Samaritan Ministries comments on health care bill passed by House

Samaritan Ministries released the following statement on Monday regarding the American Health Care Act, which was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 4:

On May 3, the U.S. House of Representatives took the first step toward repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) by passing the American Health Care Act (AHCA). That same day, Rep. Mike Kelly introduced HR 2310, which amends the IRS code to make members of health care sharing ministries eligible to establish health savings accounts (HSAs).

As has been widely reported, there will most likely be substantial changes by the U.S. Senate to the AHCA. Regardless of the avenue the Senate takes, we are working to have language included that is favorable to health care sharing ministries.

Currently, the AHCA includes language that would penalize those that have not maintained continuous insurance coverage, defined as a lapse of 63 days or more over the previous 12 months. The penalty would be in the form of higher premiums for one year. This will only affect health care sharing ministry members if they buy insurance. However, if the continuous coverage provision remains in a Senate version, we are seeking an exemption for health care sharing ministry members so that time spent as a member would not be considered a lapse, even though health care sharing is not insurance.

We will also be working to either pass HR 2310 or have the language included in the Senate revision of the AHCA so that members can be eligible to establish HSAs.

Please continuing praying for our elected officials as they wrestle with these difficult issues and for wisdom for your Samaritan Ministries leadership as they communicate with those representatives.