Christian Healthcare Ministries

Is CHM still cheaper than Obama Care? idk, but its like 200% more expensive than it was a number of years ago and continues to go up in price while providing less coverage. I have been a Gold most of the past 7 years and I use to tell everyone how great a value it was. Now I am just disgusted to see the outrages charges each month. I buy it when insurance is not offered to me as a benefit in my contract work.
I am honestly not sure if CHM is truly a Christian origination as is the same with Christian radio is or any other services that caters to Christians when big money is in play. Its tough to really know. idk, they may be the best people in the world, just out to help fellow Christians while earning modest pay and having a lean budget. Or they may be doing something else. Only God truly knows.
as sometimes the internals and the auditors dont know. I am not accusing them of anything, but just simply expressing that idk.
I refuse to buy Obama Care, but really need to search alternatives.
Everyone should know that if you have a claim “sharing request” and you desire to cancel your membership before it is paid out, CHM will not pay it out unless you continue to pay during what can be up to 3 months or more for them to process your claim. So as a Gold member, before they spiked the deductible, if you had a $500 claim which was reimbursable, you might lose money while paying $250 for 3 months before you they pay your claim.
In regards to their policy of preexisting conditions, it is ambiguous to me in that a person may have a known condition for many years that does not require immediate medical attention, but could worsen in the future, requiring medical treatment. Is that covered? idk. Many people are born with known diseases that may or may not transpire into a problem for many years or ever, but then again it might. To not cover this condition for someone, but to cover the same for someone who was of the same condition but unaware and then diagnosed after coverage, is very unfair IMO. Essentially penalizing people who are actively aware of their health as opposed to those who may not be. Again, their policy remains unclear to me.
After 8 years of membership, I have finally spoke my peace and am now again beginning my new search for affordable coverage.
The phone staff is nice but the on hold hymnal music can be unbearable as to the point it seems intentional.

I would have given CHM a 5 star review before the news of the 2023 massive monthly price increases, doubling the minimum incident/illness level to $1,000 for Gold (previously $500), and adding a new $1,000 yearly deductible (personal responsibility amount in their terms). I have to lower it to 4 stars now. If the price or deductible goes up again we’ll probably have to cancel our family of 3 because now we pay $771 a month and also have to pay $1,000 a year ($83.33/month) on top! Almost $1,000 a month!

I will say that CHM is great for those who are organized, financially savvy, and good communicators. If you get anxiety calling a doctor or need someone to help file your taxes if you just have a basic w-2 – this is probably not for you. The filing process for bills has improved over the years but is still quite tedious. The staff are quite friendly and easy to reach though if you have questions.

They have paid out on everything promised for us so far though. I had a couple thousand dollars of male health issues my 1st year of having CHM and after being nervous that it wasn’t actually going to work – they paid out about 3 months after submitting everything. Then my wife and I’s first child prenatal/delivery, etc. was also paid out on time and in full – over $14,000 after discounts.

If you’re broke and/or don’t have a credit card, CHM is also not for you b/c you generally have to prepay items when you negotiate discounts and then wait 2-5 months for reimbursement. If you have some cash to float it, this can help you earn credit card points/miles though! This is an interesting perk that CHM should promote. Hire me for marketing 😉 But if you don’t have a credit card or extra money in the bank, this could be another burden for families just trying to cover emergencies.

Overall, assuming you don’t qualify for big discounts with government healthcare, this can be a good alternative. It’s just more tedious and time-consuming. Has served our family well for 7 years and I’ve recommended to many. I am much more hesitant to recommend to others now w/the new pricing & deductible structure for 2023 though :-/

BUYER BEWARE! BUYER BEWARE!
I have been a member with CHM for 3 years now and each and every year they have raised their rates. CHM prides themselves on being better than insurance companies but this is exactly what insurance companies do.
Additionally, they preach that they are a Christian organization and follow the Lord’s Word in respect to running their organization. The Bible tells us that we are to be good stewards of our money. The Bible also teaches us that stealing and cheating is a sin. Listen, as a business if you are required to raise your members’ rates year over year, you are either not being a good steward of their money or you are robbing them blind. Which is it CHM?
I have been a member at my gym for 8 years and they have never raised their rates once. I have been with Netflix for over 10 years and they have raised my rates only twice in all that time. My checking account has had the same fee for 20 years. I have half a dozen other examples of businesses that I pay member dues to that do not raise my rates as often or by the large amounts that CHM does (last year was over 10%)!!!!
At least with insurance I get a tax break. I think its time to look back into insurance.

I’ve been paying into CHM for years now and never had a claim. My daughter in law had a baby and is still waiting for payment. They were members for a while before the claim. They didn’t receive help along the way. They were told it would take at least 8 months or reimbursement after the baby’s birth. Totally sad. I was previously with Samaritans ministries and always received reimbursement immediately. We paid the people directly and the needs were met. I’m starting to wonder if there is mishandling of funds. Please choose Samaritan’s over this. This isn’t the only one I’ve heard waiting or receiving very little of their claim. There is no reason for paying months before the baby’s birth and waiting eight months after.☹️ I am leaving for this reason.

While this is an old thread, I feel compelled to comment. I have been a member for four years and thankfully, I’ve been healthy and haven’t needed to file for reimbursement. Reading these reviews, if you are considering CHM, would make you think twice about them.

But in most (maybe all) instances, the many of the reviewers have not read the CHM guidelines. They CLEARLY state that certain behaviors, conditions, and pre-existing conditions (specific rules) are not covered AND that this is not insurance, but a group to share medical costs. And frequently, these exclusions are mentioned in more than one place in the guidelines.

In addition, they very clearly spell out what is covered at each tier of membership. The guidelines booklet is over 50 pages long and well written. Given the importance of medical care and exorbitant cost of medical care, I would think anyone considering it would read the guidelines very carefully.

If CHM were to cover all costs as an insurance company might, the monthly sharing amount would need to be many times higher. Members have specific commitments with adherences to certain behaviors, and in exchange, have a significantly more affordable option to insurance coverage.

Lastly, every time I have called with a question, I quickly get a human on the other end who is always polite and pleasant to efficiently answer any and all questions.

Please don’t let these negative reviews deter you from considering this as an option. I would suggest reading the guidelines to see if this membership is a fit for you and your family.

Been with CHM since 2008 and have only needed to file two claims for relatively minor health issues.

They are always very helpful on the phone and via email, all questions answered promptly, and both of my claims were shared and covered 100% in a few days.

The cost was $135 back in 2008, now it’s up due to inflation, of course, but still far below what I would pay for a typical health insurance product.

My only concern is that if they’re covering medical bills for members who are severely injured due to CV-19 injections, despite much evidence proving the potential for harmful health consequences of such experimental technologies, then members like myself who wisely shunned the injections might well be bearing the brunt of rapidly escalating numbers of member claims and expenses, potentially driving the cost of CHM coverage substantially higher, perhaps for years to come.

It would seem wise to cover CV-19 injection injury bills under Brother’s Keeper or under other voluntary programs , rather than hit the non-injected members with those claims via ever-increasing monthly membership costs.

That said, I still believe CHM to be an excellent combination of ministry and health cost bill sharing. I will also be adding my wife as a CHM member in 2023.

They are always very helpful and getting a hold of a human is very easy which is nice. The downside is what I feared going into joining this program — the delay between the bills incurred and the payout is very long. I incurred credit card debt covering medical expenses because CHM took a VERY long time to reimburse us. Though they always came though, you need capital to cover costs while waiting for them to pay. And you are the middle man between the provider and CHM which is very stressful at times. I will not be continuing with CHM for this reason.

I’ve been a loyal paying customer for CHM for 6 years. They originally covered my 2018 pregnancy in full which was wonderful. January of 2022 I required an extensive surgery for a myriad of painful conditions that I’ve lived with for many years, and upon receiving records from the hospital that I have THC in my blood, CHM labeled me a drug user and ineligible for sharing. CHM would rather I be dependent on anti depressants, anti anxiety meds, and opioids (which are all addictive and dangerous drugs which require weaning). I only use THC when I need to and only in the safest circumstances. I can even quit it anytime. They belittled me in the worst way and when I, a Christian, needed help most. Their guidelines need to be changed as I’ve seen THC help people with Parkinsons and severe seizures. Again, unfortunately they’d rather we be addicted to pharmaceuticals. This just isn’t biblical. Don’t support CHM. They don’t deserve it.

BEWARE!!!!
If you think you’ll be getting regular insurance in the future after getting CHM, beware! We incurred a major bill DURING the time we were paying into CHM, then we got a new job with regular insurance, while our bill was still in PENDING with CHM. Even though we were actively paying into CHM during the time of the incident and when the bill was submitted to sharing, we were not reimbursed because we left before the bill was paid out–which takes 75-90 days!!! Not only did I waste money on CHM, but I had to pay out of my own pocket for the medical bill.
If someone is contributing to the sharing pool, they should be able to benefit on any bills incurred during that time. Highly unethical!!
I will never come back to CHM and will encourage everyone I know to stay away.

In spite of being being members for five years, CHM refused to pay for our maternity need. It happened like this.

We have had most of the family member on the lower silver level due to it being the best fit for our family; higher personal responsibility–ie higher deductible in exchange for lower monthly rate. My wife however, had always been on the Gold level and we used CHM for two births and a broken arm. It worked, albeit slowly. The time it took from submittal until payment was often 3-4 months and the method for clarification or dealing with additional documents was clumsy, but overall it was okay. So here we were with baby #5. A few weeks after submitting the need, and assuming we were done having babies for the time being (maybe forever? 😀 ) I was on our CHM member portal and saw how much we could save by switching her to Silver, so I did so. Obviously no maternity coverage, but a risk I was willing to take. There were no popups, or warnings of any kind that if you do this, you will cancel or forfeit the need in progress. I forgot about it. The need progressed slower than normal. (I had filed it in August.) They asked for a clarification of the doula line on the midwife bill. We provided it. In December I called to see why the need had not been paid. No mention was made of switching to Silver. The lady on the phone worked with me to make sure everything was in order and the payment would be going out shortly. Only it didn’t. Instead of a check in the mail we got a letter of denial due to my wife being on the silver level. I called in and appealed. I spoke to a Anthony, explained everything, proposed to pay the difference between bronze and gold for the months we had missed. What if it had been a GREAT NEED? What if someone accidentally switched to a lower level and put tens of thousands of dollars at risk? I was appalled at the lack of empathy, and the “it’s our policy and clearly spelled out in the member handbook” attitude. I read the member handbook when we signed up several years ago, but didn’t have a thorough review of it since and struggled to find it in their polices after this happened. Anthony in effect said his hands were tied, and I could appeal to the “eligibility review board.” So I immediately submitted the following letter:

To the Eligibility Review Board,

First allow me to state the blessing that CHM has been to our family. We have been so blessed to be able to participate in sharing with other believers. In the years since we first became members we have had several babies and a broken arm and received the blessing of others gifts as well as had the privilege of sharing monthly in others needs.

In regards to our current maternity need, our little boy was born on August 3rd. I filled out the paperwork and uploaded it through the portal on August the 4th. I believe it was on/about the 15th that I was in the Member Portal reviewing everything. My wife was at Gold level—myself and our children at Silver. I thought something along the lines of “well this was baby #5. I think we’re (a) done or (b) a few years out from baby #6” so (because diapers are expensive!) changed her to Silver.

It never crossed my mind that in so doing I would trigger a cancellation of the current maternity need I had just submitted earlier.

Over the course of the next couple months, (I believe it was mostly in December) CHM asked for clarification of details on the documents or asked for additional items such as:
– A message in the portal to the affect that the Midwife’s bill needed to be itemized, Doulah birth assistant portion not covered, etc.
– A request for a new signed Checklist of Understanding
– An updated and signed Hipaa

The last two requests were right before Christmas. So In the end, I spent some time on the phone with CHM, just to be sure that you had everything you needed, even uploading and emailing both ways, so that you had what you needed quickly.

Fast forward to this month, I got a denial letter that the need was disqualified due to my change in my wife’s membership.

Now I do get where you’re coming from and your position makes total sense. But please consider it from my perspective as well—I keep thinking what if this had been a REAL hardship to our family or another member, to the extent of many thousands of dollars? I guess I am appalled at how easy it was for me to make the switch—and without any popup or warning message to the effect of “Are you sure you want to make this change” and referring me to your guidelines and what’s at stake if you do. I would plead with you to implement some type of popup or warning message.

In light of the above, I am requesting that you please consider restoring our maternity need back to active status. As a good faith gesture on my part, I would like to switch my wife back to Gold level and donate the difference between the Silver-Gold level for the months since the change.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and your service to the body of Christ.

Sincerely…

I enclosed our family photo and the birth announcement.

——-

After several more weeks of waiting CHM again issued a final decision and denial letter. They did not believe our explanation of not know the policy was sufficient and could not set a precedent.

I’ve been a Gold-level member with CHM (with BrothersKeeper) for about 16 months. Here’s what you need to know before signing up with CHM.

If you identify yourself as self-pay to a medical provider (as CHM indicates you should do), be prepared to be treated like a leper by many medical providers, especially hospitals. This is not CHM’s fault, but it’s the state of medical care in the U.S., and it significantly affects CHM members. Expect to pay upfront for the total amount of service (consider $10-40k for surgery).

CHM will tell you that they have a special service to deal with this scenario (called the “Date of Service” team) that will pay upfront. Unfortunately, this service is not included in their guidelines (https://chministries.org/resources/chm-guidelines/), so they are under no obligation to pre-pay for anything. Customer service staff speak of it as if it were part of their standard guidelines but, in practices, there are all sorts of policies invoked to avoid paying upfront (e.g., hospital requires full payment 72 hrs in advance, but CHM will only pay 24 hrs in advance).

Bottom line, expect to pay for major medical services upfront (assuming you have the financial capacity to do so), wait 30 days for the hospital to send you an itemized bill, submit to CHM, then wait 60-90 days for reimbursement (per CHM guidelines). If you can’t pay upfront, you’ll need to find a medical provider who doesn’t require self-pay patients to pay upfront – good luck. If you’re told something by a CHM member support, ask them where you can find it in their guidelines because if it isn’t in writing, it’s an empty promise.

I have had CHM for several years and am vary satisfied with then. Three years ago I cut the end of my thumb off. CHM covered most of the costs of the operation and followup. The staff was GREAT to work with. I have recommended them to my friends.

The Good: Inexpensive
The Bad: Unless you read all the fine print (who does these days?) you’ll find that they cover very little. Their sales reps are selling a product that delivers very little, while they make it sound like they’re a “real” alternative to health care companies like Blue Cross – they’re not.
The Ugly: You do all the work when it comes to filing your claims with them. I mean EVERYTHING. You have to collect all the lab data, doctor’s notes, diagnostic codes, when the janitor takes his lunch break, etc. They also take forever to pay…and this after they take 30 days getting to a point where they need more information, at which point they take weeks more to adjust. Yikes.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for a genuine alternative to the big health care organizations, CHM is not for you.

I have been a member of CHM for over 4 years and 2021 was the first time I filed a claim. I have a bronze membership. The short review is that CHM did everything their guidelines said they would do, and they reimbursed us for all the qualified medical expenses. I found the staff responsive and friendly.

Healthcare sharing is not insurance and doesn’t act like insurance. If you go this route it is essentially self-pay, which you are then reimbursed by CHM within three months. All the one-star reviews I read here are people who did not read the CHM guidelines and really did not understand what you are being covered for.

The bronze program in my mind is catastrophic protection. CHM will help pay the medical bills when they exceed $5,000 per incident per person. What I really like is that because I am self pay I go to whatever doctor I want to. There is not “out of network” doctors I can’t use. With CHM we pay about 35% the cost of health insurance monthly, but we pay all the cost under $5,000 per incident, and some of the costs that are not covered when the bill exceeds $5,000. In my case CHM paid 100% of what I thought they were going to pay. CHM has been a blessing to our family.

If you have a chronic condition or are uncomfortable acting as a self-pay patient this is not for you. In deciding whether to sign up you need to balance your finances, how healthy you are, and your comfort acting outside the mainstream of how healthcare payment works in the US.

Edit from Site Admin: Thank you for the detailed, thorough review and explanation. Comments like this keep this site going and are invaluable in helping other people decide which companies might work for them (if any; like you said, it isn’t for everyone). This is a gold-star review.

I have been a member since 2016 and have felt comfort being with CHM’s program. My husband and I have been trying for 4 years now to get pregnant and it hasn’t happened. As Christrian’s, we’ve prayed, we’ve fasted, we’ve gone to numerous doctors for countless tests and medications. It has been the hardest trial we’ve ever gone through. We believe that it is a commandment to multiply and replenish the earth, so why can’t we comply? It has been so frustrating.

As a last resort, we have been recommended to undergo IVF. We’ve prayed and fasted much to know that this is the right thing to do. As we see some light at the end of the tunnel because the chances are fairly high that it will take, we found out that CHM doesn’t cover births resulting from IVF. We were surprised because we know that most other healthcare sharing companies do. I understand that the IVF cost wouldn’t be covered because that isn’t something that 99.5% of mother’s have to go through but why wouldn’t the birth be covered? With modern technology, testing is available to reduce the chances of any problems with the baby, making the total costs less.

My family and I were members of CHM for a few years, a few years ago. I liked their affordable family plans and the tiers of service make it so everyone can get just what they need and keep their bills down.

We never had to actually use the sharing service as–thank God–we’ve been very healthy overall, so I can’t give it 5 stars without seeing how that works. But, other than that it was really good for us until I could get medical coverage through my job.

I wish I could give zero stars. Difficult. Stressful. Dreadful experience. Paid so much money for absolutely nothing in return. It is such a chore. Please don’t get this insurance. It is truly horrible. Going through a pregnancy and my husband’s injury surgery put so much stress and strain. We had to pay everything for my husband’s surgery up front. So now my husband is injured AND can’t work, yet we had to pay for all of his surgeries up front or we couldn’t get the life threatening surgery. Long story short. We had no money, no income and absolutely no help from CHM. We were in debt for surgery before we ever saw a single reimbursement check (3.5 months later). And we also had to pester them into which money should be shared. I do not believe CHM employees are qualified or knowledgeable at their jobs. My husband, myself and our two young kids were put through so much agony and distress… over HEALTHCARE. That is not a Christian way (or professional way) to run a business. Healthcare shouldn’t put you in debt. Healthcare shouldn’t refuse to pay you in a timely manner, while also demanding 600 a month while you wait for your reimbursement.

I am thoroughly disappointed in this company! I would not recommend it to anyone! I was told it takes 30 days to process a reimbursement when I called to check on it two weeks after sending it in. At 4 weeks I called, I was told it takes 60 – 90 days to process reimbursements! I said I wanted to cancel my membership. Then they told me if I canceled my membership, my reimbursement (if any) would be canceled. They also told me I had to give them 30 days notice to cancel my membership! That means they would withdraw one more payment within a few days! After 10 months of paying membership fees, it’s a little hard to swallow. I think that is wrong! It is immoral and unethical!

I never would have signed up for such a program if I thought they were not going to be honorable & have the integrity to follow through with a past medical bills!

I guess I will have to thank Dave Ramsey!

We have had CHM for 2 years and they have been great for us. It’s scary at first, wondering if they truly are going to pay but we’ve had multiple hospital visits and so far haven’t had any issues with reimbursements. It’s nice being able to go to whichever Dr we want and not being told which ones we can see!

If I could leave no stars I would. I’ve been a member of this organization for YEARS! Which I’ve never truly had any problems with. I have paid in year after year with only my maternity bills ever needing covered. I lost my job so I had to go to the bronze level until
I could afford gold again, so I canceled at end of March and picked back up may 1st, only skipping April. I submitted bills from tests and doctors visits in May after I signed back up under gold level.
My bills were denied for sharing because my symptoms started in February, which by the way, were headaches, something most people including myself experience multiple days a month or more. I had never been to the doctor for the headaches until I was covered under CHM. When signing back up, the man I spoke to assured me that I would be covered for any tests, doctors visits. I now owe $4000+ to cover my bills. I wish I would have never signed back up under CHM and could’ve been paying almost $200 a month to my bills instead of this organization who “has to follow the guidelines.”
After being a member for at least 8 years, I am VERY, HIGHLY disappointed in the way this was handled and I believe the “guidelines” need to be re-evaluated to stop scamming people out of their money. I’ve taken so little and given so much. I’m very disappointed and will be leaving CHM as soon as there is open enrollment at my husbands job.
Don’t waste your time!

I had moved to a new state and was hopeful when I saw CHM had a network of “hundreds” of doctors I could choose from. But then, they told me I had to call each one and ask first if they would work with CHM. Um, what? Isn’t that *your* job? So someone I spoke to there said they would indeed call for me. Ok, great. A week goes by, nothing. Another week. I call and am finally told they are, indeed, calling around, but in those two weeks they’d only found ONE provider who would work with CHM, and they gave me that info, and said they’d keep calling. So that list of hundreds of providers? Of course there are hundreds of providers – it’s Los Angeles! – but obviously it wasn’t updated or current or based in any sort of “these are the providers who work with us” truth.

Awful. We left.

If you have cancer and need a surgeon to remove your tumor and one that will agree to wait on payment from CHM, then I wish you luck. I needed a surgeon and couldn’t find one in the whole state of Florida. I wrote to them to ask if they knew anyone and they could not recommend a single doctor. That’s the problem, you have to find doctors who will agree to wait on payment for any surgical procedure. They are few and far between. I ended up going with Obama care for expensive insurance. There are plenty of doctors who will accept Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Was a member with them for over 5 years and never had to use them. However when I did need to use them I sent in my bills. Before I could get reimbursed I changed to a different health insurance. They declined my medical bills because I cancelled my plan. Will never use again. Paid premiums for 5 years and when I did need them they flaked.

I broke my ankle. Over 6 months later and NOTHING. They keep asking for premiums and give NOTHING in return. I was forced to get REAL insurance for my family because they make claims nearly IMPOSSIBLE! Super disappointed to say the least. Now I have to eat $40,000 in surgery bills! Not Christian at all! Don’t waste your time or money. They drag out claims so they can keep collecting premiums… I finally said enough after they wanted me to sue the roller skating rink where I broke my ankle. It was NOT the facility’s fault!
*Read the fine print and ask them what percentage of premiums they REALLY pay out! SCAM!

I have been with CHM for several years. I hit my head when I rolled an ATV. I wasn’t wearing a helmet, which I normally do, but I was turning the machine around to load it and didn’t put one on. Even though I normally wear one Idaho law does not require adults wear helmets while operating an ATV. Anyways, I received several stitches and about 10 staples. The hospital bills ($21,000) were sent to CHM. I didn’t hear anything for 10 months. I figured they were paid. I got a collection for the $21000 in the mail. At that point I called them and asked them why they want covered. They said because I did not follow the manufacturer’s recommendations nothing would be covered. I actually called Medi Share and they said they would cover between 85 and 100% of the bills under the same circumstance. I called two other insurance companies and they said insurance is designed to cover accidents and most accidents somebody neglects to follow manufacturers recommendations that’s why there’s an accident and that they would cover 100% of the bill after deductible. Needless to say I have now switched my membership to Medi Share. Medi Share actually has telemedicine and they will submit all of the bills directly from the hospital or Care facility which is huge. Honestly, the experience has been incredibly frustrating especially from a business that claims to be Christian based. It seems to be useless if they don’t cover accidents. The fine print can always find a reason to decline coverage. I would cancel my current policy or not sign up with these guys and try Medi Share.

I have had CHM since 2017 but have never needed it until now. Eight years ago I had a lumbar fusion. I now need another fusion for another level disc. I get completely different information every time I talk to them. It has been a nightmare trying to get prices from everyone for my surgery. (Which the representative I spoke to originally never even told me I needed). I finally get everything figured out because my surgery is 5 days away and I get an e-mail saying it is deemed pre-existing, and they won’t pay anything. I have had CHM for 4 years with no claims or physical issues, and they are calling it pre-existing. It has been a full on mess. At this point, my back is “unstable” as stated by my imaging reports, and I have to cancel surgery and apply for regular insurance.

I had Covid19 in November 2020 that landed me in the hospital. I was paid through that month when my husband lost his job due to Covid. We could not afford to pay for the healthcare sharing the following month. I finally received my bill from the hospital for approximately $2500 in February which I immediately submitted to Christian Healthcare Ministries. It took them until middle of April to tell me they were not going to pay after I was told I would receive a check by the end of April. My husband signed up for unemployment in November and STILL has not seen any unemployment money. It is unfair that we have paid around $700 monthly for this healthcare sharing and cannot get just one claim paid. I would NEVER recommend this to anyone.

I’ve been with CHM for about 3 years to save some money on Health insurance premiums ($2200/mo) and because I was sick of having to get anything approved through Kaiser. I pay around $550/mo for their highest coverage for my family of 6. I’ve enjoyed being able to take my kids to any doctor I want. Everything is cheaper when you tell them you are a cash payer. I never sent in a bill for reimbursement until a few months ago. I decided to have surgery on both feet. Total cost was around $18k. Honestly, I was just hoping that they would cover around half as this was a pre-existing condition. I was shocked when I received a check for the whole amount except for the $300 deductible. They also didn’t reimburse for my wheelchair and crutches. Took around 2.5 months to get the check from CHM.

Hi as a chm member I realize this information in cons is inaccurate. Not a solid review since this article is old outdated. best to read in at chministries.com for yourself At CHM they negotiate my bills with providers. They have a member advocate call center that handles all my bills. Also they have a program that handles any long-term or big time healthcare needs over $125,ooo. It’s called Brothers Keeper. I came across this review to see what it says and realize how inaccurate it is. I have been with chm for some time and have had no issues and they pay within 30-40 days of service. Easy process and great people there. I give 5 stars and don’t see myself returning to obamacare regular insurance.

This is the most unchristian company I have ever dealt with to put that name in their business. They consistently refuse to cover medical costs regardless the circumstances and also change what they are willing to cover depending on who you talk to. I’m very sorry I ever decided to do business with them.

They don’t cover ambulance rides to the hospital. I had an emergency at 2am, I live alone and was in too much pain to drive. Called 911 and was hit with a $700 ambulance ride bill that CHM denied. They do not cover ambulance rides to the hospital BUT once you arrive at the hospital and you need to be escorted by ambulance to ANOTHER hospital, then they will cover the expense for the ride in the second ambulance. This is terrible and hardly the Christian way. Makes no sense. I will be terminating my membership through my employer who is wasting his money every month on this joke of a company. This company is antiquated, among other things.

I am amazed to see the negative reviews because of my history and experience with CHM. I had been recommended CHM, from a friend and signed up in Jan of 2018. I was an extremely healthy 38 yr old that hadn’t so much as taken medications for more than a short cold or something small of nature. I signed up for the gold plan with Bros keeper. Thank God, I did. In July of 18 I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and given 6 mo to live. Needless to say I have beaten their first 2 death dates, but continue racking up bills for each month I continue to live. These guys have been incredible. Yes, it does take a lot of time, and that stinks and you gotta be good with paperwork and learn their system but once you do, my experience has been really, really good. They have kept me out of the poor house. They have basically paid 100% of my traditional bills…I definitely have a bunch more from nontraditional treatments, but I can understand those policies. The other experience I wanted to brag about was I talked my bro into signing up. He did, but he had traditional insurance that didn’t end until like the 20th of the month, so although he called to start a policy, by his direction he didn’t want to pill the money to ‘start’ the policy, until like the 24th or towards the end of the month. In the beginning of the month he was cutting a branch in his front yard and essentially pinned his foot to the ground, via a branch, as he fell from a decent height. They were so encouraging and actually said they were going to try and cover it, even though technically he didn’t have the coverage and it would have been easy for them to get out of it. The only negative is I wish they would help with ongoing prescriptions bc that is tough but I wouldn’t have been able to do the nontraditional if I was having to pay those costs and I think I wouldn’t be here, with out some of those treatments…So CHM has saved my life or at least helped me see more days. I definitely highly recommend it. Just be patient. And CHM, love you guys but get a little faster if you can and definitely listen to that woman that was leaving for lack of coverage with an assisted pregnancy. Cheers for all you are doing right.

Two years ago I had a hysterectomy that was botched by the surgeon. I ended up with two more surgeries within a week. I was life flighted to an other hospital. As you can imagine this was very costly. Christian healthcare ministries paid almost the entire bill. Iam very happy with them and their service.

Terrible experience. Very deceptive practices. Their auto drafting without permission got me good. While automatic debiting is legal, some firms are abusing the practice and victimizing consumers. Since this is a relatively new procedure, the laws are not always clear about what is legal.
Just because Christian is in the name doesn’t always mean Christian in business

Our family of 5 has been with Christian Healthcare Ministries for about 14 years. We had our three children using their services and have only good things to say. Their maternity program is excellent. When you have medical bills you simply need to negotiate the bills as ‘self pay’ and then you will be reimbursed that amount from CHM once it’s processed.

My husband and I have been members for 2 1/2 years and in that time have had 4 medical incidents we’ve needed to submit to CHM and they paid for each 100% so we’re very grateful. If we had been on my husband’s employee health insurance we would be paying more than double each month for premiums and nothing would be covered until we hit a $10k deductible so this DEFINITELY saves us money.
I agree that it took a few months to get the checks for our expenses but honestly that seems pretty par for the course in the medical world these days. Medical facilities often have to wait much longer than four months to get paid in full when they either have to get paid by the state or people are trying to pay large bills from high deductible plans so no one seemed to have a big problem with that. I agree it’s important to read their guidelines carefully. CHM is very different from an insurance company and you need to know what you’re getting into. My biggest frustration with cost sharing groups is that they don’t cover ongoing medication so we end up having to buy my asthma medicine from Canada because it’s too expensive here in this country. Other than that CHM has been a good experience for us for what it is.

An open letter to Christian Healthcare Ministries:

Dear CHM Leadership,
I am sad to say that I am terminating my membership with Christian Healthcare Ministries effective immediately (May 2020). I have been a member for several years and have previously had nothing but glowing praise for CHM. This past year has been a difficult one for my husband and I as we have suffered through the trial of infertility. Understandably, CHM does not share the cost for any infertility diagnosis or treatment. Many other healthcare organizations do the same. This is not the reason for my termination of membership.

I am terminating my membership due to one glaring issue:

CHM does not share the expenses for ANY pregnancies resulting from embryo adoption (adoption!) or IVF.

I believe this is contrary to CHM’s mission to provide “affordable, biblical, and compassionate healthcare” for Christians. Unborn human life is precious, regardless of how it was conceived. I find it appalling that CHM does not provide support for all unborn children of its members. I have previously brought this concern to the attention of CHM leadership with minimal response. I am sharing this letter publicly in the hope that CHM’s policies will change to reflect truly pro-life values.

Sincerely,
Emily Dunn

I absolutely do not recommend this plan to anyone. You will be left to fend for yourself as communication is terrible. It takes months for your case to be reviewed and it can be denied for payment. I had $15000 worth of bills and only $2000+- was approved for payment. I was left with no choice but to choose an Obamacare Plan. I paid my dues as required. I have prostate cancer.
Beware of any potential pre-exisiting conditions. If you had a cough a few years ago, it went away, and now you get a diagnosis of cancer or illness of any type, it can be considered pre-existing and there wont be anything you can do about it.
I believe in Christian healthshare type plans but I highly advise you stay away from Christian Healthshare Ministries. It is terrible. You can be denied for anything and there is no legal recourse. Just because its mentioned on the Dave Ramsey Show doesn’t mean anything. Terrible terrible experience. I will warn everyone I know to never use this plan. Don’t do it!

We have Gold plan with Brother’s Keeper, and every claim has been covered, including pre-existing. We do budget to be able to cover costs upfront and wait for reimbursement, but that’s just how the process works. We knew that going in. I’ve been very pleased.

But the debate over consumer protections may disguise a more interesting question: Could this model scale up? These ministries seem to achieve a remarkable level of member satisfaction, even if they sometimes must portion out reimbursements when the bills outstrip monthly contributions.

My wife is being denied coverage because her due date for our child is 9 days too early according to their policy. Instead of asking questions or having understanding they are shrugging shoulders and sending us on our way, all because of 9 days. That’s not what Christ would do, and sounds a whole lot like a typical insurance company.

If I could leave zero stars I would! My family and I were gold members and paying CHM the highest level each month. I was in a UTV (side by side) wreck in October 2019. I separated my collar bone over 300% requiring surgery. I was required to pay nearly $10,000 upfront prior to surgery between the anesthesiology, facility cost, and surgeon cost. Christian Healthcare Ministries refused to assist with upfront costs then denied any payment or assistance of the total accident because I wasn’t wearing a helmet. Their guidelines state that a helmet is not required when in a “gator type vehicle”, which is what a UTV is! After using all of our savings and now resorting to health credit cards we are highly in debt, not including the thousands of dollars we paid CHM over the 2.5 years. We will never make this mistake again!!! Do not do it!

Christian Healthcare Ministries is awesome! The monthly cost is FAR less than what we would pay for a typical insurance company. I broke my collar bone last fall and we received our first check back recently. Yes it takes a while but we knew that going in. They have been very clear with us about the process and we are pleased with the service we have received. I read some of the other reviews. People either didn’t do what they were supposed to or they did understand what they were getting. Yes, waiting 4 months to get our first check meant that we had to dig into our saving. However, we have saved soooo much money with CHM in the long run. Insurance companies don’t like companies like CHM because they know it’s a real threat to their business. Don’t listen to the negative reviews. Inform yourself. Know what you are getting into and follow the steps they give you. It’s actually pretty simple and far less expensive than regular health insurance.

Never submitted a bill but tried to call near the end of January as I am approaching medicare age and wanted to know how that would work. The PHONES WERE DOWN? How can you run a healthcare business and not be answering your phone during open enrollment. When I joined 3 years ago, there were nothing but 5 star reviews online for CHM, now its only 3 stars. After a couple of negative yelp reviews (which are not even posted, I finally received a call. The woman said their phone system had too many calls and crashed (31k). I asked why they would not gear up and fix that prior to open enrollment. She was mostly rude and very condescending. I now see all the reviews of people waiting for payment or being told it’s not covered or months of processing reimbursements. I can not find a financial statement anywhere and the woman I spoke to said she would email me one but did not. I canceled my subscription today.

i joined CHM a couple of years ago and did not need to file a claim until last fall. I had two claims back to back, one surgery and an eER visit for a totally separate illness. Filing the forms was a bit daunting the first time. I agree with some of the comments that communication could be better so at one point I made a call to CHM to check my status and everything was just fine. I knew going into this that reimbursement would not come for 120 days so I paid what had to be paid at the time of services rendered on my Care Credit card which has interest free payments for several months up to years depending on the amount charged. My emergency rooms bills were placed on monthly payments plans of $30 and $40. Today, just a couple of days after the 120 days were up I received two checks for the full amount of my medical needs. I am feeling very blessed and very happy with CHM.

I have been a member of CHM since January 1 of 2018. Set up my account so that they were paid automatically every month and never later. I am a Gold member and did not submit a bill to them for anything until July of 2019. My son had to have surgery on his stomach and the hospital wanted $4000.00 upfront before they would do the surgery, to make sure they would get paid. At the same time I had to have surgery on my neck for a Bulging disc. I waited for over three months working with the Hospital and CHM to get the operation preauthorized for payment. Meanwhile using all of my savings and credit card to continue paying for my sons operation while CHM worked on “processing” the bills. CHM called me and told me that they made arrangements with the hospital and doctors for my surgery. They agreed on a price and they would pay the day before the scheduled surgery on my neck. I had the surgery the end of September 2019. CHM paid for half of it and I am paying monthly payments while they “process” the rest of the bill. In December of 2018 we decided to go back to regular insurance even though it was more expensive because at least I would know what I had to pay. As it stands I am still paying monthly for my sons operation while they “process” the paperwork and I am making monthly payments on the rest of my surgery while the paperwork is being “processed”. So far I have been paid about 20% of what I have requested and submitted bills for. Even though I now have regular insurance I still have to pay CHM monthly for my boy and myself until all the bills are paid, or they will discontinue “processing” the paperwork and I will be out almost $7500.00. So far I am very unimpressed with the level of service and rate of repayment

Christian Healthcare Ministries was the BIGGEST financial mistake we’ve ever made! I read everything I could and did all of my research. They don’t tell you that it takes 4 MONTHS to get reimbursed. And that’s only if you follow the instructions to the letter. Basically, we had to use ALL of our emergency fund PLUS more to pay the medical bills. Now we have to wait 4 MONTHS to get our money back. DO NOT USE Christian Healthcare Ministries. You will go into DEBT!

I joined this service in March 2019. In December, I cancelled it. They verified the cancellation and gave me confirmation numbers. Told me the Jan 2020 payment would not be pulled from my bank account. It was. They refuse to refund me the $503.00 they have now stolen from my family. They refuse to listen to the recorded call. They keep saying that I didn’t give proper notice. They repeatedly refuse to listen to the call where I was told that it would not be taken from me. Beware! They say one thing and do another. No compassion or care. It was too good to be true.

Awful. I paid for the month of November and had a big mri done for my shoulder, and I needed to cancel in December to go on my husband’s work insurance. I paid $300 for my family to have services for the month of November and they wont cover ANYTHING because we have to leave in December. So what exactly did I pay for? Nothing! But dont worry they aren’t in the wrong because “it’s in their guidelines”. Such an awful company, and super unethical. They will just keep sucking you in because they are so behind on getting you reimbursed. Ridiculous. Definitely don’t seem Christian to me.

We have been using CHM for over 13 years. We have had our 3 children using their maternity coverage. We have had a great experience using CHM and recommend their coverage to anyone seeking alternative health insurance.
https://www.christianhealthcareministries-review.com

CHM has saved us so much money. You have to know what you are getting into though. Money for claims are not sent to you for 4-4 1/2 months, so you have to work out a payment plan with your hospital or provider until you receive the funds from CHM. If you do have a surgery planned ahead of time, you can call and ask for approval to get the funds sooner (call in advance, not a couple of days before surgery). I had a very expensive bill that was going to go to collections prior to the 4 months, and CHM worked with me to get the payment a few weeks earlier. I’ve never had any trouble contacting them (I think their office is Eastern time so do take that in mind). Also, regular meds aren’t covered, only a discount plan is applied for meds unless the med is specifically related to a single incident (e.g. need pain pill for a broken shoulder). You just have to make sure you understand the nuances of the program, and if you do and follow them correctly, you can save thousands of dollars or more every year.

I am a gold member, I had surgery. it was confusing what was eligible and alot of paperwork to send in. I waited 4 months to get paid. however they did not reimburse me any medications or equipment??? the time frame is way too long. there is no communication from the time you submit your Bill’s till you get a check, so you dont know what to think. I am pleased that the majority was paid. for price it’s worth it just wish they had a better turn around and could communicate where it’s at. I paid alot of interest on credit card waiting.

Horrible Company! Take your $ elsewhere. If you get traditional health insurance, they will cover nothing left outstanding from when you had coverage with them. They stop paying the day you end coverage. What is interesting it it took them MONTHS…I mean MONTHS to process any of our bills during the coverage period. All the while our bills went to collections left and right. Now….when we have traditional insurance…they state, it’s in our member policy we will not pay anything during your covered dates after your coverage. If CHM had paid on time to start, we would not be in this mess. They 100% practiced delay tactics. Excuses were given to us that they were understaffed. Now, we are literally left holding the bill. Do yourself a favor and avoid at all costs.

Christian Healthcare Ministries paid quite a hefty hospital bill after I had obtained a 30% discount. I am in awe and overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation. I highly recommend their services. They are very polite and prompt in communication. You do have to read the Guidelines and make sure you follow the rules and the process described.

Thank you so much, Christian Healthcare Ministries!

My husband spent 3 days in the hospital, 2 in the neuro icu for a trauma induced intracranial hemorrhage. After 8 months, Christian Healthcare Ministries sent us a check for less than $400 to cover everything; that was it, even though we were enrolled in Brothers Keeper as well.
It’s a shame that consider themselves a Christian ministry, yet are so misleading.

I am so disappointed in chm. I am a planner and planned all my financial before becoming pregnant. I had other insurance that would cover my maternity costs except for part of my midwife fees. I looked into chm to cover that 1500.00 portion and began paying the monthly silver fee since it says it covers midwife fees. I just submitted my claim and it was denied because they don’t cover the facility fee for midwives. It does not state this anywhere in their guidelines. It says midwife fees are covered. This fee is directly from the midwife and they charge it for in home births as well as birthing center births. Such a waste of 4 years of paying the extra cost so my midwife fees would be covered. They are not up front about this policy and it is such a disappointment. I will not recommend them to anyone again.

Notified by health insurance carrier in summer 2013 that they were exiting this business due to Obamacare. Checked on other health insurance options and they were incredibly costly, much more than I could afford (and I make a very decent living). Did a lot of reading/analyzing on healthshare ministries. Started with CHM on 1/1/14.
Spouse had a minor injury from a fall in 2015. Bills were shared; process was a little confusing and reimbursement was in about 4-5 months.
Last year, spouse suffered a major heart attack…very significant expenses. Bills were shared; reimbursements about the same, in 4-5 months.
Some of my thoughts if you are considering Christian Healthshare Ministries (or similar organization)
*Much lower cost. For God’s sake, save the extra $ to pay your medical bills when you need care.
*If you have a concierge healthcare company available, consider joining there also. Even better, look for cash-friendly/self-pay friendly practices and switch to those, the more comprehensive the better (example..Surgery Center of Oklahoma or similar). Most medial practices/facilities are outright hostile (or at best, ambivalent) to self-pay persons.
*Becoming a self-pay person is a whole different ballgame. Expect to be treated terribly by most medical office staff. By this, I mean the care will be the same but the business office will absolutely gouge you on the cost. You must educate yourself on what the costs should be.
*Become a customer…shop around, ask questions, talk w/ business office before you go, talk w/ hospitals/facilities NOW before you have an emergency need, ask for better pricing then demand better pricing, never accept the price you are initially told, get past the person at the desk and speak with a decision-maker. Most medical business offices will treat a self-pay person as some sort of unknown alien being who speaks an entirely different language…be prepared for that. You have to remember that they don’t view you as the customer; their customer is the health insurance/government monstrosity. You’re just an unfortunate annoyance they have to deal with sometimes.
*To the extent you can, start setting aside as much cash as you can afford to pay medical bills. Every day bills are your responsibility; it is the unknown injury or illness the healthshare will help you with. YOU must be responsible, they are there to help you not do everything for you. When you get reimbursed, don’t spend it. Put it back in your medical account for the next time
Lots more I could say, but I will just make one more statement. I wish I had known about this healthshare ministry 20-30 years ago. I would have joined then and never dealt with the government-dominated health insurance industry. I would never consider buying regular health insurance again. In an odd, sort of backhanded way, I will say thanks to Obama for this.

This so called Ministry is a joke. My wife had surgery in 2018 and was denied all coverage and sharing because she had a Pre-existing condition from over 30 yrs ago. If you want a company to take your money every month in the name of a ministry then sign right up. If you need help with what they call pre-existing no matter how long ago it was then look elsewhere. This is the kind of stuff that causes a division with Christians. I don’t mind them saying it isn’t covered under their normal plan, but not to let their members elect to help with something that could have easily been covered is just wrong. If no one wanted to help out that is fine, but at least give them a chance to say No on their on.

We lost our obamacare subsidy when our young adult children found employment and obamacare looks at your household income. My premium went from $350 a month to $2000 a month so I had to start looking around. I purchased a short term policy from lifeshield/IBA/healthcare innovations/iquotes. I was lied to by the broker and mislead about pre existing conditions/policy terms/ and claims. Do not believe anything the iquotes broker tells you about the policy. The policy is useless. I did buy christian cost sharing as excess to cover any claim above $5000. CHM delivers unlike the short term carrier and its useless counterparts. It takes a little long to get reimbursed but they tell you that and they deal with you in good faith.

The price for CHM is good, especially for what they cover. The Gold plan with brothers keeper is the best “bang for the buck”. However, there is nothing specifically stating what is covered.

Also, we have submitted claims for pregnancy and the turn around time is ridiculous. We submitted bills in June and are still waiting to be paid. This is the second pregnancy we have had covered by CHM. I would say the average turn around time for claim payment is about 6-9 months.

Amazing alternative to Heath Care!! I was on great Cigna insurance for several years but after leaving my job and becoming a stay at home mom we had to make some changes. My husband is self employed and we had few options. CHM is so much cheaper monthly and I am way more involved in my healthcare costs and decisions. We saved 1000s!! in real life. Our first baby cost more with my really good insurance that are recent one who was in the NICU for a week! We LOOOOVE them. Every time i call i get a real person or i get a call back from a real person within a day. They have tons of resources for members and i feel really supported. It takes time to get reimbursement, but every doctor, hospital, and lab I’ve worked with has payment plan options and ways to make it work for you. It takes some more work up front but you don’t go blindly into things as much. I feel like i have a lot more control with CHM. its worth learning about and i think worth switching.

Been with CHM for 4 years. Have only needed to get in contact with them once before now. Both times it has been nearly impossible to actually talk to someone. They have not returned calls. I just tried an online chat as well. Seems that does not work either. I would not recommend.

Dont go with this insurance company!!! They sent back the medical bills 3 months after they had received them only to tell us they wont cover because my husband is a tobacco user. The also call pregnancy a preexisting condition. My husband and I are Christians but we arent good enough to be covered by their plans.

I have just joined Christian Healthcare Ministries and haven’t filed a claim. My big name insurer phased out my policy after 15 years. I did not compare sharing programs; they all seemed to provide the same services. On recommendation of Dave Ramsey (CHM has a sponsorship with his show and events) I emailed and promptly received a wealth of information. I was able to sign up and they received my first month’s share right away, so I was able to cancel my other policy right then. I am in good health, so I just needed to satisfy my responsibility to my family and the new healthcare law, and this does both. I have a direct-pay physician, and with both the payment to the doctor and to CHM, I am saving $360 per month which goes toward the deductible or toward “Brother’s Keeper” contributions. Open enrollment notices are going out, and CHM advised me to “do nothing”. So far, the step-by-step process could not have been easier. One caveat: CHM emphasizes the Christian part. They delve deeply into the philosophy of sharing others’ costs from a Biblical standpoint. I did not compare with secular sharing plans, nor with those of other faiths.

Overall our experience has been great. Been on it for about a year. We are in the process of dealing with our first major claim and still working through it. Luckily our hospital has dealt with CHM in the past and has had great interaction with them. We would definitely recommend them to others.