Written By Yvonne Mitto
I have found the fear of losing employer-based health benefits is one of the biggest deterrents for Christians who want to devote their lives to ministry.
This is a valid concern, but the idea of something like benefits preventing someone from following God’s calling for his or her life saddens me. When faced with this choice, I decided this wouldn’t be me.
When I transitioned from my former employer to Compass-finances God’s way, I left a ministry that had benefits for one that did not. I wondered how my family’s healthcare would be provided for. With the cost of healthcare on the rise, it was something I thought long and hard about before changing jobs.
One conversation with a trusted friend alleviated all my worry and concern. This friend operated his own business and had children around the same age as mine. I knew he was an educated individual, so I reasoned that he must know a secret to finding healthcare outside the safety net of an employer.
His answer? Medi-Share. This faith-based healthcare plan, where Christians share in the cost of each other’s medical bills, wasn’t new to me. I had known others who were members. But here was my friend, an independent business owner, who had been a member of Medi-Share for eight years. This was all the proof I needed. If he’d chosen this route, it had to work, so I checked it out.
Today I am proud to say I am a member of Medi-Share. I really appreciate that Medi-Share prays and genuinely cares for me. Recently, my son injured himself playing soccer. Not only did Medi-Share members pray for him, but they also shared the cost of his surgery while Medi-Share helped us navigate the process seamlessly. During my sinus surgery last year, I felt so much peace knowing that not only were members eager to help by sharing in my bills, but they were praying for me too. Medi-Share has continually come through for my family during our times of need. I couldn’t ask for a better blessing. This is a great example of what a Christian community should be.
It’s sad that many people forgo opportunities to serve God because they fear the difficulty of finding affordable and manageable healthcare options. Medi-Share is one of the best-kept secrets, but it shouldn’t be. I wish everyone knew about this amazing program and what it has done for my family. It feels good to say that nothing held me back from following my calling. Healthcare shouldn’t be holding you back from yours either. I highly encourage anyone looking for affordable healthcare to check out the faith-based healthcare sharing program Medi-Share. It is definitely worthwhile investment.
About the Author: Yvonne Mitto is the executive director of Compass –New England, an affiliate of Compass-finances God’s way and has been a Medi-Share member since 2010, a healthcare sharing organization whose members have shared $465 million in financial resources to pay one another’s medical expenses since its founding in 1993.
About Medi-Share: Members of one healthcare sharing organization, Medi-Share, have saved an average of 32 percent for individuals and 47 percent for families per year when compared to paying an insurance premium. Medi-Share offers more than just a way for people to share each other’s medical expenses. It is a community of Christians who come together to encourage one another, share health/wellness tips and promote healthy living. And, Medi-Share members see it as a benefit that their dollars are not used for tests and procedures against their faith as they would be by an insurance company.
Medi-Share is a great idea.
The only problem I have with it is that it shares the cost of strapping down people and then cutting off the most sensitive part of their genitals without medical reason, and most often without anesthesia. This is most often called “circumcision”. As long as they are under 30 days old and male, Medi-Share will share the cost of it.
Fortunately, they are reconsidering this policy. Even if one doesn’t agree with the value I place on the human right of genital integrity and bodily autonomy, certainly circumcision is a waste of valuable financial resources. Members, please write Medi-Share and tell them that you would like them to stop sharing the cost of genital cutting.
Medi-share is indeed a unique program for providing assistance with medical care, but unlike health insurance programs this route uses blatant discrimination to prevent certain individuals from benefiting from its service. Mychristiancare.org specifically points out that only those engaging in sexual intercourse within a “Christian” marriage are allowed to join. This immediately eliminates gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals from enrolling in Medi-share. The program also places limits on services it covers based upon religious beliefs and states specifically that abortions will not be covered under any circumstance.
To be clear, Medi-share is not an insurance program. Medi-share operates as a non-profit group and while members pay into a group fund each month, the money is never Medi-share’s money. Furthermore, Medi-share is not required to pay any bill, nor keep cash reserves on hand. Ref:http://www.newsonhealthcare.com/the-ins-and-outs-of-medi-share/