister, Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed by
order of Pinellas County Florida Court Judge, George W. Greer. It was by
Greer's order that Terri would slowly die by way of starvation and
dehydration. It took almost two weeks.
Since Terri's horrific
death, the non-profit organization established by my family, the Terri Schiavo
Life and Hope Network, works every day doing what we can to educate the public,
raises the desperately needed awareness on this widely misunderstood issue of
euthanasia, and more importantly, helps families that contact us. The
vast majority of families who do reach out to us are faced with situations
where their loved ones are in jeopardy of having their life sustaining
treatment denied.
What has become
painfully obvious is that it seems like almost every day, more examples of
families' medical rights are being denied when it comes to decisions they are
making for their loved ones. Indeed, we receive calls similar to what our
family experienced - a domestic dispute over the care of a family member.
However, more and more, we are getting calls from people who are fighting
physicians, ethic committees, or health care facilities where their loved ones
are being treated.
It can go as far as, if you
can believe it, families having their loved ones stripped away from their care
by the hospital, losing complete custody. When this does happen, there
appears to be a certain pattern that begins the process.
First, the hospital
physicians, nurses or even the staff will create or exaggerate a situation
involving the family, most times without any real evidence, or they will fault
the parents or loved one who is the caregiver with some type of mishap with the
patient. Often times what follows is the family member(s) who were making
medical treatment decisions are vilified, or accused of being the problem.
This gives the hospital a reason to intervene and subsequently take action to
deem the family incompetent as the caretaker.
The hospital can then go as
far as restricting visitation rights, or completely stopping any family member
from visiting their loved one, claiming that they are a "threat" to
the care of the patient. The hospital can then go to court in order to
gain control of the patient by requesting that a guardian be appointed or even
the hospital itself, in place of the family members who were caring for their
loved one.
The family who was once in
the position of taking care of their loved one is now on the outside looking in
- having no legal rights or any ability to help or even visit them. If
you think this cannot happen, then you haven't heard of three cases currently
taking place where the family has been removed as the care givers of their
child and / or spouse. The cases of Justina Pelletier in Massachusetts,
Bret Bohnin in Alaska, and the Gary Harvey case in New York. All you need
to do is look them up.
In each situation, the
facility contends that these patients were not being properly cared for by
their family member and as a result, the patients were removed from their
custody. Although these cases have their differences, there is one common
denominator. Despite the reasons specified, it appears that in each
instance proper care was being given. And in all of these situations, the
care of their loved one has been put in the hands of strangers.
There have been countless
warning signs with the state of our health care system and its perilous
direction when it comes to caring for those who are unable to speak for
themselves. Perhaps much of it started with the death of my sister,
Terri. It is because of this that over the next two weeks, Terri's Life
and Hope Network website will post stories of the events that occurred on each
of those horrific days of Terri's inhumane death. Not only to remember
Terri, but also to keep in mind the countless people who, as we speak, are
suffering slow, agonizing deaths in hospices, nursing homes, and hospitals in
America and around the world. Not to mention that every one of us needs
to understand that no longer are we the ones who will be making medical decisions
for our loved ones if we ever find ourselves in a situation where a hospital
decides it knows better.
Find out more about
Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network @ www.lifeandhope.com
, or write them at P.O. Box 521, Narberth, PA 19072, or phone them at
855-300-HOPE (4673).
Find out more about LifeNews.com @ www.LifeNews.com .
New note (added
info. Not from the article):
Any Health Care Law should protect life, support life, and should further the
healing of human life and do no harm to human life, and should not force anyone
to dishonor the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We humans are created
by our Creator Lord, in His image, for His glory! We humans are more than
flesh and blood! Any such Health Care Law should be discussed by,
supported and agreed upon by, independents, republicans, and democrats alike
and should be presented to the public before voted upon Congress and
signed by the President of the United States. Any Health Care Law should
show the public that all those involved with the writing of the Health Care Law
value human life - life made in the image of our Creator - life given as a gift
of the Lord.
Let's call on our loving, gracious, merciful Creator
Lord's help, and help to repeal, or change all the problems with, the new
Health Care Law!!!
New note (added info. Not from the article - added 6/17/14 around 3:53 PM):
Any Health Care Law should protect life, support life, and should further the healing of human life and do no harm to human life, and should not force anyone to dishonor the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We humans are created by our Creator Lord, in His image, for His glory! We humans are more than flesh and blood! Any such Health Care Law should be discussed by, supported and agreed upon by, independents, republicans, and democrats alike and should be presented to the public before voted upon Congress and signed by the President of the United States. Any Health Care Law should show the public that all those involved with the writing of the Health Care Law value human life - life made in the image of our Creator -life given as a gift of the Lord.
Let's call on our loving, gracious, merciful Creator Lord's help, and help to repeal, or change all the problems with, the new Health Care Law!!!
Below is an article (Paying Their Share) from Citizen magazine
The article below is from Citizen magazine (paying Their Share), March 2014 Vol. 28, No. 2 issue. For more info. contact: 800-A-FAMILY or 8605 Explorer Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. Email: Citizeneditor@family.org, or find them online at CitizenMagazine.com
To make those at Citizen magazine richer than they already are please subscribe to Citizen magazine - Focus on the Family Citizen is published 10 times a year [combined issues in January/February and June/July] by Focus on the Family, a non-profit organization recognized for tax-deductible giving by the federal government. A one-year subscription to Focus on the Family Citizen magazine is available for $19.95. Write Focus on the Family, 8605 Explorer Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80920. To use your credit card, call 800-A-FAMILY [232-6459]. Discounted rates available for group subscriptions of five or more delivered to one location. For group information only, call 800-A-FAMILY [232-6459] or email volumesubscription@family.org. Please make others rich (as The Holy Scriptures teach us!).
We love, because he first loved us. 1John 4:19
Love does no harm to his neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfilling of the Law.
Posted at no charge. Posted to help further the kingdom of God. Please help spread the GOOD NEWS!!! Also, please for all you that are rich in this world - please help the poor and the working poor today!!!
Paying Their Share
by Connie Marshner and Karla Dial
When Congress was debating the health care overhaul now colloquially known as Obamacare, Nancy Pelosi famously told her colleagues in the House of Representatives that "we have to pass the bill to find out what's in it." Since the bill became law in 2010, revelations about what's in it have emerged a little at a time. But when a pivotal clause requiring everyone nationwide to purchase individual health insurance plans took effect last October, the American public began to feel its effects for real - and they were shocked. The president's promise that "if you like your insurance, you can keep it" turned out to be hollow. More than five million people have had their health insurance policies cancelled since Oct. 1 because they didn't include the top-of-the-line, soup-to-nuts coverage that Obamacare demands.
And even worse: The time to find a new policy, or buy one for te first time, runs out on March 31. After that, they're subject to a series of escalating annual fines.
What about everyone else? They've got plenty of pain too: "Our premiums were going to go up by 21 percent." "My employer cut me to part-time hours and took away my benefits." "I don't want to subsidize abortion, but my insurance company makes me."
But as bad news continues to worry families and empty wallets, a growing number of people are finding a welcome respite in the form of health-care sharing ministries (HCSMs). Instead of buying insurance, each participating family contributes a set monthly amount to help others pay their bills, and receives help from others when they have medical need.
There are three such national Christian ministries: Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM), established in Ohio in 1981; Medi-Shares, headquartered in Florida since 1993; and Samaritan Ministries, established in Illinois in 1994. Since Oct. 1, their membership applications have tripled - and for good reasons.
The Old is New Again
"We do not have to purchase health insurance and will not be subject to fines or jail for not doing so," explains Joe Guarino,a 50-year old Virginian whose family of seven has belonged to Samaritan Ministries for the last nine years.
There are only nine such exemptions under Obamacare, which made sure the cost-sharing model would not proliferate as Americans staggered under the federal law's newly revealed price tags: The exemptions apply only to those groups that have been continually operating since at least Dec. 31, 1999.
"The Amish have been taking care of themselves in this way for hundreds of years," Guarino explains. "If their church can't take care of it, they go to their bishop and it gets shared among the other churches until its paid. The concept of small communities pitching in to help each other pay their medical bills is not really new - it just got overtaken by what we call health insurance. And now its coming back."
Though HCSMs operate with a high level of trust between the ministry and members, fraud prevention is an obvious concern. But each ministry has its own methods to control that, which have proven quite effective.
Medi-Share members simply submit their card at the doctor's office in the same way they would an insurance card, and the doctor bills the ministry directly. Once members reach their annual household portion (similar to an insurance deductible), all eligible bills are shared 100 percent. At CHM and Samaritan, members submit original bills themselves.
"I cannot send copies or a receipt - it has to be the original, fully itemized bill," says Guarino. "And any bill over $1,000, they call the provider to verify. They follow up. So that makes it very difficult for fraud to occur."
It Pays to Negotiate
Just as savvy consumers buying a big-ticket house-hold appliance know they can usually get a discount by paying in cash, some patients know they can use the same tactic at the doctor's office to get a lower price for the service. Between 20 and 35 percent of doctor's fees are overhead used to process insurance insurance claims; when patients avoid the claim process altogether by paying for their own services, doctors will usually pass that 20 to 35 percent savings on to them. And many prefer them.
"The medical associations love health care sharing because they know they're going to get paid in a timely fashion. So they don't mind giving discounts," Guarino says.
Samaritan and CHM provide tips to members on negotiating deals, and Samaritan and Medi-Share will also help negotiate a discount when the bill arrives. Medi-Share usually maintains its own preferred-provider network of some half a million doctors nationwide; those doctors give automatic discounts of 26 percent to members. Patients are also free to go out of network, as they would with a regular PPO, though they may wind up paying slightly more. Since its inception, discounts have saved Medi-Share members $235 million in medical bills.
In 2012, participants in the three ministries shared over $151 million in health care costs. Last October alone, they shared $17.1 million in medical bills.
Medi-Share President Tony Meggs tells Citizen that "since 1993, every medical bill that was eligible that we've published has been shared 100 percent" - including a liver transplant in 2013, which cost nearly $1 million.
Sharing costs, says CHM President Howard Russell, "is infinitely more reliable than any insurance regulation." Discounts for CHM members typically average about 59 percent after the ministry negotiates bills.
HCSMs in Action
When Michele Gano, a former biology teacher in Columbia, S.C. discovered in 2007 she had contracted Lyme disease, she decided the best doctor for her was in New York City. Through her Samaritan Ministries membership, she was able to go to New York, and her bills totaling $4,000 were completely paid. She considers herself fortunate, especially compared to friends who have to worry about "in-network" and "out-of-network" providers and "pre-approvals." With HCSMs, if you like your doctor, you really do get to keep him.
Susan and John Willings, who serve as missionaries in South Korea, have been Medi-Share members since 2001. That became a life-saver in 2007, when Susan was diagnosed with breast cancer: The Medi-Share community helped pay more than $140,000 for her surgery and chemotherapy while the couple continued with Korean children.
"It was a relief knowing I didn't have to worry about my medical bills," Susan says. "I was also comforted knowing the community was praying for my recovery. The wonderful news is that today I am cancer-free and the ministry my family worked to establish in Korea is thriving."
When Larry Huff, a marketing executive from Greer, S.C., became self-employed a few years ago, his family lost the great benefits he had when he worked for a large company. With three children, he and his wife LeAnn didn't dare go without insurance. The plan they purchased had premiums of about $1,000 per month with a $5,000 deductible. As it happened, that year the family's out-of-pocket medical expenses came to only $4,800.
"We spent just shy of $17,000 out of pocket for zero benefit," Larry tells Citizen, "and we were making half of what we had made before. This was absurd!"
So they investigated HCSMs and eventually joined Samaritan Ministries, where their monthly share level is about one-third what their insurance premium once was.
"I can tell you it's a lot less painful writing a $370 check every month than a $1,000 check. And you're writing a check to a real family so it feels so different," Larry says.
"My daughter saw a check come, and it really impressed her that Christians would take care of each other like this," says LeAnn. "And every month we pray for the family (receiving) our check."
What's the cost of a life? Fifteen years ago, doctors told a CHM member with a cardiac problem to abort her baby or she would die. Instead, she got a heart transplant. So far, CHM participants have shared $800,000 for her care, after discounts, fully paying all bills. Because she helped negotiate discounts, her initial out-of-pocket cost was $0 - and today, her son is a teen.
Such enormous costs are rare. Samaritan Ministries Executive Vice President James Lansberry tells Citizen less than one-half of 1 percent of medical needs exceed $200,000 at self-pay rates - and in Samaritan's history, "only three or four dozen needs have exceeded $250,000."
Nonetheless, HCSMs make provisions for hyper-catastrophic medical needs. For example, Samaritan has an optional "Save to Share" program. Should it become necessary, Save to Share members may be asked to share bills above $250,000. Lansberry says Samaritan Ministries participants collectively have more than $8 million in their accounts ready to share with Save to Share families, in the unlikely event they have hyper-catastrophic needs. Med-Share doesn't have a lifetime limit on sharing needs.
What's the Catch?
If all this sounds too good to be true, you may be wondering how many caveats you'll have to look out for. The answer is: Very few. There are of course, some conditions and necessary limits., which vary from ministry to ministry, detailed on each Web site and in their respective application forms. Each ministry has an application fee and different ways of handling administrative costs.
But what they all have in common is an element of trust, present from the very beginning of the relationship: Applicants describe their medical status and history on brief forms. No physical exams or corroborating health records are required.
All the sharing ministries require from participants a signed document saying they believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, regularly attend worship and are committed to a healthy life-style. All members pledge to engage in sexual activity only within marriage and to abstain from illegal drugs. If they use alcohol, they promise to do so in a Biblical manner. And to increase accountability, CHM and Samaritan also have participants' pastors sign the documents.
With all HCSMs, families are responsible for their own maintenance care (annual physicals, semi-annual dental cleanings, etc.). All the families interviewed for this story indicated that they are health conscious in terms of diet and exercise.
Samaritan Ministries is the only HCSM that has members send money to each other directly. Administrators randomly pair a sender with a receiver each month at predetermined share levels, and both parties report back afterward. However, all three ministries keep records: When senders don't comply administrators contact them; if they go three or four months without sharing, the ministry no longer accepts medical needs from those individuals' families.
The Way Out of Coercion
Joe and Dawn Coletti of Cary, N.C. had been clinging to a grandfathered individual-purchase insurance plan for their family for the last few years. But when they received a letter last fall saying Obamacare was going to force their premiums up another 13 percent, they made the switch to an HCSM. Joe admits they might not have had the faith to do it a few years ago, but is glad that "we can finally live through our values now" - including the relational component.
"There's no personal connection with the people who benefit from your paying taxes," he notes wryly. "The way out of coercion is if you're able to cooperate. Being a Christian makes that easy."
But there is a deeper reason why HCSMs are growing. "If we do a good job," says Meggs, "we really can affect the culture, and reflect the love of Christ for the world to see."
Connie Marshner is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Focus on the Family does not endorse any particular approach to health care; each family should carefully investigate all options, as this story is intended solely for informational purposes. To learn more about Christian Healthcare Ministries visit www.chministries.org. For more information on Medi-Share, visit www.medi-share.org. Details about Samaritan Ministries can be found at SamaritanMinistries.org. For more information about negotiating costs with health care providers, visit selfpaypatient.com. Valuable information about this approach can also be found on the website of the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, healthcaresharing.org.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -MINISTRY COMPARISON - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
MINISTRY FOUNDED NUMBER OF SHARING LEVELS PERSONAL
MEMBERS COMES FROM OF SHARE RESPON-
AT END AMOUNT SIBILTY
OF 2013 AMOUNT
Christian 1981 60,000 indirect; from Gold: $150/unit/ $500 per unit,
Healthcare individuals other families month per year
Ministries via escrow Silver: $85/unit/
800-791-6225 account month
Bronze: $45/unit/
month
* "unit" gener-
ally equates to one
person
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Medi-Share 1993 67,213 Personal Depends on Annual House-
individuals account at several hold Portion
800-772-5623 ministry variables [AHP] options
there are 1,900 vary from $500
different share to $10,000
amounts,
with the
average being
$300/month
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Samaritan 1994 93,690 Direct from $165/month/ Member pays
Ministries individuals other families single first $300 for
888-268-4377 $315/month/ first incident
couple
$230/month/sin-
gle-parent family
$370/month two
parent family
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The above article is from Citizen magazine, March 2014 Vol. 28, No. 2 issue. For more info. contact: 800-A-FAMILY or 8605 Explorer Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. Email: Citizeneditor@family.org, or find them online at CitizenMagazine.com
end of article .........
New note (added info. Not from the article - added 6/17/14 around 3:54 PM):
Any Health Care Law should protect life, support life, and should further the healing of human life and do no harm to human life, and should not force anyone to dishonor the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We humans are created by our Creator Lord, in His image, for His glory! We humans are more than flesh and blood! Any such Health Care Law should be discussed by, supported and agreed upon by, independents, republicans, and democrats alike and should be presented to the public before voted upon Congress and signed by the President of the United States. Any Health Care Law should show the public that all those involved with the writing of the Health Care Law value human life - life made in the image of our Creator -life given as a gift of the Lord.
Let's call on our loving, gracious, merciful Creator Lord's help, and help to repeal, or change all the problems with, the new Health Care Law!!!
THE VICTORY IS YOURS JESUS!!!!!
Love is patient.
Love one another.
We love, because He first loved us.
Love is the fulfilling of the Law.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son into this world to die for us sinners, so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Faith, hope, and love - the greatest of these is love.
God is love.
Love does no harm to his neighbor.
Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God!
Jesus is the Holy One of Israel!!
Jesus is the Light of the World!!!
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!!!
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever!!!!
Jesus is the Bread of Life!!!!!
Jesus is Lord!!!!!
Jesus is the Great I AM!!!!!
Jesus is our Rock!!!
Jesus is our Shield!!!
Jesus is our Refuge!!!
Jesus is our Righteousness!!!
Who is perfect but our Creator?
Who is spotless, but our Creator??
Who created heaven and earth, but our Creator???
Who made all that which has been made, but our Creator Lord, our God????
Who is Lord, but our Creator?????
Who is Lord of lords, but our God??????
Who is King of kings, but our Creator Lord???????
Who is Lord? Jesus is Lord!!!
Love each other dearly!
Love is the commandment from the beginning!!!!
Who was from the beginning???
The Lord is from the beginning!!!
The victory is yours Jesus - the name above all names!!!
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (full of grace and truth). Who is full of grace and truth but our Lord and Savior Jesus???
Who is our Savior, but our God???
Who is our Redeemer, but our God????
Who is our Atonement - Jesus the Lamb without blemish - perfect!!!
Love is patient!!!!
Love is kind.
Love always hopes.
Love always protects.
Love always perseveres.
Love does not delight in evil.
Love is not rude.
There is a concerted effort to recall abortion - please see www.recallabortion.com. Thanks!!!
THE VICTORY IS YOURS JESUS - Messiah!!!!!!!!
Posted for no gain whatsoever, or any promise of a financial gain! Posted to help spread the Gospel of Peace!!!
Jesus is the Light of the World!
Jesus is Lord!
Jesus is our Savior!!!
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