Contempt for Catholics

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, says the Catholic church finds itself opposed to ObamaCare. This isn't how Roman Catholic bishops wanted this to go. According to Fox News, Cardinal Dolan directed his remarks to President Obama, saying:

We want to be with you. We want to be strong, and if you keep doing this, we’re not going to be able to be one of your cheerleaders.

Catholic leaders want health care for every person in America, from the baby in the womb to the stranger in our midst. Obamacare doesn't cover unborn babies or illegal immigrants. Instead, it mandates oral contraceptives, which do nothing to prevent conception, but instead flush each fertilized embryo from the womb.

Our government has begun negotiating with Iran's ayatollahs. Wouldn't it be worth their time to spend a little more effort on the bishops?

The Most Generous Nation on Earth

The United States is the most generous nation on Earth again this year. According to CNBC, a higher proportion of Americans helped a stranger than any other country in the world. The 2013 World Giving Index measures three statistics each month: giving money, volunteering time, and helping strangers. America had fallen to fifth place last year but bounced back in 2013.

That first place score would have been even higher if more Americans knew about healthcare sharing ministries ("healthshares"). Right now, almost two hundred thousand Americans choose a stranger to support financially each month. That's how a healthshare works--you commit to contribute a certain amount and decide which needy person gets your money. It's helping strangers in their need; strangers who are pledged to help you when you're in trouble.

Help us spread the word about healthshares and who knows how high America could score on next year's giving index!

Bro-surance v. HealthShare

James 1:27 says, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." Christian healthcare sharing ministries ("healthshares") exemplify both halves of this verse.

It is fairly obvious how healthshares minister to widows, orphans, and other needy people; but not as obvious how healthshares keep a Christian unstained from the world. If you have heard about the "bro-surance ads" that have been designed to sell Obamacare to healthy young adults, you know what "staining" looks like. If you haven't been exposed to these ads yet--don't!

Ephesians 5:11-12 says, "Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret." Oh, that these ads were kept in secret! Instead, millions of dollars are being spent to persuade young people to sign up for Obamacare so they can get free birth control or indulge in self-destructive acts.

Healthshares, by contrast, invite believers to live wisely and love well. Sharing your money with a young mother who has just been through a difficult pregnancy is so much more satisfying than having big government or big business take your dollars from your protesting fist to pay for behavior or procedures that violates God's law.

One Liberal's Critique of Church

A thoughtful, self-proclaimed "liberal" named Robert posted this on my Facebook page last night:

Churches in our society have been given special privileges, a kind of "welfare for institutions," in return for the direct social welfare services they used to provide for far more of than they do today. They don't pay taxes. The rest of us pay for their use of the country's infrastructure, health, safety, and other services. "Freedom of religion" individual rights are also extended to the institutions, giving them latitude to ignore some laws that the rest of us must follow.

I'm forcing myself to skip a history lecture here so that I can explore Robert's concept of "direct social welfare services." I grew up in an area of extreme poverty--we didn't have running water, but where I came from, it wasn't the people with outhouses who were poor, it was the people without outhouses... and we had plenty of poor people in Boone County, West Virginia. The local economy consisted of food stamps, welfare checks, black lung benefits, and a little moonshine.

My father coordinated VISTA ("Volunteers in Service to America," one of the legal alternatives to the draft) in Boone County, and we had a constant supply of bright young college graduates in our home. Dad also worked for the West Virginia Mountain Project, an inland mission of the Presbyterian church, and entertained an endless stream of seminary students who were looking for ways to serve the poor. Dad eventually got the job title of "mobile minister to the poor" (essentially a Presbyterian social worker) and spent many of his days visiting people in jail, putting roofs on widows' houses, and helping people fill out government forms.

I say all that to say this--from what I observed in Boone County, government programs feed the body but kill the soul. My liberal friend Robert may not believe in "souls," so I'll use other terms--welfare as we know it alienates the recipient. It makes people feel less human. Some (but by no means all) of the "direct social welfare services" that churches offer, by contrast, make people feel more human.

This blog exists to explore the healthshare alternative to free-market health insurance and state-funded Medicaid. From my research so far, healthshares appear to heal the body and feed the soul. Can anybody say that about Blue Cross or Medicaid?

Navigator Training

One way to get paid for helping people choose healthshare is to sign up as a Navigator. The training is easy, free, and takes about 20-30 hours for most people. Navigators are paid $20/hour to help people understand their options and choose a plan that complies with Obamacare. Since Christian healthcare sharing ministries ("healthshares") comply with Obamacare, this could be the solution.

I have downloaded my Navigator training materials and will report

Informed Choice Needs More Than a Website

President Obama recently said, “Buying health insurance is never going to be like buying a song on iTunes. You know, it’s just a much more complicated transaction.” Academic research bears this out: low-income patients who were given a choice of health insurance plans were less likely to sign up for any of them than were patients who only had one option. To quote Sabrina (from the movie of the same name), "Sometimes more isn't better, Linus. Sometimes it's just more."

Except that usually more is better--it just takes more time and effort to figure out the best choice. That's how insurance agents and brokers make their living. They can save the average consumer enough money picking the right plan to pay their own insurance--and mortgage, taxes, and children's tuition through college.  Choice is better, but helping people choose is a full-time job.

Healthcare sharing ministries ("healthshares") are a great healthcare choice for Christian families, but that doesn't mean that the average Christian family is ready to make that choice. This blog exists to learn how to connect people with questions to people with answers.

Is Self-Pay Better Than Medicaid?

If a person near the poverty line can afford to pay a doctor out of pocket, they may be better off not showing their Medicaid card. According to the New York Times, Medicaid Growth Could Aggravate Doctor Shortage. That is because existing doctors are expected to treat a growing number patients for a shrinking amount of money per visit.

In California, with the nation’s largest Medicaid population, many doctors say they are already overwhelmed and are unable to take on more low-income patients. Dr. Hector Flores, a primary care doctor in East Los Angeles whose practice has 26,000 patients, more than a third of whom are on Medicaid, said he could accommodate an additional 1,000 Medicaid patients at most...

Payment rates for Medicaid, known in California as Medi-Cal, are also low here compared with most states, and are being cut by an additional 10 percent in some cases just as the expansion begins.

Americans who qualify for Medicaid under the newly-expanded rules aren't eligible for subsidies on the new Obamacare exchanges, making it easier for many working-class Americans to get health insurance at the same time that it makes it harder for them to get health care.

A growing number of citizens are learning creative ways to pay their own bills, as Sean Parnell explains at TheSelfPayPatient.com. I'll be eager to learn what Sean says about hiding your Medicaid card from your doctor!