Understanding

Researched Provided By David P. Schaeffer, CSA  

So here we are... Most counties in the United States are with less than three insurance companies’ choices. Those Americans that need insurance most, are forced to get a plan without their doctors at costs they cannot possibly afford. Perhaps we need to look at alternatives! Desperate times call for desperate measures. We cannot endorse any of the faith based ministries enclosed in this guide. But I see no other option for many folks under the age of 65 that need to buy individual health insurance. What is a faith based health ministry? According to Wikipedia: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_sharing_ministry) “A health care sharing ministry is an organization that facilitates sharing of health care costs between individual members who have common ethical or religious beliefs in the United States. A health care sharing ministry does not use actuaries, does not accept risk or make guarantees, and does not purchase reinsurance polices on behalf of its members. Members of health care sharing ministries are exempt from the individual responsibility requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare. This means members of health care sharing ministries are not required to have insurance as outlined in the individual mandate. According to www.healthcaresharing.org, an alliance of the two largest ministries in the US, over 400,000 Americans participate in health care sharing in 2015, sharing more than $340 million in medical bills annually. A January 2015 op-ed in the New York Times stated that the four main healthcare ministries in the US have a total combined membership of about 340,000, saying that membership has grown recently because of their exemption to the insurance mandate of the Affordable Care Act. The monthly cost of membership in a health care sharing ministry is generally lower than the cost of insurance rates. Some of the larger health care sharing ministries are: (Links and phone numbers included later in article)

•   Christian Healthcare Ministries
•   Medi-Share, a program of Christian Care Ministry Samaritan Ministries
•   Liberty HealthShare, Gospel Light Mennonite Church Medical Aid Plan, Inc
•   MCS Medical Cost Sharing
•   Altrua HealthShare

Most ministries are oriented toward practicing Christians, with restrictions like abstaining from sex outside of marriage, excessive drinking, tobacco, and illegal drugs. They usually require members to make a statement of belief as well. For instance Samaritan Ministries requires a statement of Christian faith including belief in the triune God and divinity of Jesus; Liberty HealthShare is more inclusive, accepting members with a wide variety of religious and ethical beliefs. All such ministries require that members subscribe to the ethical principles of individually responsibility for health, and helping others in need. Tax penalties under the Affordable Care Act In order for members to be exempt from the tax penalties outlined in the Affordable Care Act, ministries must meet the following qualifications:

•   Must be a 501(c)(3) organization
•   Members must share common ethical or religious beliefs
•   Must not discriminate membership based on state of residence or employment
•   Members cannot lose membership due to development of a medical condition
•   Must have existed and been in practice continually since December 31, 1999
•   Must be subject to an annual audit by an independent CPA which must be publicly availableupon requestFour ministries that meet these qualifications are: Christian Healthcare Ministries, Liberty HealthShare, Samaritan Ministries, and Medi-Share. MCS Medical Cost Sharing, founded after 1999, does not meet the qualifications, but offers to pay the tax penalties incurred by members. Altrua HealthShare, though founded in March 2000 three months after the December 1999 cutoff, has been approved as a health sharing ministry that qualifies members for the penalty exemption.Though federal health care law requires U.S. citizens to have health insurance or a health cost sharing ministry like CHM, you may be interested to know that CHM doesn’t have an open enrollment period. You, your spouse, or your dependent children can enroll in CHM anytime during the year Health care sharing satisfies the Federal health care law’s (Affordable Care Act) requirement that individuals purchase insurance or pay a penalty-tax. If people join in the middle of a year however, they may be required to pay a prorated tax-penalty for the months that they and members of their household were not participating in a health care sharing ministry or uninsured. From the Wall Street Journal: “The ministries operate outside the insurance system and aren’t regulated by states, provide a health- care cost-sharing arrangement among people with similarly held beliefs. Their membership growth has been spurred by an Affordable Care Act provision allowing participants in eligible ministries to avoid fines for not buying insurance. Ministry officials say they aren’t offering insurance, don’t guarantee claims will be paid, and don’t need to be regulated. The nonprofits are well managed, according to ministry officials, with third-party audits and a sterling history of sharing members’ claims.”

From our Google search: www.chministries.org Christian Healthcare Ministries 127 Hazelwood Ave. Barberton, OH 44203-1316 800-791-6225   www.mychristiancare.org/medi-share Medi-Share P.O. Box 120099 Melbourne, FL 32912 (800) 772-5623   www.samaritanministries.org Samaritan Ministries 6000 N. Forest Park Drive Peoria, IL 61614 (877) 764-2426   www.altruahealthshare.org Altrua HealthShare PO Box 90849 Austin, TX 78709-0849 888-244-3839   www.libertyhealthshare.org Gospel Light Mennonite Church Medical Aid Plan, Inc Mailing Address: 4845 Fulton Dr. NW Canton, Ohio 44718 (855) 585-4237   www.medicalcostsharing.com Medical Cost Sharing, Inc. 518 Felix Street Saint Joseph, Missouri 64501 866-826-5316  

The information contained in this booklet is not written or intended as tax or legal advice, and it may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties. You are encouraged to seek advice from your own tax or legal counsel. The content is derived from sources believed to be accurate. Neither the information presented nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. American Retirement Advisors assumes no responsibility for statements made in this publication including, but not limited to, typographical errors or omissions, or statements regarding legal, tax, securities, and financial matters. Qualified legal, tax, securities, and financial advisors should always be consulted before acting on any information concerning these fields. For information about retirement planning ... Contact David P. Schaeffer 602-281-3898 David@AmericanRetire.com David P. Schaeffer is a Certified Long Term Care Planning Consultant. He holds the professional designation of CLTC®.