Christian HealthCare Ministries
Christian HealthCare Ministries
Categories: AACC BLOG
What is Christian Healthcare Ministries?
Health cost sharing is a way to satisfy your healthcare costs and help others while upholding your Christian beliefs and sticking to your budget.
Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) is a group of hundreds of thousands of Christians across the United States and around the world who share each other’s burdens in the area of healthcare costs. As a nonprofit ministry, CHM isn’t a health insurance company. However, it’s an eligible option for individuals and families under the national healthcare law.
The motivation? Hearts affected and changed by Jesus Christ. Similar to the way a church takes an offering to provide a place of worship, CHM takes an “offering” to meet healthcare costs. CHM members have hundreds of thousands of Christians helping them meet their medical costs; however, ministry participation is voluntary and members are ultimately responsible for their medical bills.
Christian Healthcare Ministries is the nation’s first and longest-serving health cost sharing ministry and provides an affordable, accountable and faith-based framework to help fellow believers facing a health crisis. Likewise, brothers and sisters in Christ step in to help you in your time of need.
Members’ pre-set monthly financial gifts to CHM are the funds used to share each other’s healthcare costs. CHM members select one of three programs: Gold, Silver or Bronze (visit chministries.org/programs to find out more about program levels and costs). Funds are placed in a Member Escrow Account, enabling CHM staff to process medical needs efficiently and quickly.
You may be thinking, “sounds great, but is it dependable?” Well, let’s talk numbers:
- CHM shares 100 percent of eligible bills.*
- The ministry has shared over $3.5 billion in members’ healthcare costs.
- In 2018, CHM members shared 267,408 bills, representing over $804 million in healthcare costs.
- CHM has been a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity since 2013.
- CHM is the only health cost sharing ministry endorsed by financial experts Dave Ramsey and Howard Dayton.
*Medical bill eligibility is based on the CHM Guidelines, which explains what medical expenses are met through this Bible-based program. Guidelines can be found at chministries.org/guidelines.
CHM has existed as a ministry since 1981. However, our history goes as far back as New Testament times. CHM is based on Galatians 6:2 and Acts 2 and 4.
Our purpose is to glorify God, show Christian love, and experience God’s presence as Christians share each other’s medical bills.
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
(Galatians 6:2 ESV)
All who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need
(Acts 2:44-45 ESV)
…There was not a needy person among them…
(Acts 4:34a ESV)