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Aggieland | Wife and I are fed up with insurance and have decided to give one of these Christian based alternatives. God has blessed us tremendously this year and we now have enough cash in savings that we can afford to pay typical medical bills out of pocket and wait to be reimbursed. We have several friends with Samaritans and they speak highly of it, they do say its a lot of paperwork though. The aspect I like the most about it is that its paid between members and creates a sense of community. When our friend had their baby she said they received several cards and notes congratulating them on their baby. I read into the Christian health care ministry and it sounds good but it seems to have a lot of layers that require compensation. I'm more inclined to choose the one that has less overhead and promotes the Christian community more. The big difference I see between the two is on Samaritans you pay the bill with cash and negotiate as good a deal as you can and then submit it to them, they then verify it was paid and send out your need to other members and the members mail you a check directly, you then in turn fill out a form that you did receive the payments. Christian Health seems more like an insurance company, you negotiate all the possible discounts, submit your bill, they make sure you really tried to get discounts, then they approve, then they send you a check. Said it takes up to 120 days, in my experience most doctors have already sent it to collection after about 90 days. Also the whole point of cash discounts is that I pay you today, no more paperwork for them or me, give me a receipt as I walk out and the Dr puts my file back in its drawer and doesn't touch it again til my next visit. I'm just looking for advice from people that have either. Our insurance for a young family of 4 has been $1,150 a month w/$1000 deductible is going to $1350 a month w/$6000 deductible, 80/20coverage. I can pay cash for a childbirth and come out cheaper than the deductible I think, we talked to the pediatrician yesterday and shots are $5 cash with a $100 office visit, seems pretty fair to me. I charge $80/hr to work on your AC and dont have the overhead they do! Thanks for reading and for your opinions.
Caleb | |
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Christain Health Care or Samaritans?
