AMDG
A
CATHOLIC ALTERNATIVE TO OBAMACARE AND COMMERCIAL PLANS
Faithful Catholics have
opposed Obamacare because it forces them to have coverage that includes
sterilization, contraceptives, and abortifacients……… all of which are opposed to
Church teaching under the so called “HHS Mandate”. The Little Sisters of the Poor, EWTN, Thomas
Aquinas College, and other Catholic institutions as well as some Protestant
ones took on President Obama and the Supreme Court. Under the Trump administration, Obamacare has
not been repealed, but conscience rights are now being respected.in regard to
Catholic institutions. The Little
Sisters and the other institutions actually won their case in the Supreme
Court.
There is an alternative
to Obamacare at a much lower cost that is very Christian in concept and exempt
from the individual mandate of the Affordable Health Care (AHC) Act and thus
not subject to penalties for non-compliance.
CMF CURO is a Catholic Living Health Care Ministry or
apostolate with more than 1100 families, organized by the Catholic Christ
Medicus Foundation (CMF). It is
endorsed by Cardinal Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of St. Louis, and other
Church leaders. EWTN interviewed their
leaders on one of its programs and the Catholic Register published an article
on it (http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/new-catholic-health-initiative-provides-alternative-to-obamacare-insurance/).
CMF
CURO partners with the ecumenical Samaritan Ministries International (SMI),
which is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charity (see www.samaritanministries.org),
to obtain a larger and stronger financial base…...founded in 1991 and now with 59,000
households or 190,000 members from all 50 states and several foreign countries.. There are some 300,000 members in different
health care sharing ministries that share $200 million in health care costs
each year (see the Alliance for Health Care Sharing Ministries at www.healthcaresharing.com. Health care sharing is not health insurance
as such, but really medical expense sharing.
The IRS does not impose penalties on SMI members for not having medical
insurance according to the Affordable Health Care Act.
The Christ Medicus
Foundation (CMF) (see www.christmedicus.org)
was founded in 1997. Its mission is to
promote Christ-centered health care that is faithful to Catholic teaching, the
Gospel of Life, the Theology of the Body, Humanae
Vitae, and the ethical and religious principles of Catholic health care,
through active engagement in education, public policy, and the marketplace. It advances Christ centered health care in
following in the footsteps of the great healer.
CMF CURO,
was established by CMF in 2014 as a Catholic living health care ministry. It is
a Christ centered alternative to secular medical insurance for committed
Christians that is fully consistent with the Magisterium of the Catholic Church,
the ideals of the Christian community, and the Gospel of Life. CMF CURO employs the SMI health care sharing
ministry as the basis for its program and, as a Catholic member-representative
to SMI, adds additional services for its own members. The members share each other’s medical needs grounded in Christian charity and
solidarity. It’s a great example of
subsidiarity espoused by papal teaching……solving problems at the grass roots
instead of depending upon socialistic Big Government. CMF CURO members are directly and actively
responsible for the stewardship of their own health and health care.
Each family, in addition to their monthly SMI share, pays $84 per
month for the benefits of CMF CURO
membership and to cover the corresponding administrative costs; this is automatically charged to the credit
card of the head of the household or single person. Then, each family (three or more) typically shares
$579, two share $524, a widowed or divorced parent with children $389, and a
single $304. This share is sent directly
to another family whose member is undergoing a major medical expense along with
a note of encouragement and assurance of prayers. Ultimately the members share in the
excitement of seeing how God answers prayers.
Preventative care as medical exams are not covered; nor are routine
illnesses or injuries, dental, vision, etc. with some exceptions. A member is responsible for the first $300 of
any medical expense, comparable to a deductible. There are no legally binding contracts as
such; it is all built on trust in God and in each other.
To request a share for a medical
need, SMI examines the documentation and bills and confirms
that the medical services received are consistent with Christian beliefs and comply
with the SMI guidelines. Although one is not excluded for pre-existing
conditions, there are a number of limitations and exclusions. In that case, a member may still ask for
prayer in the newsletter and other members besides family, friends, and local
church may offer help. Once approved,
SMI assigns sharing members to send their monthly shares to the member in need.
Each month all members receive a newsletter in the mail that instructs them as
to whom they should send their monthly share along with prayers. The sharing
member mails a check for his/her monthly share amount directly to the person in
need, along with a letter or card of encouragement and assurance of prayers.
The member in need chooses his/her doctor, treatments, and other
medical services as a direct-pay patient and presents his/her CMF CURO card, which
has a code that allows the medical service provider to send the medical
services received to a Service Pricing Administrator (SPA) for pricing. Once the SPA approves and assigns a price for
the services, the bill is sent to SMI and to the member in need for review. Once the member in need and SMI approve the
bill, SMI assigns healthy members to share with the one in need through the newsletter. The checks are then forwarded to a bank to be
deposited on the member’s CMF CURO card.
This verifies that the assigned members are indeed sharing as required. The member in need can then use his/her CMF
CURO card to seamlessly pay for eligible medical expenses up to $250,000
generally and even higher if in the “Save to Share” program.
The member in need receives a list
from SMI detailing all sharing members who have been assigned to send a check.
As the member in need receives the checks in the mail, he or she verifies that
assigned sharing members have submitted their share and reports to SMI those who
have not sent their shares. The member in need then pays for the medical
services they’ve received, using the share money sent to them. A member cannot receive benefits if not
current on payments, but extenuating circumstances are considered. Overall, the payment is voluntary and the
patient is still ultimately responsible for the bill. There is a certain leap of faith.
Stated more
simply, a member
who has a medical need requests a Need Processing Form from the SMI office,
then completes and returns it along with the bills for the need. At SMI, a Member Services specialist will
verify the information and prepare the need for publication in the newsletter. When the need is published, a checklist of the
members who have been assigned to share in the need is sent to the receiving
household so that the SMI staff can keep track of the sharing. If a provider seems unwilling to offer
competitive rates or discounts for their services to cash-pay patients, Samaritan
can assist members with patient advocacy in negotiating lower rates to decrease
the burden on the members. Each year an
independent, outside auditing firm verifies the integrity of ministry finances
and how it is spent.
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| Maternity is covered;
abortion, abortifacients, contraceptives, sterilization, STDs, etc. are not.
Only faithful practicing Catholics
are eligible for CMF CURO as certified by their pastor. The primary indicator is faithful attendance
at Mass every Sunday, not only when it is convenient. Members must agree to abstain from sinful
practices such as drug abuse and sexual immorality. Thus sexually transmitted diseases (STDs),
abortion, sterilization, etc. are not covered.
Heavy drinkers and smokers are excluded from membership. In other words, members agree to live a
Biblical lifestyle and conditions resulting from violating this promise are not
covered. Following Church teaching decreases
health risks and medical costs because families of faithful practicing
Catholics tend to have healthier lifestyles. Thus the monthly financial
obligation is much less than with a conventional health insurance premium. Furthermore, direct sharing decreases
administrative costs. The members
enrolled in CMF CURO are strongly encouraged to live healthy lifestyles that
include regular exercise and proper nutrition.
An on-line health assessment is provided along with articles in their
newsletters to improve and maintain health.
Some Feedback From Current Members. “It is a privilege to send our shares each
month to those who like me have a need and thank the Lord for His provision to
do so.” “There are no strangers
in God’s family.” “‘Bearing one
another’s burdens’ brings much greater joy than paying overinflated premiums
for insurance. We are so grateful.” “Thank
you for your prayers, encouragement, and wisdom; each member of the Body is
necessary. We need one another. All must have a deep concern for each other.” “1 Corinthians 12:25-26 says: ‘That there may
be no division in the Body, but that the members may have the same care for one
another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored,
all rejoice together.’” “People loving
people whether across the street or across the nation.” That’s what Christianity is all about! To love and care about and for each other as
Christ taught us to do.
Christian Community at Its Best. The beauty of all this is that the members of
CMF CURO and thus SMI directly share their health care costs with Christians
nationwide in a manner that fosters Christian charity, builds our Catholic
community, and fosters faith in God though assisting one another with medical
expenses through voluntary giving, helping others with the needs they have
right now (Acts 20:35), and ministering to each other while maintaining
personal responsibility. Christians “bear
one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). That is, Christians bear one another’s health
care needs spiritually, emotionally, and financially. At the same time, much of the exorbitant
premiums, bureaucratic
rules and overhead, huge executive salaries and bonuses, marketing expenses,
stockholder dividends, etc. of a traditional for profit health insurance
company is avoided. There’s no binding
legal contract; it’s Christians giving their word. It’s all built on trust, trusting other
Christians and more than anything else……trusting in God…….faith.
For more detail and how to join can be
obtained from the website www.cmfcuro.com.
For personal testimonies, watch a
personal CMF CURO testimony at http://cmfcuro.com/web/,
go to http://mysamaritanstory.org/#/,
or speak to Paul and Jaga. Matt &
Mary Ann Bokovitz are also members. Mike
Haas is a member of SMI alone.
APPENDIX
The Christ Medicus Foundation founded
CMF-CURO as a Catholic alternative to Obamacare that is accepted under the
Affordable Health Act with no penalty that is supposed to be paid as part of
your federal income tax return. The
Christ Medicus Foundation partners with the ecumenical Samaritan Ministries
International and works closely with them.
They both agree upon the following principles.
Foundational Principles of
Samaritan Ministries’ Health Care Sharing
From
http://samaritanministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/March-2016-Guidelines_web-only-updates_rev.pdf
. It has detailed guidelines.
SMI emphasizes certain
Biblical principles that we believe are basic to the life of every believer and
thus are foundational to the effective function of our health care sharing
ministry.
Jesus
Christ is the only adequate Provider for every need we have.
He is the One
Who created everything, and He is the only One Who has enough resources to meet
every need. No human organization is large enough to do this— no company and no
government. He gives some of His provision through human channels, but He is
ultimately the only One we can trust.
A
medical need (or any other need) involves more than money.
The physical
world is not all there is. Human beings are more than a collection of cells. We
are made in the image of God and have needs that go beyond our physical
bodies. When we have a medical need, there is more involved than money or mere
physical healing. Samaritan members pray for one another for all aspects of
members’ needs, and we hear daily from members with needs telling how God has
answered these prayers.
Believers
in Jesus Christ are responsible to first use the resources He has given us to
meet the needs of ourselves and our families.
When a need
occurs that exceeds what He has provided, other members of the Body of Christ
should show His love by using the resources God has given them to help in the
same way they would want to be helped.
The
local church should be the next “line of defense” to provide for the needs of
its own members.
SMI is intended
to support and supplement this work of the local body, not replace it. We seek
to avoid undermining what should be done locally. We also depend on the leaders
of the local church to provide accountability for the SMI members under their
care.
God
created man as His image bearer and the crown of His creation.
Right worship of God
requires respecting His image in all people for all of life, including health
care. The Fifth Commandment, “You shall not murder,” requires the preservation
of human life, and the subduing of all passions and avoiding all occasions,
temptations, and practices which tend to the unjust taking of life. We must
live according to Biblical ethics in all aspects of health care.
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