Faith-based ministries offer alternative to traditional health insurance

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Rebecca Gertner believes her faith will help pay the medical bills. That's why every phone call with her health care representative ends the same.

"We pray to remember that God is in control and not to worry about the bills," Gertner said.

Gertner signed up with Medi-Share, part of Christian Care Ministry in Florida, and one of several faith-based health care sharing ministries across the country. Bill sharing, they believe, is rooted in scripture such as Galatians 6:2: "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the laws of Christ."

Gertner lives in Sacramento with her husband, Luke, a pastor at Hillsdale Boulevard Baptist Church, and their three home-schooled children. Their small evangelical congregation does not offer employees health insurance.

An estimated 100,000 people nationwide belong to ministries that share religious beliefs and medical bills, industry experts say. Promoted at churches and on TV, health care sharing programs have been around for decades and are more common in the South.

Interest has increased since last year's passage of federal health care reform. Members of health care sharing programs are exempt from the law's requirement -- effective in 2014 -- that every adult American have health insurance.

"People want an alternative," said Tony Meggs, president of Christian Care Ministry. "We are up 150 percent."

Gertner said she pays about $200 a month for health care. For the past five years, her medical needs have been covered, including expenses related to two pregnancies. "It has been a major blessing for us," she said.

Medi-Share members deposit monthly fees into an account, as they would with a traditional health premium. Medi-Share oversees the money flow to pay other members' health costs. The company does not receive the money directly, said Meggs.

That's one difference between the health care sharing ministries and traditional insurance, a distinction Meggs wants to make clear. The law says health care sharing ministries must be nonprofit and medical expenses must be shared among members.

State officials in Oklahoma and Kentucky have challenged Medi-Share, questioning if the company is operating as an insurance company.

"They make conservative insurance commissioners quite nervous," said Timothy Jost, professor of health law at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. "The concern is that people may not really understand that they are not insurance companies ... and they don't have the same regulations or, if something goes wrong, the reserves."

Robert Niles of Blackwell, Oklahoma, said Medi-Share refused to cover treatment for his wife Karen's brain surgery in 2008, although it had previously paid. "They just stopped," he said Monday. His wife died nearly three months ago.

Oklahoma regulators had ruled that Medi-Share was acting as an insurance company and temporarily closed the program in the state.

Medi-Share had already paid $450,000 for Niles' care, Meggs said in a statement. It said it could no longer operate in Oklahoma after the ruling. The company resumed operations there in 2009.

The ministry is available in all states but Montana. Samaritan Ministries International in Illinois is the largest. "More than 15,000 households from all 50 states and several foreign countries are actively sharing health care needs of more than $3.5 million each month," the ministries' website says.

The programs have different ways of working and eligibility requirements, although most say members must live by biblical standards.

Medi-Share requires applicants to sign statements that they are Christians. Participants must agree not to use drugs, abuse alcohol or have sex outside traditional Christian marriage. AIDS and HIV are covered if the member contracted the disease through blood transfusions. Abortion is not covered.

The company has an internal review process that periodically checks medical reports to make sure members adhere to the statement of faith. If a member filed a claim blaming a broken leg on a car accident and company representatives later learned the accident occurred because the member was intoxicated, the bill wouldn't be eligible for sharing, Meggs said. Members are responsible for their own medical bills, he added.

Meggs said members have shared more than $400 million in medical expenses over 18 years.

Members also share emotional support. They pray for others who are sick and often send get well cards. They have a concept similar to Twitter called Prayer Stream where members post prayer requests and words of encouragement.

Gertner said her family has been healthy, fortunately. But she worries about rising health care costs. She said talking to her Medi-Share representative helps ease her anxiety, especially after they pray: "When I hang up, I feel like I've been to church."

(Contact Jennifer Garza at jgarza(at)sacbee.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

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