West of Lincoln a little bit | We have enjoyed being Samaritan members. They share for drug costs for the incident, but not long term meds past 4 months (but cancer treatment meds they do share long term, that's different). We use a free coupon type service that tells us where to find the cheapest price. Our costs so far are less than our copay was, but I know that won't always be true. So far it's very manageable and still cheaper than insurance.
We had to think about it before joining, it is a leap of faith. We are uninsured by being members, but we get our cash pay discount and move on. Clinics love us, much less paperwork for them and we pay our bills. Insurance had gotten to the point where they were too much of a pain in the a$$ and if we needed to use it we would be broke. Premiums out of control, deductibles unbearable, and then a huge risk of denial and a fight with them. An hour's wait time on the phone, hair pulling, fist banging, just not worth it. The ministries were a great alternative for us and seemed more logical. And they're really nice and don't have long wait times. No more free checkups, but so what? That costs $150. We save more than $500 a month in premiums!! I wish they could do more with pre-existings, but there's only so much money to go around. In fact many of those ministries have programs to help pay for the pre-existings by donation. We figured it's something at least and better than nothing when you're choosing between bankrupting premiums/deductibles or going with nothing. We contribute to that donation thing every month.
They deal with the big stuff too. Cancers, heart stuff, long term things, or short term scary things. If anyone is interested there are videos at www.mysamaritanstory.org that Samaritan Ministries put out. Pretty powerful and a good explanation of how it works from the members point of view. They have been around 30 years (Samaritan 20), and still going strong. That speaks a lot to us. Perfect? no. A great answer for many? yes. I know all the ministries are growing very rapidly. That tells me they are serving a need and helping. I love reading the letters from members in our newsletter each month. Real people getting all their bills paid without insurance. I like sending our monthly check direct to a family and praying for them. Helps me think of others before myself. If you are considering it (anyone reading) call them... all of them. Ask them your questions. You may be surprised at what you find. |
Health ins???
