Accreditation for ministries to analyze ethical governance, legal structure, financial management, transparency with the public, honest member recruitment, sharing processes with integrity, reasonable overhead expenses, and more
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Health Care Sharing Ministries now have yet another way to confirm their value to their customers with a new credentialing process. A recently formed, independent Health Care Sharing Accreditation Board will delve into each ministry that applies and examine dozens of critical organizational characteristics to decide whether it meets the exacting standards of a transparent, true Health Care Sharing Ministry — or if it’s just a bad actor.
Katy Talento, the executive director of the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries (Alliance, ahcsm.org), said, “Measuring the high quality of service offered by Health Care Sharing Ministries is an arduous but necessary task. When a ministry successfully runs the accreditation gauntlet, it will have shown the public that it operates with integrity and sound management and can be trusted to stand with members during their most trying health care experiences.”
The Health Care Sharing Accreditation Board established demanding standards against which applicant organization will be evaluated. These include, but are not limited to, standards in the following categories:
- Legal structure and governance
- Organizational management and compensation
- Conflicts of interest and related party transactions
- External communications and marketing
- Enrollment processes
- Written acknowledgements from members
- Published sharing guidelines
- Financial sharing processes, including processing time, dispute resolution and appeals, total amounts shared and not shared among members, etc.
- Ratio of administrative overhead expenses to programmatic expenses
- Membership contribution guidelines and management processes
- Audited financial statements and IRS Form 990
The professional achievements of the Health Care Sharing Accreditation Board members conducting evaluations make accreditation that much more consequential.
“A careful look at the members of the independent Health Care Sharing Accreditation Board will tell the public there will be absolutely no corners cut with accreditation for Health Care Sharing Ministries,” says Talento. “The accreditation board means business.”
Members of the accreditation board are:
- Diane Black, Former U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee Chair, Registered Nurse
- Mary Mayhew, President and CEO, Florida Hospital Association, former health agency chief for Maine Gov. LePage and Florida Gov. DeSantis, former head of Medicaid, the largest health care program in the U.S.
- James Lansberry, Former Executive Vice President, Samaritan Ministries
- Dave Cram, CPA, specialist in religious non-profit accounting, former auditor for Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and Evangelical Christian Credit Union
- Josh Heidelman, Castaneda + Heidelman, LLP, an attorney experienced in non-profit law, former General Counsel of global mission organization Wycliffe Bible Translators
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 Health Care Sharing Ministries.
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.