This post is about Christian Healthcare Ministries. Sorry it is so long.
We joined CHM three years ago because our insurance costs were outrageous. The kicker was that my husband had a prostate procedure done. Anthem covered it but they put the whole amount we paid under "coinsurance" and not deductible so we thought we were going to satisfy the deductible and we didn't. I looked back and hardly anything we paid was credited to the deductible - all coinsurance. So, we had paid out a lot of money that year for coinsurance but still would have to satisfy the deductible.
I checked Covered California for 2021. If we were to get the cheapest insurance possible, it is $20k per year with just a yearly physical not subject to the deductible. We'd have to pay $7k per person in order to have the insurance company pay anything else!
We gave up traditional insurance 3 years ago and went with CHM. We currently pay $172 each for a gold policy that covers us up to $125k per incident. An incident is one illness (i.e., I go to the doctor because my stomach hurts. I then go back because it still hurts. Turns out it is my appendix and I have it removed. That is all one incident). We pay an extra $420 per year to give us unlimited coverage per incident. So, we have unlimited coverage. Our yearly total is $4,500.
The gold policy includes 100% coverage for all incidents over $500. We self insure the small stuff - everything under $500. Office visits, vaccines, prescriptions not related to an incident (birth control, anti depressants, blood pressure, etc. - daily medicines), physicals, etc. There are things they don't cover and that is all spelled out in their guidelines so there should be surprises. There is no deductible. If your out of pocket costs are $1,000, you get a check for $1,000.
We can go to any doctor we want - there are no networks. No worrying about if you go to the hospital and one of the doctors you see is out of network.
I had to have two colonoscopies in July two weeks apart. The total cost was about $9k. The self pay cost was $4k. I paid the $4k, submitted the receipts to CHM and received a check for the full amount six weeks later. No questions asked.
A couple years ago, I had itchy legs. I couldn't get into see a dermatologist quickly so went to urgent care. They gave me a treatment...it didn't work. I went back to urgent care, got another treatment and it didn't work. Finally got into the dermatologist who gave me two prescriptions which cured me. Submitted a claim for over $800 and got a check no questions asked. I felt guilty about the urgent care charges but no one questioned them.
It is easy to get discounts from healthcare providers. They give insurance companies discounts and offer us a similar discount. i.e., the facility fee for my colonoscopy was $2900. They gave me a cash price of $925 - a $1900 savings!
I do call around to get the best price on some procedures (especially ones that I know I have to have again and again). For my mammogram, I do not go to the clinic where my doctor is. I go to a stand alone place. The full cost is $650. I get it for $350. A mammogram at my doctor's clinic was $650 for the cash price. Just ridiculous.
For lab work, we use
www.walkinlabs.com. We order the labs online, a doctor at the website prescribes them, we take the form to the lab, get the blood drawn and get the results a day or two later. All for cheap! I had rhabdo a couple years ago. My clinic wouldn't authorize a blood test for my CK levels without coming in to see the doctor. I found walkinlabs.com, ordered the test and had an urgent call the next morning that my CK levels were way too high and I needed to immediately call my doctor. The site works great!
Pre-existing conditions - they do not cover pre-existing conditions outright. The gold program has a provision where they will cover up to $15k of expenses in the first year, $10k in the second and $25k in the third for a total of a cumulative $50k in the first three years. After that, there are no pre-existing conditions. If you do have costs for pre-existing conditions that exceed these amounts, there is a prayer page where other members can donate to help offset your costs.
Also, there are a few "non christian procedures" they don't cover. Births from unwed mothers, abortions, drug abuse, self-inflicted. The abortion part bothers me so we make a large donation to Planned Parenthood every year. I've had to come to terms with it.
Our son used CHM for cobra coverage when he was between jobs. He had it for a couple months but never even used it.
CHM has been around for 40 years. They have paid out billions in claims. I know someone is going to say it is not guaranteed. They have a good track record.
They publish a magazine each month with stories of what incidents they have covered. This is the link.
https://chministries.org/resources/heartfelt-magazine/
I am happy to answer anyone's questions. The haters are going to hate but if you have serious questions, let me know.