Prometheus 6

It IS an unregulated insurance company, but that's not really the problem. The idea strikes me as a pure attempt to do the right thing as efficiently as possible. The problem is the circumstances that made someone come up with the idea...the circumstances that make the idea necessary.

Mr. Reinhold, who formed Christian Care in 1993, says it is an efficient way for Christians to fulfill the admonition of Galatians 6:2, which tells them to “carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

But over the years, some state officials have looked at ministries like Christian Care and seen what they would call unregulated health insurance. Their concern is that confused consumers looking for low-cost coverage will rely on these groups as if they were insurance companies, even though the groups may lack the resources to pay claims.

Sharing the Health Bills
By DIANA B. HENRIQUES

It looks like a business and, in many ways, acts like one. But it is beyond the reach of most of the rules and government oversight that apply to businesses — because it is a church mission.

This is the “medical bill sharing ministry” known as Christian Care Ministry, based in Melbourne, Fla., the largest of a handful of similar ministries around the country.

E. John Reinhold, who once worked with the Campus Crusade for Christ and is now the ministry’s chairman, explains the concept simply: “You add up all the medical bills and divide by the number of sharing households. Everybody kicks in and you pay the bills.”

Every month, in roughly 19,000 households across the country, ministry members — who must be observant Christians with recommendations from their pastors — write a check to Christian Care Ministry. The amount depends on their family’s size and how much of their medical bills they are willing to pay out of their own pocket.

And each month, the ministry writes checks to health care providers — totaling more than $240 million since it was founded — to cover the medical bills submitted by its members. Roughly $57 million moved through the ministry in its latest fiscal year.