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 are thinking about joining 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.
Note that on this website we talk about the Christian Healthcare Ministries health cost sharing “Gold Plan” with “CHM Plus”, because that is what we are familiar with and this is the most common membership. 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. If you have questions, feel free to click the “Questions” button and send us a message.
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. It 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) requirements 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! The Christian Healthcare Ministries health cost sharing non-profit has an overhead of only 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 $255 per month per person plus $32 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 $765 per month, or $510 for a single parent and any number of children – plus $32 each for CHM Plus. There is a $1,250 per person one time annual “out-of-pocket”, and after that, all incidents over $1,250 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 $500 and NO out-of-pocket per year, with coverage in every state and 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 ~$6,888 a year for two people ($255 x 2 x 12, +$32 x 2 x 12,), and any “incident” over $1,250 is 100% shared and 100% reimbursed (after your $1,250 per person out-of-pocket), no “copay”, no “deductible”.
After the $1,250 per person out-of-pocket, there is no individual or family deductible and no copay if your “incident” is over $1,250. This means for example, 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 $1,250, CHM shares (reimburses) 100% (after you have covered your one-time $1,250 per year out-of-pocket). (If it is under $1,250, it is not shared, but you can still ask for and normally receive a hefty discount from your medical providers).
You can use any doctor, any hospital, any state, anywhere in the world with no “networks” and 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 easy “payment plan” and pay it in full, then 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 about 25% total in more than 15 years. It is a very well established and respected non-profit organization with a minimal 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-v3.2024 (current as of 10-15-2024). 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!