SD becomes 18th state to protect health care sharing
By Mike Miller · Mar 05, 2012
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard has signed legislation exempting health care sharing ministries from the state’s insurance code. The law, signed on March 2, 2012, states that “A health care sharing ministry may not be considered to be engaging in the business of insurance.”
That means that the HCSMs—Samaritan Ministries, Christian Care Medishare, and Christian Healthcare Newsletter—cannot be regulated by the state as health insurance carriers. They will remain free to share health care needs according to Biblical teachings and Christian values.
South Dakota is the 18th state to grant safe harbor to HCSMs. The others are Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
We’re grateful to God that He has seen fit to protect our members in those states through such legislation and pray that more will follow suit.