A different kind of health insurance mandate

Even from some Christian colleges!

In 2007, as many Samaritan members will recall, when the state of Massachusetts passed a law requiring all of its citizens to purchase health insurance, our Lord miraculously provided our members in Massachusetts with a way out. In 2009, when the federal government was in the process of adopting the nationwide health insurance requirement, through a series of providential contacts the Senate Democratic staff worked with us to include an exemption for health care sharing members in the bill.

While the recent Supreme Court decision did not discuss our exemption, a different court case specifically addressed that exemption and upheld it against a legal challenge.1 So while we must be ever vigilant to watch for efforts to undermine these exemptions, at least at this time they are clearly in place.

However, a new obstacle has arisen to our freedom, and Biblical imperative to bear one another’s burdens without health insurance. This new challenge comes from schools, almost exclusively colleges, which are requiring students to prove that they have health insurance coverage in order to enroll. The reason offered for this requirement varies from school to school—although common reasons given are concerns that the students need access to health care, or that the school might have liability for the student’s medical expenses.2

These are not well-founded reasons for colleges to be mandating health insurance. Anyone who has fought with an insurance company over coverage, or used an “out of network” doctor or hospital, realizes that having insurance does not equal access to health care.3 Furthermore, unless the college negligently caused the need for medical care (in which case the college’s liability insurance should be paying), the college has no responsibility to pay a student’s medical bills. No doubt, the lack of a compelling reason to require health insurance coverage is why so many colleges do not have such a requirement.

The good news is that the majority of colleges which require health insurance have accepted SMI’s health care sharing as meeting their requirement. At the same time, there have been some colleges and universities that are refusing to accept SMI, and the very surprising and disappointing news is that this includes some Christian institutions. In many cases we do not know the reason, but some Christian colleges have said that it is because there are some types of expenses SMI does not share. None have offered a Biblical reason for their decision or questioned the Biblical foundation of our ministry.

Recently, one well-known Christian school first said they were concerned that hospitals would not treat our members in an emergency. When told that the law requires hospitals to treat emergencies, they then said they were concerned that the hospitals would not provide continuing care after the emergency. After we provided references to the hospitals in their area that had treated our members (including two heart surgeries each costing over one-half million dollars), they then said because SMI does not keep monetary reserves and does not give our members a legal contract to pay their bills, they could not accept health care sharing instead of insurance.

In other words, they said because health care sharing does not operate just like insurance, they would not accept SMI in place of insurance. And this was said even though, for the past four years, the school had accepted students with health care sharing and they admitted it had not caused any problems.

Whether due to a school leadership’s ignorance, stubbornness or another reason, some SMI members with children attending college have been faced with spending hundreds of dollars for unwanted and unnecessary health insurance from a company that covers practices that violate Biblical beliefs. One SMI parent, Kim Reckinger, upset with the arbitrariness of his son’s school’s rejection of health care sharing, launched a successful effort to overrule the bureaucrats by getting a law passed requiring all public colleges in Minnesota to accept health care sharing (see accompanying insert). We are told that the University of North Carolina system will soon be adopting a similar rule.

Taking inspiration from these examples, we believe that since the Lord has used SMI members to soften the hearts of government officials (Luke 18:1-8, Proverbs 21:1), He may use you to reach the hearts of administrators of our Christian schools to accept a Biblical approach to handling medical needs.

So SMI is beginning an effort to work with our members to persuade colleges, particularly those professing a Christian witness, to recognize the legitimacy of health care sharing, just as have the federal government, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina and over sixty public and private colleges. Every one of you can be helpful in some way:

1. Begin by praying for God to prepare and soften the hearts of the decision makers at the colleges, and to give wisdom, tact, and perseverance to our members and staff who will communicate with them.
2. If you or your child are considering a college, ask early on if they require health insurance, and if so, will they accept participation in a health care sharing ministry (HCSM) instead. If they won’t accept HCS, let them know it may affect your decision to enroll and ask for their reason. Whatever the report, please contact our Public Policy department and let them know what you have experienced. A short summary of your experience and what steps you suggest should be taken next would be most helpful.
3. If you are an alumnus or financial supporter of a Christian college, contact their student services department and ask if they require health insurance. If they do, ask if they accept HCS. If they don’t accept HCS, ask them why, and express your disappointment. Whatever the report, please contact our Public Policy department and let them know what you have learned. Again, writing up a short summary of your experience and what steps you suggest should be taken next would be most helpful.
4. As we work with specific Christian colleges that are unresponsive, we will let our membership know, seeking prayer, calls, letters and the name of anyone you might know connected to the college who can help SMI to get an opportunity to address the college’s concerns.

If you would like an information sheet with reasons why HCSM should be accepted by a college in lieu of insurance, please contact your Member Services team.

1. Liberty University v. Geithner [753 F.Supp.2d 611]

2. On another front, schools competing in NCAA sports are forced by NCAA rules to make the athletes purchase health insurance. We are working on getting this changed, but it will take some time. This rule has no impact on non-athletes or athletes in non- NCAA schools.

3. “Universal healthcare’s dirty little secrets,” by Michael Tanner and Michael Cannon. Los Angeles Times, April 5, 2007.