I’m so excited to tell you Suzette’s amazing name and birth story today. She is our precious sixth child, and we are thrilled that she had a safe delivery and is now here with us!

Suzette’s Name

Early in my pregnancy I saw the name “Suzette” and immediately loved it.

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The post Suzette’s Name + Birth Story (Baby #6) appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

2023 marks TEN YEARS of being Samaritan Ministries members for our family. And we have definitely had some experience with health care sharing since we’ve joined! Lots of variety of injuries, birth stories (several home births), and other recoveries and testing. I can’t wait to share our very honest and detailed Samaritan Ministries review with you.

For those of you hearing about healthcare sharing for the first time, it is an alternative to health insurance that satisfies insurance requirements and functions similarly to insurance without being (or costing as much) as insurance.

In this post I talk about what it means to “share” with other members each month, what it is like to submit a medical need, the various needs we have experienced, and using alternative medicine doctors as your primary provider. We also had several emergency hospital stays that we paid with 50% discounts. It’s all in this post.

(Originally published in 2015. Revised 2018, 2022)

Our Samaritan Ministries Review and Experience

I have been wanting to write this Samaritan Ministries review update for a long time now. I have written a few other posts, too, although fair warning – I have NOT updated those posts in a while. Some of the info on those may not be updated, but you can check them out below:

Insurance Alternatives: How Christian Healthcare Sharing Ministries Work

Comparing Christian Healthcare Sharing Ministries: Medi-Share, Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries

Our 1 Year Update with Samaritan Ministries (back in 2014)

Our Home Birth Experience With Samaritan Ministries

**I mentioned this in many of the posts linked above, but Samaritan Ministries is a biblical, faith-based ministry. Members are asked to sign a statement of faith and agree to the guidelines for members. If you are looking for a secular option for health sharing, I have heard nice things from readers about Liberty Healthshare.**

Why We Joined Samaritan Ministries

A bit of a back story about my family and why we joined Samaritan…

In 2013 I quit my job as a teacher to stay home with our two small children KNOWING we were going to choose Samaritan over traditional health insurance. A friend had told me about how much it had blessed her family and knowing my preference for alternative medicine- suggested that it would be a good fit. I was grateful because the traditional insurance options we were given started at over $1,400 monthly for our family of 4 at the time!

After my cancer diagnosis in 2008 and choice to use nontoxic and alternative therapies for treatment, my family no longer utilizes the care of conventionally trained doctors unless an emergency. Because of this, having traditional and expensive insurance is a bit useless for us unless in cases of emergency.

Samaritan was a perfect fit because they allow for us to use the type of treatment we believe is best, along with having conventional emergency care and lab testing when needed. They believe in choice and options for their members.

How Samaritan Works: Monthly “Shares”

With Samaritan, each month we send our $595 “Share” directly to another member. The “Share” amount varies by age and how many people are on your membership. You can calculate that HERE.

A “Share” is the monthly amount you send to another family so they can use it to pay for their medical bills. You will have a new family every month to send your share to and will get that information in an envelope along with a prayer guide and a monthly newsletter with helpful tips and news.

Also note that individuals and couples without children pay less per month (as low as $190 with reductions for those under 29 in good health.) We are a family of 7, so we pay much more. Families of 8+ pay a bit more than that.

You have the option to send your “Share” online through PayPal or through the mail and the members receiving shares track their receipt of shares with a checklist – online or paper and submit this to the Samaritan office.

If you have a medical need and have to see a doctor or have a hospital bill, that is another process called “Submitting a Need” that I’ll write about below.

Applying to Become a Samaritan Ministries Member

To apply to be a member, you need to fill out an application form either online or by mail. Make sure you read through the guidelines before signing anything.

There is a one-time application fee of $200 at the start of membership. So the first month we joined we paid $200 + our monthly share to the Samaritan Ministries office. After that we just paid our monthly share each month straight to other members via mail or online via PayPal. The only exception is the month you renew your membership each year. You’ll send that share to headquarters.

A few other important things to know:

• When you apply, you will also need the signature of a church leader to confirm you are active in your church. You will also do this at membership renewal each year.
• Samaritan Ministries is a Christian ministry and they ask that members adhere to the Christian principles outlined in the guidelines and on the application. These are things like not drinking excessively, attending church regularly, etc.

Cards from Samaritan members I received after our home birth.

How Samaritan Works: Submitting “Needs”

A “Need” is what you file after you have received medical treatment for whatever it is you are dealing with. Samaritan is different than insurance in that you are completely free to choose the provider best for you as long as they are licensed in your state.

Samaritan also works differently in that if the doctor demands payment on the spot, you pay UP FRONT and then are reimbursed later by members’ shares. This amount has never been more than $150 for any of the doctors’ offices we have been in before arranging a payment schedule.

A “Need” is the total scope of the treatment for a medical condition (for instance – a broken bone, a pregnancy, etc- it’s the TOTAL medical condition, not each visit.)

For each “need” YOU are responsible for paying for the first $400. (This is called your “personal responsibility.”) If you ask for a self-pay discount upon payment at the doctor’s office or when setting up a hospital payment plan, etc, you receive $250 off of your personal responsibility when you provide proof of discount or a “fair price”.

In most of our medical needs in the past 10 years, we have NOT had to pay all $400 due to self-pay discounts we asked for.

This is a system designed to incentivize members to ask for discounts for their medical bills since we are self-pay payment instead of having to go through insurance – which means the doctor or hospital get their payment more quickly.

This was confusing at first for me at first, so I’ve included examples of what I’m talking about in my need experiences below. Also – it differs slightly nowadays than it used to, so our family’s earlier needs (pre-2020) were less expensive than today and our personal responsibility was less for many years. Inflation has changed things everywhere, especially healthcare.

The new system encourages Samaritan members to check the “Healthcare Bluebook” online database (using your Samaritan login) for the most affordable treatment facility or doctor. If you can prove you received a fair price, you have money reimbursed off your personal responsibility up to $250. Same works if you are asking for discounts on emergency situations.

Our various “Needs” over the past 10 years….

Here’s a rundown of our various medical “Needs” and how life as a  family of 7 (almost 8) has kept us and Samaritan busy over the past 10 years….

Headaches from TMJ/ Teeth Grinding: 2014

• Total cost: ~$600
• We only paid ~$40 after we asked for a ~$260 discount from our family dentist for self-pay and documented it when we submitted our need paperwork with Samaritan (simply an itemized bill showing the discount.)
• Although routine dental care costs are not shared, medical conditions whose root cause requires the care of a dentist IS covered.
• A new mouth guard and learning new stretches helped me immensely with this problem.

Home Birth 2015

• Total cost: $4,126
• Samaritan covered 100%, we paid $0 because members pay no personal responsibility for home birth since it helps reduce costs for the ministry. Hospital births have a $300 responsibility total which is still significantly reduced from insurance!
• All of my supplements, chiropractic care, ultrasounds, labs, midwifery fees, newborn care, and postpartum visits, EVERYTHING was covered.
• I got THE BEST cards from members. I wrote about the whole experience here.

Gallbladder Pain and Digestive Problems 2015

• Total cost: ~$1,500
• We paid first $300 personal responsibility and the remaining was reimbursed through member sharing.
• We saw an alternative medicine doctor licensed in acupuncture in our state. I used homeopathy, supplements, and a series of gallbladder and liver cleanses to eliminate my symptoms. For those who read my blog frequently, this is also the reason I stopped eating the Budwig Mixture after almost 7 years post-cancer. Apparently gallbladder problems are common after multiple pregnancies.
• Seeing an alternative practitioner for this (in my opinion) saved the ministry thousands of dollars. What could have ended up in gallbladder removal surgery was alleviated because of my practitioner’s suggestion of a more gentler approach first. And not to mention, I got to keep my gallbladder.

Thyroid Concerns and Adrenal Fatigue 2015

• Total cost: $4,459 (over the course of a year)
• We paid first $300 and then received the rest from members.
• After almost a year of being up with a baby or toddler several times throughout the night, my adrenal system was in need of care and my lab tests were showing how it was affecting my thyroid.
• We saw a functional MD this time along with craniosacral therapist who was also an MD and homepath. All of my supplements were covered for the first 120 days. After that we had to pay for them out of pocket. Any alternative therapy-type adjustments are limited to 40 (I think I probably used less than 10.)
• Lab tests were covered 100%.
• I did not use medication, so we did not need to submit for that. Lab test and doctors’ visits were the most expensive on this need. This need lasted the longest so we actually did go over the 120 days of supplement allowance and ended up paying a few hundred out of pocket for supplements. I did notice in the guidelines, that in cases of cancer, the 120 day supplement allowance is waved until patient is in remission, so that’s great news for anyone choosing alternative or integrative cancer treatment!
• Note: All alternative medicine practitioners need to be licensed for your need to be approved.

Cancer Screening Needed 2016

• Total cost: $900
• We paid first $300 and Samaritan shared the rest.
• In 2016 I felt the need to do some more intensive screening and blood work to investigate my remission status from cancer (it had been 8 years since I was diagnosed!)
• We chose to use a blood test called Oncoblot. All markers were clear.

Broken Finger 2016

• Total cost: $1,128
• We paid $0 after over $300 in discounts from the doctor’s office for asking for the “self-pay rate.”

Back Pain 2017

• Total cost: ~$1,000
• No discounts were available so we paid the first $300 for this.
• Received only chiropractic care for this which is limited to 40 visits and no “maintenance care” once condition has been alleviated.

Pregnancy + Miscarriage 2018

• Total cost: $~2,700
• This need began as home birth midwifery care so it was shared 100% and we paid $0.
• Midwifery care, supplements, ultrasound, and eventual emergency room visit were 100% covered.
• Cards from members were so sweet after this need was shared. One woman even sent me a homemade baby blanket and prayer cards.

Broken Arm 2018

• Total cost: $3,000
• We paid first $300 after doctor’s office would not record the discounts for self-pay on our invoice. Dealing with the billing department of certain doctors’ offices can be a a pain, but for the most part they are reasonable. This office was not.

Home Birth 2019

• Total cost: Probably around ~$4,000 with ultrasounds, supplements, and chiropractic care
• We are paying $0 after submitting our home birth midwife’s invoice ahead of time (last time we didn’t know we could and waited until the end of pregnancy.

Broken Humerus Bone + Surgery/ Hospital Stay 2020

• Total cost: $24,600
• Our 7 year old jumped out of a tree and broke her arm (supracondylar fracture) which required pins and surgery.
• We gathered all bills and called hospital to ask for 50% discount which they honored with immediate payment. We paid with our credit card (to get points) and then was reimbursed by Samaritan members within 6 weeks. We only paid a total of $150 out of pocket because of receiving a discount (Samaritan rewarded us with $250 off of our personal responsibility for working to reduce our bill.)

Broken Femur + Surgery/ Hospital Stay 2020

• Total cost: $20,400
• Two months later our 5 year old broke her femur riding a scooter. I couldn’t believe it, but I knew the drill from our experience two months prior. We went straight to the emergency room at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and they got her right in because of her level of pain. She had surgery and casting the next morning. I ordered a special seatbelt (since was in a half-body cast) and wheelchair with no problem. All was paid for by Samaritan shares and we received the discount for this one also. We only paid $150 out of pocket.

Note: 2020 was the year that the “personal responsibility” was raised from $300 to $400. Samaritan also stopped reducing your personal responsibility amount based on the discount you asked for and received. For instance, if I had $300 in discounts documented (because I called the doctor/hospital and negotiated), in the past, SM would require of me a $0 personal responsibility for that bill! It was awesome, but apparently not everyone cared to ask for discounts or obtain a “fair price” even with discounts, so SM switched over to the “fair price” “Healthcare Bluebook” database which is honestly a bit more confusing and doesn’t apply to emergency situations or home birth.

With the new policy, if you show on your bills that you ask for a discount and get a fair price (whether through the “Healthcare Bluebook” database or your own negotiating for bill discounts,) then SM sends you a check for $250, reducing your personal responsibility to $150. But the days of $0 personal responsibility are over. I have called SM various times and expressed my dislike for this change, but overall Samaritan Ministries is still amazing!

Chronic Headaches 2019-2021

• Total Cost: ~$5,000
• I used a combination of cranial osteopathy, homeopathy, and nutritional changes to address this problem over the course of two years. I learned a lot and am so happy to say I no longer have chronic headaches! I had to pay the first $400 on this one because my holistic and functional medicine doctors did not take insurance and therefore did not offer discounts. All “medicines”, including homeopathy and supplements prescribed by my functional chiropractor was covered. (You just have to get a supplements form signed by your doctor.)

Home Birth 2021

• Total cost: ~$5,000
• All costs were shared/ covered including supplements (NORA tea, iron supplements, chlorophyll)
• Placenta encapsulation was also covered (used as a supplement). Doula coverage is also shared if preferred.

Home Birth 2023

• Total cost ~$5,500

Note: All alternative treatment limitations are in section VIII in the Samaritan Guidelines. They are really flexible for the most part as you can see above.

Save to Share….(for over $250,000 in medical bills)

Coverage of $250,000 per member, per incident is the standard with Samaritan membership annually.

Read more about the Save to Share program if you would like additional “coverage” over $250,000 per person per incident. This program has members put aside an additional $180 – $595 + a yearly $15 enrollment fee in case another member needs additional shares over their $250,000 coverage with their membership.

A few more ways Samaritan is different than health insurance….

First off, it isn’t insurance…

Samaritan Ministries is a non-profit that connects members to each other to share in bearing each others’ medical debt burden. It is not a legally-binding relationship like traditional insurance.

Technically, there *could* be months that you may not receive enough money to cover your full need. This has happened a few times over the past ten years. They call it “proration” where the ministries’ NEEDS cost more than our shares, so only 80-90% of the cost of each need is paid for that month. The next month, the rest of the shares were paid, it just was delayed because there wasn’t enough share money.

If this continues to happen over the course of several months, members are asked to vote on whether to raise our monthly “share” cost to alleviate the need to prorate. Members vote to approve the new rates and that is what our new “Share” payment will be going forward. After a “Share” rate is raised, if there is a surplus in share money, members share payments are lowered for just that month due to a surplus of shares over need costs.

You would never see an insurance company do that!

You have to be in charge of your medical bills…

With Samaritan YOU are in charge of your healthcare. You can choose the doctors you love, no matter where or how unique their specialty is (as long as they are licensed in your state.)

If you are missionary overseas, you receive your care needed where you are, convert bills to U.S. dollars, and submit them to Samaritan for sharing.

If you choose to receive cancer treatment in Mexico, same thing (you will need to discuss your plans with the Samaritan office ahead of time for approval and give them the heads’ up.)

Perhaps it gets a bit annoying at times, and you need to be organized with your bills and submitting them (making photocopies, etc), but I wouldn’t trade this health freedom for any sort of convenience of an insurance company and co-pay system.

I will add that when I would call my traditional health insurance company (years ago before we had Samaritan), I waited on hold for long periods of time and no one seemed to really be accommodating to my choice of care. They absolutely would not offer to pay for on any of my alternative cancer treatments (which would have been tens of thousands less expensive than the chemotherapy and radiation treatments they would pay for.)

They definitely did not pray with me on the phone and ask me how I was doing.

With Samaritan expect incredibly kind, individualized care. The office staff has always been so incredibly kind and compassionate every time I have had to call and the wait times are prompt. In 10 years I have never had an issue and have only had gratitude towards them. I love when they kindly ask if they can pray for me and my family. It’s never weird and I always feel better afterwards.

Who would NOT be a good fit for Samaritan?

There are certain pre-existing conditions that are not shareable. This does not include everything, so I advise calling Samaritan after reading the member guidelines to discuss this with them. Cancer is 5 years remission without recurrence for a new or recurring diagnosis to be shareable.

“Well-visit” pediatrician appointments are not shareable. You will need to plan for this financially and pay out of pocket for each routine visit. It is important to note that vaccines are not covered under the plan either so seeking out a public health center or self-pay pediatrician may be good options for this situation.

Routine “screening” visits such us annual women’s well-care and mammograms, annual colonoscopies, etc. are also not shareable and you will need to plan financially to pay out-of-pocket for those as well.

Those with pre-existing conditions can still join as members, but any new related needs would not be shareable and would need to be submitted as a “Special Prayer Need” so members can give additionally to help relieve your medical burden and also to pray for you.

Vision and Dental needs are not shareable unless they are the root cause or result of a medical condition.

Motorcycle accidents and accidents while under the influence of drugs or alcohol are not shareable.

Birth control, fertility treatment, tubal ligations, vasectomies, and abortions are also not eligible for sharing. Neither are gender reassignment surgeries (had to add that one in for this 2023 update.)

Integrity of the ministry…

One thing I didn’t realize when signing up for SM is that it literally the PEOPLE are the ministry! Samaritan headquarters tries to keep the overhead low so everything we use (except for that once a year monthly share to the office and application fee) is sent DIRECTLY to members.

It is certainly biblical healthcare where members bear each others’ burdens. In months when there is more share money than needs to pay, the monthly share amount has been reduced by as much as $100 for each member. I just love that transparency and honesty.

I will also add that EVERY SINGLE TIME I have called the ministry with a question or to start a new need or ask a question about alternative therapies, I have always been greeted with someone who actually knew what I was talking about and supported my choice.

We decided on Samaritan 10 years ago because I felt all of this from the start.

If you have found this review of our experience with Samaritan Ministries helpful in making your decision, I would love for you to consider letting Samaritan know Cortney @ AntiCancerMom.com referred you. Feel free to post any comments in the questions below.

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The post Samaritan Ministries Review 2023: Our 10 Year Experience appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

I really didn’t know what else to name this post. It is simply what it is. That time God spoke to my husband in the chemo room.

To any of you visiting here for the first time and also to you all that have been hanging around with me for a while, you need to know that I haven’t written about this in the seven years since I started my blog. I have very rarely ever talked about it publicly even though this experience is what cemented our decision to pursue non-toxic therapies for my cancer in 2008.

I was concerned that by sharing it, our story would be dismissed as ridiculous, too religious, or just plain weird.

So I just left it out of the conversation.

But then a few years ago at the 2013 HealingStrong conference, something AMAZING happened and I changed my mind. Spine tingling amazing. And I started talking about it. I am so excited to share it with you today.

Cancer.

Many of you know that in 2008 I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I was 26 and newly married.

NLPHL is a slow progressing and rare cancer but can get tricky in the stage I was in (already spread to the opposite side of my body) because it can morph into other lymphomas or leukemia as it progresses. Because of this (and because it’s extremely rare) my oncologist consulted with the doctor he did his fellowship under at MD Anderson in Houston. THEY were the ones that recommended the chemo and radiation protocol of 4 rounds of R-CHOP chemotherapy plus radiation as needed.

So three weeks after I found the large mass in my armpit and after my surgical biopsy, PET and CT Scans, bone marrow biopsy, and blood work, it was time for the tour of where I would be receiving my chemotherapy.

The doctor met with us first that day. This was the same visit where my husband Kevin asked the doctor about an alternative to chemotherapy (“NONE”) or nutritional therapies (“NONE”).

His response was basically that he wasn’t trained in alternative medicine and it wasn’t well studied or recommended.

After our twenty minutes with the oncologist, we met with the nurse who gave us handouts for each of the drugs I would take during my treatment. There were a dozen of them! Drugs for EVERYTHING….anxiety and depression, drugs to shut down my ovaries, drugs for nausea, the chemotherapy drugs, etc. This is also when the nurse told me they would shut down my ovaries with a drug intended to do the best of saving my fertility.

“What are the chances of me not being able to have children after this treatment?” my husband Kevin and I both asked.

“Anywhere from 30-70%. It’s hard to really say” was his response.

That left me with a pit in my stomach, like I had been sucker punched. Total paradigm shift.

The Chemo Room

After this meeting we went straight into the room where patients were receiving their chemotherapy. It looked a lot like the picture above.

The nurse told us about the personal TV’s with DVD players (it was 2008) and the beautiful view of the trees.

Kevin was directly in front of me following the nurse, quietly listening and taking it all in. I looked down and saw that every chair was full of people hooked up to IV’s, most of them gaunt appearing and sickly, and with scarves on their heads or with no hair at all.

It was in this room and in this moment that Kevin heard it. He said it was an incredibly strong impression, practically audible and it definitely wasn’t his own voice or thoughts.

It said “THIS IS NOT FOR YOU.”

When he recalls the story, he said that he looked around, wondering if I or anyone else had heard something, a little bit confused of what he just heard.

I didn’t hear a thing nor notice if Kevin was even looking at me. I was too busy empathizing and imagining myself in those chairs.

THIS IS NOT FOR YOU.

After a trip over to the wig shop, we were on our way home with appointment cards for the chemotherapy port surgery and another card for the fertility specialist.

On the way home, we sat in silence for a while. It was me who started to talk about things, and after listening for a while Kevin shocked me with this.

He said “I don’t think we are supposed to do chemotherapy.”

I stared at him with utter confusion.

“Nothing about it seems right,” he continued…

“I heard this voice…I think it was a voice. But it wasn’t my thoughts…it’s not like anything I heard before. It was perpendicular to my thoughts. It interrupted my own thoughts. In the chemotherapy room…it said….’This is not for you’.”

. . .

It’s all a blur for me to recall, but I remember being angry immediately. It was the perfect outlet to the anger that was probably stored down deep within me over the whole “unfairness” of cancer.

What he said went against the plan I had already mostly come to terms with.

I had finally accepted my course of action and now HE was suggesting we change the plan! I was livid.

But Kevin made it clear from the beginning that it wasn’t his plan, he really felt it was what God was nudging and telling us to do. Knowing his character I knew this was real for him. He was telling the absolute truth and I had no real option but to decide to listen, too.

Research

We went to dinner that night…steak, buttered bread, and sweet tea from Longhorn Steakhouse. Somehow I had an appetite. I think that I was just relieved I had a confirmed diagnosis after three weeks of waiting and was ready to move forward. As I said so often- ready to “just get this cancer out of me!” Like it was going to be that easy.

I basically ignored everything Kevin had just said to me and stayed the course of the doctor’s orders. It put a great chasm between us for a good while.

But the one thing that I continued to wrestle with most about the treatment plan was infertility. I mourned the children that I may not have been able to have because of the chemotherapy damage to my reproductive system.

Kevin had already gone into a bit of research on “alternatives to chemotherapy” before the moment in the chemo room happened, so with his new direction he continued.

Coincidentally, a piece of key research for him was in a video from MD Anderson. A lymphoma specialist there named Anas Younes talked about how although the survival rate of Hodgkin’s lymphoma is high, the CURE rate is not. He also made an extremely important statement. He said that in 10 YEARS he believed “chemotherapy would be considered a barbaric way to treat cancer patients.”

We actually attempted to get me into a clinical trial there, but like most clinical trials, the patients need to have exhausted all of the other options for treatment to be considered. Meaning I would need to go through the chemotherapy and it fail in order to be considered for a clinical trial.

But naturally, when he googled “alternatives to chemotherapy for cancer” – sites like CancerTutor.com and other sites popped up. This is where Kevin found Bill Henderson’s book amongst many others. Ralph Moss, Patrick Quillin, Ty Bollinger. He ordered ALLLL the books and read as many as he could.

More and more he started bringing up the idea to me about using alternative therapies. He had researched day and night and meanwhile I kept my head stuck in the sand. I just wanted the cancer out of me and wondered how on earth ANY of these alternative therapies could work if my doctor had no idea about them!

Not Looking Back

Over the next few days, I too started to wonder about non-toxic cancer therapies. Would it be worth giving a try? I started looking through the dozen books Kevin had ordered that were sitting on our coffee table. I skimmed through a few of them and found Bill Henderson’s “Cancer-Free: Your Guide To Gentle, Non-Toxic Healing” to be the simplest looking and one of the smallest.

After a few chapters I was hooked and wanted to TRY at least changing my diet and lifestyle. I wasn’t quite convinced of forgoing chemotherapy totally but I figured that changing my diet could only help. We dove into EVERYTHING related to healing cancer naturally and applied what we could.

Once I began to research the slow-growing nature of my cancer (and the fact that the doctors seemed in no rush in the three weeks it took to get my final pathology!) I agreed to give alternative treatment a three month trial period while monitoring carefully.

It was not an easy season at first. Concerned loved ones were objecting and confused and sometimes even angrily concerned. My mom was extremely upset towards Kevin and felt that I was powerless in my choice. She thought because of HIS IDEA I would die from not doing chemo. (My mom’s twin sister had Hodgkin’s as a teenager and was one of only a few to survive the clinical trials at Johns Hopkins she underwent.)

It was extremely stressful and walls had to be put up for a while for me to stay the course. Finding a new, supportive oncologist who agreed that I had a few months to try alternative therapies and diet change was extremely relieving to me (but especially to my mom!)

You can read more about my entire journey HERE, but six months later, my remaining tumor had shrunk to the touch and I was on my way to being cancer free. I was also eight weeks pregnant with our first child.

Confirmation

Now, over the years Kevin has always been 1,000% sure that what he heard in the chemo room was indeed not from him, but over time I had began to wonder if maybe it was just…I don’t know? A coincidence?  His subconscious? Or something?

You guys also need to know that Kevin is not even one bit dramatic about this kind of stuff. He is the most authentic and truthful person I’ve ever met.

But I always had that 0.01% bit of doubt in me.

Until this…

Ann Cooper, Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer Survivor

This video was filmed at the HealingStrong Holistic Cancer Conference in 2013 and since Kevin and I helped found HealingStrong and plan the conference, we were in the “green room” with Chris Wark and some of the other speakers where this was filmed. We were directly behind the camera watching this interview.

Chris is interviewing Ann Cooper, a stage 4 pancreatic cancer survivor who only used alternative therapies to heal. She is the EMBODIMENT of a miracle.

Many of you know that stage 4 pancreatic cancer is basically the worst cancer you can get. It is always terminal.

But Ann has been alive and cancer free for 17 years now!

Now if you’re short on time, scroll to the 06:08 mark where Ann starts to talk about God’s direction in her healing and the exact phrase He used to speak to her in her spirit. But it really is well worth it to watch the whole thing. You’ll be amazed.

LISTEN TO WHAT SHE SAYS…

Needless to say, my husband heard her say this and about FELL OVER.

I almost wanted to scream out loud while it was being filmed and hop on the couch with Chris and hug her. I still can’t believe it.

Unbelievable. PRAISE GOD. Crazy.

Mic Drop.

So that is my story about how God spoke to my husband in the chemo room. Now you know why I now believe it 1,000% even though I wondered about it for years.

Notice that God did not say “chemo is bad.” Or “the pharmaceutical industry is evil.” He was so gentle. A simple “This is not for you…”

Redirection.

And he told Ann Cooper the exact, same thing.

The takeaway?

Pray like crazy when you are diagnosed. Ask God for the bread crumbs and next steps. Ask Him to tell you what to do. Pray every day and listen in your spirit. Read the Bible or find a beautiful healing devotion to get started if this whole God thing is kind of new to you.

He cares so much for you and wants you to know and love Him.

Our paths are not all the same. I tell people about this everyday who I talk to about their health. Just because my path went one way, doesn’t mean it is right for you. But you won’t know unless you ask your Creator, who knows you best.

Pray pray pray, and don’t make a decision out of fear of what might happen. Wait for the peace that surpases all understanding.

-Cortney 

Looking for a place to learn more?

• You can find ideas and recipes for an anti-cancer lifestyle and diet on my blog. 
• Chris Wark’s Square One Program is a 10 module coaching course if you are interested in preventing or healing your cancer without chemotherapy or radiation. (It is playing again for FREE September 29 – October 1st.)
• Find a HealingStrong natural healing support group in your area (we have over 80 groups in the U.S and internationally!)
• If there is not a group in your area, consider starting a group or purchasing our HealingStrong Participant Guide which provides 150+ pages of natural healing resources and recommendations that we teach in our groups.

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The post That Time God Spoke to My Husband in the Chemo Room appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

Update: 12/2018: Our 5 Year experience with Samaritan Ministries can be found HERE. This post is extremely thorough with detailed needs and sharing experience.

Update 4/1/15: You can read about our most recent homebirth experience with Samaritan Ministries HERE.

Last year I wrote a post about Christian healthcare sharing ministries and had no idea that it would become my most popular post on Green Drink Diaries. Apparently more people are looking for alternatives to the federally mandated “Obamacare” than I originally thought!

Today I’m going to go back over some basics of Samaritan Ministries, the Christian healthcare sharing ministry we decided was best for us and also tell about our experience. Americans have only until February 15th, 2015 to make their decisions regarding federally-supplemented health insurance for 2015, so it’s perfect timing for research into other options as well.

For my full run-down on how Christian healthcare share ministries works a a whole concept, click HERE.

For my side-by-side comparison of the largest and most popular 3 Christian healthcare share ministries (Medi-Share, Christian Healthcare Ministries, and Samaritan Ministries) click HERE.

OK, now onto my review of Samaritan Ministries after one year of membership….

Our Samaritan Ministries One Year Update:

It has actually been about a year and three months since we joined SM, and I have not one complaint. The organization as a whole has experienced tremendous growth since the passing of the Affordable Care Act, and yet as a member I haven’t felt any of the growing pains.

Remember that the primary reason we joined was to be part of a group of people who believed in healthcare choice and freedom- such as the choice to use alternative medicine for cancer care.

We have been asked in almost every monthly newsletter to pray for the staff as they grow in numbers to accommodate the growing ministry. I love feeling included in the ministry and connected to other members by doing this. It is just SO DIFFERENT from insurance!

One issue that was surprising occurred earlier in the year when there were three months in a row of needs prorated by 80% because there were more needs than shares from members. (Remember that the “share” is the month each family agrees to send to another member, for instance my family of 4 sends $405 monthly to another member.) “Prorated by 80%” means that what usually is 100% paid for that month is only 80% paid because there just wasn’t enough funds to share that month. Your need will continued to be shared each month until enough money is gathered, but for that month in particular there isn’t enough.

After the third month, we were ASKED (not told) to vote on whether we thought monthly shares needed to be adjusted or raised. After a ballot was sent out and given a month to send back in, the members agreed that there needed to be a raise in our monthly share amounts to accommodate the rising care of health care costs.

The Samaritan Ministry share rates are now currently: (Updated 10/5/16)

Rates for those under 25 years old are less expensive- so check with SM if that is you.

Even though we, as a ministry decided that raising our monthly shares was the best solution to the rising costs of medical care and proration issues, there have been several months, including the last four in a row, that our share rates were reduced because of more shares than medical needs filed! This past month (January 2015) ours was $336.15, reduced $68.85 from our usual $405.

I chuckle at the idea of an insurance company ever REDUCING a premium. (:

FILING A NEED- TMJ Headaches:

This past summer I began having really bad headaches when I woke up in the morning. I never would have thought they could be TMJ related, but thankfully I quickly figured this out. I called SM to see if they covered issues arising from TMJ, and sure enough as long as if it was a medical issue (such as severe ongoing headaches or ear pain,) they covered it 100% (after my $300 personal responsibility which can be reduced if I ask for and receive any discounts from my doctor for being a self-pay patient.) We also prayed for healing over the phone, which I’m still not used to after a call to SM.

It only took one trip to the dentist to have my jaw and bite patterns examined to solve my issue. After $180 in discounts for being a self-pay patient, I only ended up paying $399 out of pocket. Since I received $130 in bill reductions from my dentist, I was able to file for the $99 that was over my personal responsibility of $300, plus the $130 in bill discounts that I asked for that came off of my $300 responsibility. So my total NEED that was published with other members was $229 ($130 + 99.)

Sure enough, it was super easy to fill out the NEED paperwork and after attaching all of my itemized bills, within 60 days I was sent a checklist of the members to expect checks from and received those checks promptly. I must also add that my checks both came with cards and one lady even sent a special book on healing prayer which really touched my heart. Again, SO DIFFERENT from insurance!

FILING A NEED- MATERNITY:

Update: 4/1/15 You can read about our homebirth experience with Samaritan Ministries HERE.

Shortly after my TMJ need was taken care of last summer, I began racking up more bills for my current pregnancy. My husband and I knew we wanted to look into having a home birth (for a variety of reasons I’ll discuss in a later post,) but so far we are eligible to file for my prenatal appointments and ultrasounds (one for conception dating and the other for the twenty-week anatomy scan.)

One thing to note about Samaritan Ministries is that the $300 personal responsibility is waived if you chose home birth with a midwife as your birthing choice. I will go into much more detail once I actually file my need and after the baby is born in February. Until then, you can learn more from the SM Guidelines below. I highlighted the sections in blue that are particularly exciting for women who prefer unmedicated childbirth.

Taken from the Samaritan Ministries Guidelines:

In general, maternity needs include bills for prenatal care, delivery, postnatal care and miscarriage, and are treated like any other medical expense. There are specific Guidelines for types of maternity needs that are publishable (Section A) and the initial unpublished amount (Section B).

A. Maternity Needs that are Publishable

1. General Rule—Publishable maternity needs include bills for prenatal care, delivery, postnatal care, miscarriage, and congenital conditions.
Publishable services include those of doulas (up to $500), midwives, doctors, and/or nurse practitioners. There are special criteria for publishing needs of the child from genetic defects and hereditary diseases. See Section VIII.A.
2. Separate Needs—Bills for all pregnancy and birth-related complications of the mother will be published as a part of the maternity need. (Note from Cortney: meaning if you choose a hospital birth, you are only accountable to a one-time $300 responsibility.)Routine postnatal care of the child, including no more than one routine outpatient doctor visit, will be part of the mother’s maternity need.Any pre-birth need of the child or a post-birth need of the child beyond routine natal care will be considered a need separate from the mother’s maternity need. When there are complications (anything beyond routine natal care) from, or as a part of, a multi-child pregnancy, the expenses for each child will be considered a separate need. Exception: If a multi-child pregnancy is the result of the use of fertility drugs, in vitro fertilization, or other artificial means, all pregnancy and birth related complications of the children will be treated as one need.

3. Adopted Child—Medical expenses of the birth mother and an adopted child, for which the adopting parents are liable and which are publishable the same as other maternity needs, less any credit amount to which the member is entitled under the federal adoption income tax credit due solely to those medical expenses. However, any physical condition which the adopted child has prior to the adopting parents being legally responsible for the child’s expenses, or prior to his effective date within his parents’ membership, will be considered a “condition that existed before membership” under Section VII.

4. Early Publication—If a maternity care provider will reduce the normal charges if a member prepays some or all of the bill, we
will consider publishing the maternity need prior to the birth. The member must request an estimate and submit it with the Need
Processing Form. If the resulting bills are less than the pre-paid amount, the member must contact Member Services who will advise
where to send the surplus.
B. Initial Unpublishable Amount/Proration

1. Like any other need, only the portion of a maternity need that exceeds $300 will be eligible for publication. See VI.A.1 and 2.

2. Home Births—Home births have the initial unpublishable $300 waived and are not subject to prorating (see VI.D) because they
reduce overall maternity costs.

3. The initial unpublishable $300 is waived for a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC).
C. Limits on Maternity Needs for Pregnancies Beginning Prior to Membership

1. General Rule—If a member became pregnant prior to her membership, the amount that she is eligible to have published for her maternity needs from the pregnancy will be equal to the total amount the member has sent in monthly shares from the beginning
of her membership or from when added to an existing membership. The same amount will also be available for the child’s maternity
needs, which is limited to extra costs related to a premature birth. If a member terminates the membership or allows it to lapse for any reason, and later rejoins, the amount available for maternity needs will be calculated from the date of the most recent start of her membership.

2. Expenses Prior to Membership—Any maternity expenses that are incurred while the mother is not a member are not publishable
except as a Special Prayer Need.

3. Routine Maternity Expenses After Membership—All routine pre- and postnatal care of both the mother and child incurred on or after the effective date of membership will be publishable as part of the mother’s maternity need limit.

4. Complications and Conditions Through Birth—Any complication of the mother or baby which is treated, discovered, or produces
symptoms through birth, will be considered a condition that was evident prior to membership and the bills will not be publishable except as a Special Prayer Need, until the applicable waiting period has occurred. See VIII.A for genetic defects and hereditary diseases and VII.A and B for all other conditions.

5. Complications and Conditions After Birth —Any complication of the mother which first produces symptoms and is first discovered
after birth will be considered part of the mother’s publishable maternity need. Any complication to or defects in the child which first produces symptoms and is first discovered after birth, will be a regular need of the child’s if the child is a member at birth. See
Section II.D. However, all needs of a child related to a premature birth will be treated as a maternity need separate from the mother and subject to the special maternity publishing limit. See paragraph 6 below.

6. Premature Births—The publishable amount limit for the mother’s need is doubled for a baby born prematurely requiring extraordinary care. The premature baby’s maternity need publishing limit is not doubled.

The post One Year Update on My Experience with Samaritan Ministries (Non-Obamacare Healthcare Coverage/ Sharing) appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

For more information comparing Christian healthcare share ministries work and WHY they are better than traditional insurance, make sure to see yesterday’s post. I think that all three of the major Christian healthcare share ministries each have different strengths that will satisfy the needs of their individual members which is what I’m going to attempt to make simpler for you today.

COMPARING THE MOST POPULAR CHRISTIAN HEALTHCARE SHARE MINISTRIES:

Update 12/01/18: Please know that the prices on this post may have changed since its original posting. I will note updates when they occur, but please check with the individual ministries regarding current pricing. Also check out my update on FIVE years of membership with Samaritan Ministries HERE.

Medi-Share is by far the most heavily advertised of the three largest CHSM’s. My take on Medi-Share is that it is a great ministry for people who want a plan that functions more like traditional insurance and a more “hands off” approach in dealing with their medical decisions. Unlike the other two ministries, they negotiate your medical bills for you and work directly with your doctor which they prefer to be one of their “In-Network” providers. There is also a maximum “out of pocket” Annual Household Portion (for all total bills,) which may help some feel safer about monstrous medical disasters.

Office visits to their In-Network doctors are $35 and emergency room visits are $135. They also have no maximum amount that can be shared, and are slightly more lenient on preexisting conditions. Their application fee is $125 upon joining. They have a $1 million cap on your family’s medical bills.

The main reason we chose not to go with Medi-Share had to do greatly with their policy on alternative medicine and preference for In-Network, conventional doctors. They will only cover doctors who are licensed by the American Medical Association (AMA) and DO NOT cover any alternative cancer therapy or naturopaths, homeopaths, etc.

My other reason was simply cost. Medi-Share works on a system more like a high deductible insurance plan where you pay a certain amount of your choice called the “Annual Yearly Portion” FIRST before you can publish a need for reimbursement. This does NOT include office visits to their In-Network doctors or emergency room visits which are separate.

The lowest “Annual Yearly Portion” amount that my family was eligible for was $1,250 a year (comparable to a $1,250 year deductible in the insurance world for the whole family.) This choice would have required me to pay $720 a month for my family of four PLUS $1,250 in out of pocket expenses before we get any coverage for events that required more than an “In-network” doctor or emergency room visit. They do have a health incentive if you meet certain criteria for a 20% reduction in your monthly share. You can get a quote for Medi-Share’s costs HERE and read their guidelines HERE.

Overall it was more expensive than the other two and you had less freedom for which practitioners you could see.

Another Medi-Share review to check out HERE with excellent charts and comparisons.

Christian Healthcare Ministries is different from the other two ministries in that it offers a variety of membership levels to choose from depending on how much coverage you want. You can even choose different levels for different family members, which is a HUGE perk and gives each family plenty of options.

Their GOLD package is $150 monthly per person (unit) and includes maternity coverage (and will even cover home births) All medical bills are shared (paid) after bills TOTAL $500 per medical event.

Their Silver package is $85 per person (unit) per month and includes significantly less benefits than the gold with a $1,000 personal responsibility per unit AND per incident. 

The Bronze package is $45 a month per person (unit) with a $5,000 personal responsibility per unit, per incident and the same reduced benefits as the Silver plan. This is ideal for someone just looking or minimal coverage and catastrophic coverage and also satisfies the federal insurance mandate (if still in place) as a bonus.

The “Unit” system with CHM is a little difficult to understand at first, but it works this way so families can pick and choose individual plans for each member of the family. Any “units” (people) after 3 is NOT an additional charge, meaning a family of 3 people, 5, 10, or even 20 people would still be considered “3 units.”

There is no application or annual fee for CHM. They have a “Prayer Page” where members can give more to situations that don’t meet the guidelines for sharing such as pre existing conditions. There is a $125,000 share limit per incident, but you can sign up for their “Brother’s Keeper” program ($40 annual fee and up to a $150 monthly extra (for the Gold plan) or less for the silver and bronze plans which can give you to up to an unlimited amount in sharing coverage.

Similar to Medi-share, payment for your monthly share goes to headquarters rather than directly to another member (which you will see below in the Samaritan Ministries model). Payment for medical bills also comes from headquarters rather than other members.

The ONLY hard reason we did not go with Christian Healthcare Ministries was because they didn’t cover alternative physicians or therapies. I actually got to meet some of their representatives at the Catalyst Conference here in Atlanta and really enjoyed my talk with them. They didn’t pressure me to join and authentically shared how they really loved the ministry and their job with them.

You can view Christian Healthcare Ministries’ guidelines HERE and you can request more information at their website: CHMinistries.org. You can see their plans HERE.

Samaritan Ministries made our decision simple. I fell in love with their simplistic, personable, no-nonsense approach to truly bearing each others burdens. There was no “red tape” or complicated guidelines. I liked their transparency and I know this might sound weird to some of you, but I could feel their trust and love for Jesus through their clear and uncomplicated policies.

*** Update 12/2018: I have written a 5 YEAR update on our Samaritan Ministries with multiple examples of NEEDS we have filed over the years and how they were handled. You can read that HERE.

*** Update 8/1/15: If you are interested in seeing how to utilize Samaritan Ministries when you have a medical need, specifically a maternity/ home birth need (similar to a “claim” in the insurance world,) see my latest post: My Home Birth Experience with Samaritan Ministries.

This is how Samaritan Ministries works:

1. You join Samaritan Ministries by filling out an application (including approval from a church leader and acknowledgement of faith) along with the $200 application fee and first month’s “share” of $220 for one person, $305 for single-parent families, $400 for a married couple, or $495 for a family of 3 or more.  (updated in October, 2016) (See information about all plans.)

2. The first 3 months of your new membership, you’ll send your monthly share directly to the Samaritan Ministries headquarters. Each month after that, you will mail your “share” (like an insurance premium) to a fellow member who has a health care “need” (like an insurance claim,) or a medical bill to pay. You receive this information through a letter which lists their address and general condition that you can pray for. (So far I have sent my share and prayed for a man having intestinal problems and a woman with kidney stones.)

3. Also included on this letter is a “Special Prayer Need” request from families who have medical expenses not covered under the SM guidelines such as dental expenses and pre-existing conditions. You are encouraged to send a note of encouragement to these families and an extra amount of money if you are able.

When you need a medical bill paid:

1. When you have a medical bill to pay, you request a Need Processing Form from the SM office and return it completed along with the bills you need to pay.

Note: Medical needs under $300 are not publishable. These are considered to be feasible and should be planned for in the household budget. For bills beyond $300, it is important to know that you do NOT have to pay the first $300 of these bills if you ask for discounts from your doctor due to paying up front in cash. (You can see an example of how I did this HERE.) SM has an entire department dedicated to helping you do this and save the ministry money. Also- there is a three time limit on your $300 personal responsibility per family. After three incidents, the $300 is waived for any future incidents.

2. Within 60 days (on average), you will begin receiving Shares from other Samaritan Ministries members and will keep a checklist provided to you by the ministry to ensure you receive all shares assigned to you to pay your medical bill.

This may seem overly simple and old-school, but I just love how this works and feel so good each time we mail our check. I can’t say I ever felt this way about my monthly insurance bill!

A few other important points about Samaritan Ministries…

• SM has JUST rolled out an online system option to begin paying your “Shares” to others online. We are only in our second or third month of having this option, but I can already say it was a flawless transition in contrast to Obamacare rollout.
• I have heard from several people that there is faster processing of Needs (medical claims) with Samaritan Ministries due to direct sharing instead of sending it to the headquarters where they redistribute like with the other two ministries.
• If you negotiate your bills down for a price reduction (they have a department to help you with this process,) the money you save actually gets taken out of your $300 per incident responsibility, leaving you with less or no money to pay for your medical care.
• Standard coverage under SM is $250,000 per family and you can sign up for additional coverage by opting to “set aside” one month’s share and sending it when prompted to someone who has a need over $250,000. This is called Save to Share and you may or may not have to send that money depending on if they need you to. It has a $15 yearly fee to join plus the Share amount you put aside.
• Their membership admin fee is $200 plus your monthly share (which is what you pay every month thereafter.)

Samaritan Ministries and Alternative Cancer Therapy:

The strongest pull for Samaritan Ministries came from their friendliness towards alternative medicine and ALTERNATIVE CANCER THERAPIES. You need to call ahead to submit information regarding the costs of the alternative treatment versus the cost of the conventional and you can submit all of your bills for reimbursement. This is what they state in their Guidelines (pg. 24-25):

Regarding Alternative Cancer Treatment and Other Alternative Treatment:

OTHER EXCELLENT RESOURCES TO COMPARE CHRISTIAN HEALTHCARE SHARE MINISTRIES:

http://samaritanministries.info/samaritan-ministries-vs-christian-healthcare-ministries/

http://www.cchfreedom.org/word/Health_Care_Sharing_Ministry_Comparison.pdf

I hope you find this helpful in your decision making! If after reading this post, you choose Samaritan Ministries for your family, let them know Cortney Campbell at AntiCancerMom.com sent you. (:

***I learned a whole lot through this rigorous research process on Christian Healthcare Share Ministries, but if you believe you find a mistake in my research, please kindly let me know in the comments section of what that might be. I will gladly make it right. ***

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The post Alternatives to Insurance: Comparing Samaritan Ministries, Medi-Share, and Christian Healthcare Ministries appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

This is a question I get a ton: “Exactly how do health share plans work?” In this post I am breaking it all down and what I learned when I began my research 5 years ago. In the next post I compared the big three: Samaritan Ministries, Medi-Share, and Christian Healthcare Ministries. For now, read on to learn more about what it’s like to choose an alternative to traditional health insurance and why I began exploring this option for my family.

(This post was originally written in 2013)

So, while media outlets continue their bickering about their rejection or support of Obamacare, I stand confident in my family’s decision to avoid it altogether.

I’ve learned a lot about the Affordable Healthcare Act in my preparation for this post, but what I’ve understood mostly is that there is a lot of guessing going on about what exactly it will do in the long run.

This video here is the most informational and entertaining one that I found discussing the process of our new healthcare system. It does glorify the concept of government mandated health care, but if the conventional allopathic model of health care is what you subscribe to, you may be perfectly happy with what you are being forced to purchase.

If you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you probably know that Obamacare didn’t sit so well with me. I recently read an article from Whole Foods, CEO John Mackery that sums my beliefs up about Obamacare well. The more the government gets involved in running any aspect of my life, the more stirred up my crankiness gets about my individual freedoms.

I work really hard at preventative care for myself and my family. We eat a mostly organic plant-based diet with low sugar and clean meats. We take purposeful supplements daily and manage illness with self-care through natural medicine and avoidance of overly prescribed vaccinations. I treated my cancer naturally when diagnosed in 2008. And we are all thriving!

My family has chosen a different path to wellness and that is where we want to invest our money, certainly not in a program with a wellness philosophy we do not believe in.

HUZZAH! FOR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS!

Our First Amendment Constitutional rights are still being upheld to a degree, and that is how some of us can opt of of Obamacare.

You must know that if you are a professing Christian, you have the right to choose a Christian Healthcare Share Ministry and opt out of Obamacare. I’ve been researching for another option for my secular friends as well, but until I discover something please let me know if you come across anything helpful! (Update: See Liberty HealthShare for a secular take on health cost sharing.)

This is the official Affordable Healthcare Act wording from Senate Bill, H.R. 3590, pages 273-274

“In the case of an individual who is seeking an exemption certificate under section 1311(d)(4)(H) from any requirement or penalty imposed by section 5000A, the following information:

In the case of an individual seeking exemption based on the individual’s status as a
member of an exempt religious sect or division, as a member of a health care sharing ministry, as an Indian,
or as an individual eligible for a hardship exemption, such information as the Secretary shall prescribe.”

WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN HEALTH CARE SHARE MINISTRY?

The first thing you need to know about share ministries is that they are NOT insurance. Insurance is a legally binding relationship in which one party agrees to pay the expenses of another’s medical bills. Share Ministries rely on the supply and demand of members SHARING their income with each other through a monthly SHARE that you agree to, which of course requires an element of faith and trust in God’s provision. Even so, all three major ministries have excellent track records for continuous coverage of members’ medical bills.

The major three Christian Healthcare Share Ministries (Samaritan Ministries, Medi-Share, Christian Healthcare Ministries) all work in a similar way in that you agree to a certain amount each month that you “share” with other members and they share with you. In some cases this “share” (which is similar to a premium you pay to an insurance company) sets how much maximum coverage you can receive or how much you pay up front first (similar to a deductible) before the remaining expenses will be shared with you by other members.

When you have a medical “need” or bill that needs to be paid for, other people’s shares are allocated to pay for your need.

HOW DO CHRISTIAN HEALTHCARE SHARE MINISTRIES WORK?

Each CHSM organization works differently, but they all function within the same model of members “sharing” the cost or “bearing each others” health care burdens. (See Galatians 6:2)

Each month you pay the same amount you agree to as your “monthly share” (akin to a premium in the health insurance world.) Then that money is allotted to other members who have a need to pay a medical bill. Know that this process varies from ministry to ministry.

Samaritan Ministries works differently in that you send your monthly share DIRECTLY to another member.

Christian Healthcare Ministries and Medi-Share work in that you send your share to headquarters where they divvy it out to members in need.

The process generally works like this:

Say you get sick and need to go to the doctor. With most of the ministries, you can pick the doctor you already have and love (Medi-Share is picky here with “In-Network” doctors.) At some point during the visit, usually as soon as you check in, you tell them you are a “self-pay” patient and work out a billing schedule or pay up front. (In the case of Medi-Share’s In-Network providers, billing and payment will be taken care of by Medishare and you are not involved except for a $35 co-pay of sorts.)

After receiving care, you notify the CHSM that you are a member of and they decide according to their guidelines whether your “claim” meets the requirements for sharing and then reimburse you directly or send payment directly to the medical provider. Sometimes, as with surgical procedures or maternity care for instance, you will get these needs pre-approved and paid for before the event occurs.

Once your need is filed and approved, you are either reimbursed directly by the members who send checks to you (Samaritan Ministries,) or paid directly by the ministries (Medi-Share and Christian Healthcare Ministries.)

Also, an important note regarding well-visits, vaccinations and prescription for chronic illness. Policies of the three main healthcare ministries vary in this area. From my research, most consider well-visits something a family would need to budget for and are not included in the ministries’ coverage. Please inquire to each individual ministry for more information.

Regarding prescriptions for non-emergencies (those for chronic illness,) all three ministries offer programs for reduced prescription costs, but don’t cover recurring prescriptions within the plan. All prescriptions related to injury or emergency illness are covered for up to a certain amount of time.

Requirements for membership:

To keep cost down, members must agree to living within a biblical lifestyle model and must sign a statement of faith. Essentially by doing this, you agree that you understand that coverage EXCLUDES:

-alcohol or drug-related illness or injury

-pregnancies and births outside of marriage

-birth control and abortion

-treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and a few other things as well (see individual ministries for guidelines.)

Also, unlike Obamacare, each ministry has their own policies regarding preexisting conditions.

WHY DID I CHOOSE A CHRISTIAN HEALTHCARE SHARE MINISTRY?

Like most Americans, I didn’t understand how Obamacare worked until I sat down one night and started researching.

When my husband and I decided I would stop teaching to stay home with our two daughters, we knew we couldn’t afford independent health insurance, and since I was higher risk with a cancer history and of childbearing age, it was astronomical for private coverage. Obamacare could possibly have helped some of this, but it wasn’t rolled out yet, AND very little was known at the time (and still) about how that would affect our family’s health insurance situation.

Also being considered by us was our preference for natural medicine. I now know that Obamacare has made alternative doctors more accessible, but ONLY if your state provides licensing for those doctors (which Georgia does not.) But even so, there are a lot of unknowns to how easily this will be rolled out.

My main pushback to insurance in general was that none of the “health coverage” I prefered for my family would be covered under Obamacare (home birth, naturopathic doctor, alternative cancer treatment, etc.)

Even if we were interested in Obamacare, we would not have been able to get a quote from HealthCare.gov unless I registered my personal information to be evaluated by my income. THEN I would have been offered a price, most likely not subsidized (or given a significant price break by the government) because our income is more than 400% above the poverty line. See these charts to calculate your family’s subsidy status by income.

Through several people all around this same time, I began learning about Christian Health Care Share Ministries (CHSM’s.)

I decided quickly while researching the CHSM processes that I wanted my faith to be at the center of my healthcare, very much like it was when I was treating my cancer naturally.

I loved how prayer and dependence on conviction was at the forefront of these organizations. Also, membership costs of these ministries vary but are significantly lower than insurance plans under Obamacare, especially if your family is in the middle class tax bracket. It is also much easier to obtain coverage for alternative cancer therapies and doctors of YOUR choice.

Join me for the next post in this series, as I compare the three major Christian Healthcare Share Ministries.

The post How Do Health Share Plans Work? appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

Some exciting news on the Healing Strong front! Founder and Coordinator, Suzy Griswold will be joining Joni Cox, host of Homegrown Health on Natural News Radio TODAY, July 10th at 5pm EST. She will follow the very popular Robert Scott Bell show which airs weekdays from 3-5pm EST.

For all the “crunchy” parents out there, Homegrown Health is a weekly radio show that discusses topics dealing with everything home, family and natural living such as homebirth, breastfeeding, vaccine education, homeschooling, homesteading, home gardens, and many other “Home” related topics.

UPDATE: the show is now archived. You can listen to it HERE! Make sure to look for the July 10th show!

The post Healing Strong on Natural News Radio! appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

The post A DIFFERENT Kind of Cancer Charity appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.

This past Fall I received an email from Suzy Griswold, a holistic thyroid cancer survivor also living here in Atlanta. I was so excited to meet someone in-person with the same background/experience in cancer treatment I had! We met up over green tea in December when she shared with me her God-given desire to create a cancer retreat that would support/educate people about non-toxic therapies with all glory given to God.

I couldn’t have been more on board or excited at the prospect of bringing people together to learn about cancer therapies that would RESTORE and HEAL the body, all while praising the one who HEALS us!

Healing Strong Conference and Retreat: Atlanta September 13-15, 2013

Healing Strong 2013 is a faith-based retreat located near the heart of Atlanta, Georgia in a beautiful setting on the Chattahoochee River. Beginning on Friday evening, September 13th at 7:00, and continuing through Sunday, September 15th at noon, we will provide interactive, engaging sessions by board certified medical practitioners, nutritionists, naturopaths, best-selling authors and cancer researchers, along with testimonies of hope by cancer thrivers who have utilized non-toxic therapies.

Participants will have an opportunity to interact with our conference speakers in small group sessions, as well as engage in interactive discussions with our patient panelists. The entire weekend is devoted to helping you.

On Saturday evening, we will be offering a very special “Night of Worship” with live music, singing, prayer, and praise by very special guests. This is a weekend that touches a patient’s mind, body and soul. We can’t wait to meet you and share this experience with you.

Healing Strong is 100% driven by volunteers, all of whom have been impacted personally by cancer. From the kitchen angels who will be working with the retreat center to prepare healthy, delicious meals to the prayer team who have been meeting and praying together for months leading up to the event, to the volunteer fundraisers who are working behind the scenes, the hope of the team for Healing Strong is that each participant will walk away knowing they have been empowered in a manner that was loving and hope-filled.

You can register for the Healing Strong Conference and Retreat HERE and enter coupon code: Cortney2013 for $50 off!

Our List of Speakers include:

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Late last year I received a kind email from Dr. Judy Seeger who is a certified naturopath and founder of CancerCleanseCamp.com. She asked me if I would be willing to do a short radio interview, and since I had heard her interviews with other holistic survivors before, I gladly accepted.

In the interview I discuss the various methods of treatment I used to heal from my Stage II NLP Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, the importance of my faith, and also my life post-cancer. You can listen to the interview HERE.

Dr. Seeger would definitely be a terrific option for many of you to work with if you have been diagnosed with cancer and are looking for an alternative, non-toxic route for treatment. I especially appreciate her strong belief in the emotional- spiritual connection within the healing process that can tend to be over-shadowed by nutrition-only approaches. Thank you so much for your expertise and boldness, Dr. Seeger!

The post My Interview with Dr. Judy Seeger appeared first on Anti-Cancer Mom.