What I’ve Learned After Years of Making Health Care Decisions for a Family of Five
Before we had children, I thought about health care very differently than I do now.
Back then, health care was mostly something Austin and I needed to have figured out in the background of our lives. We were young and healthy, and most of our medical needs were fairly predictable.
Then we had three (wonderful, busy, accident-prone, adorable) children! 🙂
Suddenly health care became pregnancies and ultrasounds and pediatrician appointments. It became sick visits and middle-of-the-night questions about whether something could wait until morning. It became unexpected injuries and, most recently, a broken arm. It became realizing that the way your family handles health care isn’t really an abstract financial decision. It is something you interact with in very ordinary—and sometimes very vulnerable—moments of family life.
We joined Samaritan Ministries before any of our children were born, and after years of health care sharing as members, one of the things I value most is having the freedom to make decisions based on what our family actually needs.
That is one of the reasons I’ve been interested in Samaritan Ministries’ additional sharing option, REDEEM® HealthShare.
Families need different things from health care
One thing motherhood has taught me is that there is rarely one system that works equally well for every family.
One family may rarely visit the doctor and primarily want a way to prepare for major, unexpected medical expenses. Another may have children who need regular prescriptions or appointments. Some families prioritize keeping their monthly expenses as low as possible, while others would rather pay more each month in exchange for greater sharing of routine expenses.
REDEEM® was designed with that reality in mind.
Rather than offering one single structure, REDEEM® gives members different ways to participate in health care sharing based on their budget and needs.
REDEEM® Essential is the more budget-conscious option. Families choose an Annual Unshareable Amount—the amount they are responsible for paying toward eligible medical expenses during their membership year before additional sharing begins—and then participate in a 20 percent co-share on eligible bills, up to an annual limit.
REDEEM® Enhanced has lower Annual Unshareable Amount options and no co-share. It also includes sharing for certain routine and preventive care and eligible prescription expenses.
I appreciate that distinction because it allows families to ask a much better question than simply, “Which option is cheapest?”
Instead, you can ask, “How does our family actually use health care?”
One add-on feature that particularly caught my attention: FlexShare®
Another interesting part of REDEEM® is an optional add-on feature called FlexShare®.
If you have ever researched health care sharing, you know that one of the most important things to understand is what is and is not eligible for sharing. Health care sharing is not insurance, and every ministry has guidelines governing which expenses the community shares.
FlexShare® expands the categories available for sharing in REDEEM® Essential and REDEEM® Enhanced. Depending on the program, it provides an annual household allowance that can be used toward eligible expenses in categories such as dental and vision care, mental health services, some alternative treatments, and more.
That flexibility caught my attention because these are exactly the kinds of expenses families often have to think about outside of a major medical event. They may not be the dramatic expenses we imagine when we think about health care, but they are very much part of taking care of a family.
As always, I would encourage you to read the current sharing guidelines closely before making a decision. There are eligibility requirements and limitations, including a waiting period before FlexShare® bills can be submitted. But I like that REDEEM® gives families the option to build in broader sharing if those categories are important to them.
The question I would ask before choosing any health care option
After years of navigating health care for our family, my advice is actually pretty simple: don’t just look at the monthly number.
Look at your family.
Pull up the last year or two of medical expenses if you can. Think about the prescriptions you regularly fill, the doctors you see, whether you anticipate a pregnancy, and what routine care your children typically need. Think about how much you could reasonably absorb in an unexpected medical year. Then compare that reality with the guidelines of whatever health care option you are considering.
That was one of the most helpful things we did when we first left health insurance and joined Samaritan Ministries.
Health care sharing has been a really good fit for our family, but the goal isn’t simply to find the option another family likes. It is to understand the model well enough to decide whether it makes sense for your family.
I’m grateful that Christian families now have another option to consider through REDEEM® HealthShare. It maintains the Christian health care sharing model that drew our family to Samaritan in the first place, while giving families additional choices about how they want that sharing to work.
If you are evaluating your family’s health care for the coming year, take a little time to compare the options. You may find that REDEEM® Essential makes sense for the way your family uses health care, that the additional sharing available through REDEEM® Enhanced is worth it to you, or that another Samaritan Ministries program is still a better fit.
The important thing is knowing what you’re choosing—and why.
This post is sponsored by REDEEM® HealthShare Ministry by Samaritan Ministries. REDEEM® HealthShare is a health care sharing ministry and is not health insurance. Sharing is voluntary and subject to the applicable sharing guidelines.
