Samaritan Ministries Pyramd Scheme News-Worthy?
Question by eelai000: Samaritan Ministries Pyramd Scheme News-Worthy?
Samaritan Ministries International is an alternative insurance company where you have to pay for your health care yourself and for $ 285 a year you can ask the other members to re-inburse you. One of the catches is that your medical business is reported in their weekly newsletter, drug rehab is not paid for and neither are out of wed-lock pregnancies. Really, your condition needs to be worthy before someone might help you pay for it.
For example, cancer treatment might seem like a more worthy cause, so most people will intuitively help pay for that and overlook your need to go to the dentist.
And there is not government oversight and you have to sign a waiver so you cannot sue then for any reason.
I don’t know what they spend that $ 285 on, considering the members are the ones who pay the bills. On the surface, it seems approachable, but the more you look into it the more you think it is a scam. It’s set-up like a run of the mill pyramid scheme.
They claim they are not an insurance company, and I guess they are right. So, why would I pay them $ 285 a year to pay my medical bills myself?
And why haven’t I seen any news coverage on this? Bernie Maddoff was a popular story, but this is ignored even though they lobbied and succeeded to get an exempt status from the new health-care bill.
Best answer:
Answer by Mike Miller, SMI staff
No, Samaritan Ministries International (http://www.samaritanministries.org) is not a scam. We’re a health care sharing ministry with more than 14,400 households as members, who live in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and several U.S. territories. We have operated as a not-for-profit entity for nearly 16 years. We share among our members an average of $ 3 million per month in medical needs.
The cost of being a Samaritan member household is $ 170 per year, which helps us pay for our operating expenses and salaries. All of a member’s shares are sent directly to another member, meaning you don’t have to pay for a lot of expensive overhead like insurance companies require you to do. Monthly shares, depending on the size of your household and your age (those under 25 and over 65 get discounts), range from $ 99 to $ 320.
As long as a member’s need meets the Guidelines which all members have agreed to, it will be shared. The sharing is coordinated so all approved needs are met. Again, the money is not sent to our office, it is sent directly from member to member.
As for divulging the medical situations of members, the members whose needs are being published (monthly, not weekly) write the descriptions of the needs themselves. However, when they submit a need to be published, they also are granting permission for others to know they have a need. We believe, based on feedback from our members, that prayer is the most important part of the ministry. Those with needs want other people praying for them. For that to happen, people need to know how to pray for them.
We do not share needs for expenses such as those for abortion. Members also agree to abstain from sexual activity outside Biblical marriage, illegal drug use, alcohol abuse and tobacco use. That’s one of the attractions for our members–that they will not have to pay for the consequences of unbiblical lifestyles.
There is no “government oversight” of HCSMs as insurance because we aren’t insurance and make that very clear up front to prospective members. However, we are a 501(c)3 charity, so we’re subject to the same Internal Revenue Service and state regulations as any other charity. If we were a pyramid scheme, it would have come out through that oversight.
Our members pay cash for their services. Needs are processed and published within 30-60 days from the receipt of your bills and necessary forms. Members assigned to another member’s need then send them their monthly share. Because our members pay cash in a timely manner, providers are often willing to give our members significant discounts.
As for members agreeing not to sue Samaritan, there are provisions in our Guidelines for members to bring disagreements between them and the ministry to a panel of peer members. The decision of that panel binds both parties. That process is a lot cheaper, friendlier and faster than taking somebody to court. (Wouldn’t you like being able to bind a health insurance company to a ruling made by a group of fellow insured people?) This approach is also taken because Scripture instructs Christians not to take other Christians to civil court (1 Corinthians 6:1-10), but to resolve the matter within the Church.
Finally, the reason you haven’t seen any reports that we are a pyramid scheme is that we aren’t. Again, health care sharing ministries are legal and, in 11 states, recognized and protected by law from being regulated as insurance companies.
Add your own answer in the comments!
2012 Clemens Lecture – Fiscal Therapy: A Rehab Plan for America’s Addiction to Debt – William G. Gale who holds the Miller Chair in Federal Economic Policy of The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC Title of Lecture: “Fiscal Therapy: A Rehab Plan for America’s Addiction to Debt.”