Quit Obamacare And Build Your Own Mutual Aid Organization

From FEE.org (Sept. 14):

A better way to manage health care costs without the federal government’s involvement is for us to do it ourselves through mutual aid. The mutual aid model has been around for decades in the form of health care sharing ministries (HCSMs). HCSMs are not-for-profit religious organizations that act as clearinghouses for people with similar strong beliefs and who wish to share their medical expenses with each other. HCSMs organize the efforts of their participants by funneling grassroots financial support towards those participants who incur medical expenses.

The most important thing people need to understand about HCSMs is that they are NOT insurance. Whereas the relationship between a policyholder and an insurance company is contractual, the relationship within an HCSM is a covenantal agreement between individual participants.

How My HCSM Works

Each month, the HCSM publishes a newsletter that it distributes to all participants. The newsletter lists participants who have incurred legitimate medical expenses, and it directs other participants to send a previously agreed-upon amount of money to those with medical expenses. Gift givers are also encouraged to pray for those to whom they send money.

Recipients are given a list of participants the HCSM has assigned to send them money, and when they receive it, they cross that gift giver’s name off the list. Assigned gift givers who are late in sending funds are reported to the HCSM, who will remind them of their commitment. If they still don’t send the gifts they agreed to, they get dropped from the program.

There are no financial reserves, no legal protections, and no lawsuits; there are only thousands of participants helping each other with medical expenses, organized by an HCSM. Eleven months per year, gifts are sent to participants and one month per year, a gift is sent to the HCSM to cover the costs of running the organization. The overhead cost of the program is only 8.3%, which is significantly less than the 20% of overhead expenses and profit insurance companies are allowed under Obamacare.

Most HCSMs hold strict lifestyle and moral guidelines for participation: no tobacco, drug use, sex outside of marriage, and only moderate alcohol use. Some require overweight participants to demonstrate good faith efforts and progress towards losing weight. All participants are ultimately responsible for paying their medical bills, and participants are expected to negotiate lower fees from their health care providers before submitting a medical share need to the HCSM.

HCSMs don’t pay for preventive care; mammograms, pap smears, and annual physical exams; all these services are paid for by the participants themselves. Most HCSMs (but not all) require members to be active church attendees, and several require a pastor’s signature verifying a participant’s commitment to the HCSMs lifestyle and faith obligations. With that said, there is no reason (other than political) why people of different worldviews and values couldn’t organize their own health care sharing programs around common values and needs.  [read more]

Another good idea that the Obamacare designers never thought of. Then again the designers wants the citizens dependent on the gov’t for their healthcare.