Biblical Community

Recently my husband and I have been talking about our health insurance. We are blessed to receive health insurance through is company and compared to most they really take care of us. The company covers a large portion of managements premiums.  We are thankful for their generosity.

But, we've been considering our need for health insurance in the typical way.  We don't like so many things about it. Paying monthly only to pay more when we need the coverage (co-pays), deductibles, minimums, maximums, conventional medicine, etc. It is all just a little OTT for me.

I've talked in the past about our divergence to conventional medicine. Trying to steer clear of as many antibiotics, prescriptions, medicines, and body part removal therapies as possible.  See my blog on Vaccines here.  Recently we added regular, weekly chiropractic care for our whole family to our health regiment. 

Chiropractic care simply give credit to the fact that God created the spine and the spinal cord and brain as the life source for the body. Everything functions based upon the spine and the brains ability to communicate properly with the body.  All of our nerves which are the communicators, come from the spine outward.  If the communicators are getting the proper signal then the rest of the body can do its functions to their best ability.

So we are seen regularly to keep our spines and our nerves in positive communication.  I'm not talking about a chiropractic doctor that takes five minutes, cracks your neck and takes your $40.  Dr. Dan takes x-rays, does a diagnostic for subluxations (interference to the nervous system due to spinal twisting), discusses concerns regarding your health, etc. Then you are set up on a payment plan for treatment for, hopefully, your whole family. Once you've begun your treatment plan the goal is wellness. The wellness plan then reduces your monthly cost while your whole family can still visit the chiropractor weekly or whenever they need (getting sick, fall, etc.) with no visit fee.


WE LOVE IT!

Since seeing the chiropractor our whole family has been able to avoid the rampant sickness that has been going around this winter.  We've had some sniffles, a fever for half a day fighting off the bug, then back to normal without missing a beat. It has been incredible.

Well the plan to see the chiropractor did take some prioritizing financially which got us thinking about how often we visit a traditional doctor and really how much we spend on medical each month/year.  It really is low.  We don't vaccinate so we avoid spending co-pays on well visits etc.  Ear infections are treated, most of the time, with garlic or vinegar.  We use probiotics to keep the kids guts healthy and their immune system strong.  When we feel the sickies coming on we try and clear it out with colostrum pills/powder, garlic, and chamomile tea.

So as you can imagine we realized the health insurance might not be what we really need.  What we really need is catastrophic insurance and to be a cash paying customer the rest of the time.  Cash paying customers really do get discounts on the services and the cost is much reduced.

We could save our monthly health insurance cost and put the money towards things we really need it for.  Sounds good to me, where can we do that?

Actually we found THE BEST place.

Samaritans Ministries.  Oh My Gosh. I can't believe I didn't know about this before. But, God is faithful and he planned for us to hear about it now and in this time and place. So I am so excited.

I'll try and give a quick run down but you should check it out yourself. 

SM was started in 1994 and is now made up of more than 15,000 families. Coming from Galatians 6 where families ought to bare their own burdens and those of their Christian brothers, SM provides a unique opportunity to bless others while also being blessed in return when the need arises.

We ought not rely on the government and organizations that give thousands to companies who support abortion, conventional medicine, etc. such as modern insurance companies.  We should be taking care of one another and the needs of His church within the church body.  Therefore SM works in a unique way to fulfill the biblical model of community.

You pay some registration fees up front to get set up with SM.  Then monthly you are responsible for your medical needs that are less than $300.  Dr. visits, stitches, prescriptions, etc. that fall under the $300 threshhold.  If you have a bill or estimated cost of care that exceeds the $300 your notify SM.  They then notify, via their monthly newsletter, the thousands of participants they have.  Participants then send their monthly cost ($320) to you to cover your costs until your bill is paid.  In this case you do not have to first pay the $300 of your bill yourself. The whole bill is covered by participants.
Likewise, monthly you receive the newsletter telling you, as a participant, where to send your monthly cost ($320) and to whom it will bless for their medical bills.

Each month you will pay $320 to someone somewhere to cover medical cost.  But, when the need arises, pregnancy, surgery, ER visit that exceeds $300, Midwives, Home Birth, etc...you will receive the money to cover your costs and pay your bill.

Doesn't that sound awesome...

It totally eliminates all the paid months you give to an insurance company in which the funds are unused by you but used by the Insurance companies for constintuent payments, donations, business, etc. Insurance is a billion dollar business you know?
Instead you know your money is aiding and assisting someone in the body of Christ, His church, with their personal and family needs.  SO AWESOME.

I'm of course not sure exactly how it will all come out in the end considering we are not yet signed up and haven't experienced it first hand. But, I've read many reivews and visited their website...I'm sold!

A most excellent review and informative discussion can be found here: Generation Cedar