Katy Talento: ‘Health Care Sharing Ministry members have a refuge from health care bureaucracy where they can receive support from a loving community, both financially and through prayer’
WASHINGTON D.C. — There is a consensus in America on at least one thing, and that’s how poorly the health care system works. According to an AP-NORC poll released last month, Americans may agree that the system is broken, but they are not united in proposed solutions. Some of the issues concerning Americans about their health care system include fears about getting care when needed, scheduling in-person doctor visits, medical staff burnout, along with too few nurses. The survey was conducted from July 28 to August 1 and sampled 1,505 adults.
The poll highlighted that about “80% of Americans worry about how they will access good health care,” while only “12% of Americans believe U.S. health care is handled extremely or very well.” Although the poll results say more than half believe the federal government has a duty to ensure citizens have health care, only 40% claim to want a single-payer system.
“There are much better choices for escaping the insurance bureaucracy that feels more like the DMV or the IRS,” said Katy Talento, executive director of Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries (The Alliance, ahcsm.org). “One of those choices should be obvious to anyone who really wants to operate partly outside the system. It represents true freedom of choice, and that’s a Health Care Sharing Ministry.”
Health Care Sharing Ministries allow faith-centered people to come together as a community to share each other’s medical expenses in accordance with their religious beliefs. Every month, members contribute a set amount that is shared between the other members to pay their medical bills. Each ministry does this differently — some have an online sharing technology system to approve the sharing of funds, while others facilitate the sending of individual checks to members. When members go to the doctor, hospital, or incur a medical cost, they submit the bill to their community through their ministry. Expenses that meet the ministry’s guidelines are shared by the community and payment is made to the family or directly to the doctor.
Talento continued, “Ask yourself: who benefits from the status quo in health care? Americans sense that they’re trapped in a rigged system that benefits giant Wall Street-owned companies and shadowy middlemen, when they’re at the most vulnerable time of their lives.
“Health Care Sharing Ministries offer a refuge from this grift, providing a supportive community of believers. A huge benefit to health care sharing is the support from the ministry community, both financially and with prayer.”
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries is a 501(c)(6) trade organization representing the common interests of Health Care Sharing Ministry organizations which are facilitating the sharing of health care needs (financial, emotional, and spiritual) by individuals and families, and their participants. The Alliance engages with federal and state regulators, members of the media, and the Christian community to provide accurate and timely information on medical cost sharing.
To learn more about the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, visit www.ahcsm.org or follow the ministry on Facebook or Twitter.
To interview a representative from The Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Harrison, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102.