Health Care Sharing Ministries are charitable organizations that cater to people of similar faith who choose to help each other pay their medical bills. They limit their participants to those of similar faith. The organization is just a facilitator of the contributions among the participants who have financial or medical needs.
Between the three national ministries that do Health Care Sharing, over their total existence of 30 years, they have helped pay more than $1.75 Billion in medical bills. The three ministries are called Samaritan Ministries, Medi-share, and Christian Health Care Ministries. Their ministry is based on the biblical belief of personal responsibility and that we are called to share each other's burdens when they are greater than they can bear. (They attest to no tobacco, no illegal drugs, no abuse of alcohol, and follow traditional marriage.)
Their stellar performance was enough for Congress to recognize them as legitimate and exempt the participants in Health Care Sharing Ministries from the individual responsibility requirement in the Affordable Care Act. This means that come January 2014, participants in HCSMs will not be required to purchase health insurance, nor will they be fined or penalized for not purchasing health insurance. They know that they will not be breaking the law of the AFA.
Right now, they have approximately 800 households in Idaho participating in a Health Care Sharing Ministry. That equates to approximately 2500 individuals.
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