God’s crazy math, part 2

Memo to Samaritan Ministries members:

Your low share amounts can in part be attributed to the tearing of Dr. Tony Dale’s medial meniscus in 1996 during a pickup basketball game with his sons.

The British physician, who thought God had brought him and his wife, Felicity, had come to the U.S. in 1987 to start a Christian doctors ministry, was “in the wilderness,” he said recently. It wasn’t really working out like it had in England, where he had pioneered Christians in the Caring Professions.

“I think the message we were sharing”—encouraging physicians to share their faith with patients—“was just too radical. For whatever reason it didn’t work.”

But they had found other ministry opportunities to see them through.

Then God’s crazy math started working, particularly in his knee, which is where the aforesaid medial meniscus is located.

Like any red-blooded, stubborn male in America, Tony limped around on the knee for months after injuring it, figuring it would work itself out. It didn’t. So he had surgery in fall of ’96, and when he received the bills, he received a shock. The doctor’s bill, hospital bill, bill for the MRI—all of them were far beyond what Tony had expected and were, he deemed, unrealistic.

So he challenged them, and The Karis Group was born.

“To my amazement, I was very easily able to persuade all the parties that I had been hopelessly overcharged, and after that grew an idea,” Tony said.

And a way for Tony and Felicity to support themselves. They realized most people wouldn’t have the confidence or medical background to challenge medical bills, assuming bill amounts were fixed. But, Tony said, the Lord put on Felicity’s heart that this was a way they could put their ability to negotiate bills to good use for others.

Working out of a tiny bedroom next to their kitchen, they began negotiating bills under exclusive contract with a health care sharing ministry until that ministry decided to change the way they negotiated costs. So the Dales began reaching out to other HCSMs, like Samaritan Ministries, and the rest is a history of negotiated, cash discounts on medical bills.

Karis—an alternate spelling of the Greek word for gift—contacts medical providers on behalf of members of ministries like Samaritan as well as health insurance co-ops, and gets cash discounts on medical bills. That keeps need amounts down for Samaritan members, which means sharing amounts can remain at bargain levels.

Oh, and 14 years later, Tony, who still serves on the Karis board, is doing well on that repaired medial meniscus. He continues to be a “fanatical squash player” at age 60, still living according to God’s crazy math.