Insurance rate increases have become the new normal for all Americans and this year is no different. The people of the state of Michigan are faced with a 27.6% increase in insurance premiums in 2018 according to the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services. This rate increase follows a 16.7% increase in 2017. The total cost of a family’s healthcare has become the largest piece of the financial pie. Government officials are gridlocked with disagreement and even if they put their differences aside and work in earnest to address rising healthcare costs, the changes would not take effect for several years.
What can you do now to control your personal healthcare costs?
As we approach a new year and next year’s health care expenses are being considered, I am encouraging you to think outside the box.
Your healthcare costs do not have to increase next year.
As a member of Christian Healthcare Centers, you can have access to all the medical services that are needed in a given year at a primary care medical clinic. MemberCare includes unlimited visits with your doctor, X-rays, basic labs and medications. Any items or services not covered by your MemberCare membership are provided at the cost to acquire them. Also included in the membership is access to the physician with same or next day appointments as well as a network of specialists who accept referrals and offer discounted rates for those who are uninsured or underinsured. The cost of membership is far less than the average family deductible in an ACA qualified medical plan. This is truly a patient-centered medical home, not a payment-centered medical home.
How does MemberCare work?
Once enrolled as a member it is as simple as calling your doctor to make an appointment and seeing the doctor as soon as you need to be seen. We recently had a member contact our center at 8 am with urgent medical concerns following a bicycle accident. We were able to x-ray the area of concern as well as treat her for the wounds suffered in the accident. The member’s entire encounter from the time they phoned the center to the time they left our center was under 2 hours. As the member exited she asked how much she needed to pay for the visit. We joyfully informed her that the services she received were entirely covered by her membership. This very likely would have cost hundreds of dollars at an urgent care center and thousands if she had gone to the emergency room.
What do I do about insurance?
We always recommend that members carry insurance coverage for major medical occurrences. As the new year approaches, I encourage you to look into traditional medical insurance alternatives. There are 4 major medical cost-sharing organizations to choose from: Samaritan Ministries International, Medi-Share, Christian Healthcare Ministries, and Liberty Medical. Each of these organizations offer the kind of health care coverage to meet the ACA individual mandate at a far more affordable price. I have personally found that being a member of Samaritan Ministries is a vast improvement over traditional insurance for the same cost to my family.
Think outside of the box
It’s more than just thinking outside of the box, but thinking outside of the system. To get medical care from Christian Healthcare Centers coupled with a health expense sharing organization will minimize your out of pocket costs and get you and your family out of the traditional system. I encourage you to do the research on what your expenses were last year, what they will be next year, and then look into what they could be if you made the decision to be part of a new medical movement.
