Christian Healthcare Ministries health cost sharing is an amazing alternative to traditional health insurance for self-employed and individuals and families, as well as for early retirees – especially if you travel a lot, don’t qualify for an ACA health insurance subsidy or don’t have employer provided insurance. It is also great as an inexpensive medicare supplement.
There is a lot of information online about Christian Healthcare Ministries health cost sharing, some accurate, some not so much. This Christian Healthcare Ministries information website is an attempt to give you the accurate information to help you understand what CHM is, how it works, and even discuss some possible negatives. If this website is helpful and you choose to join CHM, please use our link to request or download an information packet. It will cost you nothing and it will help us cover the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.
Our examples speak about the Christian Healthcare Ministries health cost sharing “gold” plan with “brother’s keeper”, because that is what we are familiar with. There are even less expensive “silver” and “bronze” membership levels that have less coverage. We are generalizing a little bit to make this easy to understand, so please keep that in mind. We hope this will be helpful for you. This site is a work-in-progress – we will add more information as questions come up.
What is Christian Healthcare Ministries health cost sharing (CHM)?
Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) membership works pretty much just like health insurance but with several additional benefits.
CHM is a truly nonprofit health cost sharing ministry for Christians who voluntarily share each other’s medical bills and is an alternative to traditional health insurance for covering all your medical costs. Cost sharing programs are grandfathered-in plans that count for the ACA (Obamacare) requirement for health insurance but cost MUCH less – especially if you are self-employed, travel a lot, or don’t qualify for an ACA subsidy. Most families who join Christian Healthcare Ministries save well over $10,000 a year compared to their traditional health insurance options – with better coverage! Christian Healthcare Ministries health cost sharing non-profit only has an overhead of about 10%, so the costs are extremely low compared to more traditional health insurance companies. CHM has over half a million members sharing each other’s expenses. In the last 40 years, CHM has processed over $10 billion dollars ($10,000,000,000) of eligible medical bills (before discounts).
If you qualify, and understand the very reasonable requirements and limits, Christian Healthcare Ministries cost sharing can be an amazing option, both in terms of cost savings and benefits.
What does Christian Healthcare Ministries cost?
CHM gold plan membership is full “insurance style” gold plan coverage for $240 per month per person plus $27 per person per month for “CHM Plus” unlimited coverage. It is cost sharing, not insurance, but it works in the same way. The most a full family pays is $801 per month, or $534 for a single parent and any number of children – plus brother’s keeper. There is a $1,000 per person out-of-pocket, and after that, all incidents over $1,000 are paid 100%
Are you 65? Their SeniorShare plan works like a Medicare supplement plan but is only $115 a month – again, way cheaper than traditional Medicare supplement plans, but offering so much more – no copay or deductible on incidents over $1,000 after a $1,000 out-of-pocket per year, and coverage anywhere in the world.
For example, a couple may have been paying Blue Cross $14,000 in premiums a year and had a $10,000 family deductible. With Christian Healthcare Ministries cost sharing, the cost is ~$6,400 a year for two people ($240 x 2 x 12, +$27 x 2 x 12,), and any “incident” over $1,000 is 100% shared and 100% reimbursed (after your $1,000 per person out-of-pocket), no “copay”, no “deductible”.
After the $1,000 per person out-of-pocket, there is no individual or family deductible and no copay if your “incident” is over $1,000. You do pay for any incident under $1,000. Meaning if you hurt your leg as an “incident”, the hospital visit, x-rays, a cast, doctor costs, pain meds and follow-up visits are one incident, and if the total of all those costs is over $1,000 CHM, shares (reimburses) 100% (if you have already covered your $1,000 per year out-of-pocket). (If it is under $1,000, it is not shared, but you can still ask for and normally receive a hefty discount).
You can use any doctor, any hospital any location, anywhere in the world with no pre-approval needed – choose the best doctors and hospitals for your health issue, get second opinions of you want, no referrals needed, you are totally able to control your own healthcare. Also, telemedicine visits with their licensed physicians are included at no cost.
You pay providers and get reimbursed, so you need to pay the provider via check or credit card – or get on each provider’s “payment plan” and pay it in full when Christian Healthcare Ministries cost sharing sends you the full reimbursement check in 90 days.
Recently some health cost sharing organizations have shown to have really questionable practices. Christian Healthcare Ministries cost sharing stands alone in integrity and living up to every promise. CHM has shared over eight billion dollars of medical bills (before discounts). There are half a million members sharing each others’ bills. The rules for bill sharing are extremely clearly laid out. Monthly “premiums” have only increased by 25% total in more than 14 years. It is a very well established and respected non-profit organization with a 10% overhead. It has an A+ BBB rating. You can confidently join CHM knowing your health incidents will be taken care of as long as you are a member, no matter how extensive or expensive.
We have included pages about how Christian Healthcare Ministries health cost sharing works, and the “advantages” and “requirements & limits“. We have a page with short (and longer) videos explaining CHM. We also have the complete CHM guidelines available for review here: CHM-Guidelines-v2.2024 (current as of 1-13-2024). Please explore these pages if you are interested in learning more.
Would you mind helping us keep this website going at no cost to you? We created this website to help people looking for summarized information about Christian Healthcare Ministries, and our family pays all the costs associated with hosting the site and keeping it updated. If this website has been helpful to you, we’d be grateful if you would help keep it “on the air” by simply using our link to request or download an information packet from CHM. If you use our link and then choose to join CHM, our family will receive a discounted month – and it will cost you nothing. Thank you so much!