12/14/18 I am popping back here to share that since writing this post, we have had two ER visits & one hospital admission that lasted two nights. After those experiences, we love Samaritan even more! We ended up paying $0 for those hospital visits because our discount was more than the $300 we were responsible for. (Click that link to see what the bills actually were!) Can you even imagine that happening with standard health insurance? Um, no. I know for sure because we have had multiple babies born on standard insurance...multiple NICU stays....multiple hospital stays. We paid thousands upon thousands of dollars PLUS our monthly premium that was high. Samaritan was a HUGE blessing to us. We are more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
I am also going to add a couple of questions with answers that people have asked me often to the bottom of this post.
We have received a LOT of questions lately about our decision to switch to a health sharing plan this year. I hope this will answer some of your questions. Please feel free to email us or comment if you have more questions!
We are SO thankful for Samaritan Ministries & the blessing it has been to our family. At the end of last year, we received our new insurance rates & were shocked. We were going to have to pay over $1200 per month for our health insurance for our family of six. We still would have a high deductible & have more medical expenses. After much searching, studying, & praying, we switched to Samaritan in January & cannot be more pleased. We pay $500ish per month for our family of SIX & any illness/injury over $300 is covered. We have the coverage for a family & we also are enrolled in "Save to Share." That is basically like catastrophic coverage, so there is no limit to what they will cover. I was VERY nervous about the medical expenses we would be responsible for, but after almost a year of experience, we are so pleased. I called our pediatrician's office before we switched & asked for the CASH or self-pay prices for every well visit & vaccine we would have this year. The most we have paid is $179. I do know that doctor's charges vary, so be sure you check around for prices! Even when we pay for our kids' well visits/vaccines, it still is cheaper than us paying that ridiculous amount for insurance.
We have had a couple of sick visits this year as well. Our pediatrician charges $89 for the visit plus any tests needed. Even if we had a sick visit/event every month & had to pay the $300 we are responsible for, it would still be cheaper for us! Wesley had some places removed at the dermatologist this year & that was over $300. We have submitted our bills and are waiting now for our reimbursements from Samaritan members. When you have an event that is over $300, any discount that you are able to get from the provider counts towards the $300 you are responsible for too.
Prescriptions are not covered, but the cash price for prescriptions (& for your actual doctor bills) will surprise you. Of course, we have a pharmacy connection since Wesley IS a pharmacist, but check with your local, independent pharmacies & see what they can do about your prescription costs. Most are cheaper than you would expect.
It qualifies under the "Affordable Care Act" so we don't have to pay the penalty for not having health insurance too. Each month, you send your share (money) to an actual person who had a medical expense. They also send a monthly prayer list of people who have had an illness/injury, death, birth, or are expecting a baby. There are addresses included for the deaths/births, so we are sure to send a card (& info on The Light Network!). This is a great opportunity to share info on the church with others too.
If you have questions, let me know. AND, if you do sign up, we would LOVE for you to list us as your referral (although the referral credit has changed since I wrote this post originally, we still get $100 off of one month for referring someone). There are several different groups like this (Christian Healthcare Ministries, Medishare, etc), so see which one works best for you & go with that! I know what a burden health insurance can be, so I hope this will be helpful for you!
Samaritan membership costs
How Medical Needs are Shared
Samaritan Guidelines-How it all works (preexisting conditions, etc.)
What about dental/vision coverage? Dental & vision are not covered. We have a private dental plan from BCBS for our family. It costs around $90/month for us. I have seen through paperwork we receive from Samaritan where they send out info on people who had dental work done & since it is not covered, they provide the peoples' information so you can send money if you would like to. So, there is that option that you may be able to get some money back for dental coverage that way.
Do you pay the hospital/doctor bills & get reimbursed? Yes. Sort of. We have an emergency savings account that we can use if needed. What we did is filed the bills with Samaritan immediately upon receiving them in the mail. I even called the hospital as soon as we got home & asked for itemized bills because that is what we have to have to submit to SMI. The process takes maybe a month to get your needs published (assigned to other members to send you money). You can pay them & just be reimbursed when you receive the shares from other members, wait to pay them, or set them up on very small payment plans (usually no interest) & pay the remainder when you receive the shares.
How do we list you as a referral? Just give them our names (Wesley & Denise Skelton) when you sign up. We would be ever so grateful! (The credit amount has changed since I posted this article/picture. It is now $100 instead of $180, but every little bit helps! Please know we would recommend this even if we didn't get credit!)
Something else I would like to share that I didn't mention before is that we have this awesome opportunity to share the love of Christ with others, to encourage them & share information about the church with them each month. Samaritan sends out a prayer guide with addresses of people who have suffered a loss or are had a new baby. In addition to the people we send our shares to (with a note of encouragement), I try to send notes to them as well!
Any more questions? Just contact us on Facebook, through email, text me, or comment here & I can contact you!
