Why SMI? Ben’s ministry needed some relief

Olympic wrestling champion Ben Peterson was getting pinned by health insurance premiums.

After doing some research, the co-founder of Camp of Champs executed a quick reversal and scored a point—actually, several points—by joining Samaritan Ministries.

Ben and his wife, Jan, had heard of health care sharing ministries before, but had been hesitant about joining them. By 2005, health care sharing was back in play. Ben’s premiums had a stranglehold on his finances and were hurting the ministry. He tried raising the deductible, but the premiums kept going up anyway.

“Our camp had been paying my insurance along with my salary,” Ben says. “My health insurance costs began burying the ministry.”

He kept hearing positive things about health care sharing ministries, and decided to look seriously into them. Convinced they were better than health insurance, he joined Samaritan in 2005 at a considerable savings; the monthly share amount was less than half of the premium he had been paying.

Jan didn’t join at that time. She still had doubts. But after seeing how Samaritan worked for Ben over his first year of membership, and after running into problems with renewing her health insurance that also included the children who were still at home, she made the leap to health care sharing.

“She said, ‘I think I understand now why you agreed to this,’” Ben says. “It was a process of learning. We had misgivings at the beginning. But I tell people, ‘Do some research, ask people about it, take time to think about it, pray about it, evaluate it, and ask who you’re trusting.’ I found by the end of the first year that I had changed my thinking. I’m trusting in God and His people now, not in an insurance company. Jan had to do the same thing. We just naturally are told that insurance companies are really safe. I’ve found in these past few years that insurance is not always certain.”

One of the things Ben has done from the beginning of his membership is to send the suggested donation to the Special Prayer Need on his monthly share slip. His family has had to use SPNs because of pre-existing conditions.

“I urge all my fellow SMI members to do the same,” Ben says. “In talking to potential members, pre-existing conditions are a huge hurdle. I wish to tell them with confidence that all those expenses can be paid like the regular sharing. If we all gave our monthly $20, that could happen.

“I’ve personally seen how God has provided for those special needs. I knew right from the beginning that I should just contribute to that every month; that’s not an option to me. Any of us might have that Special Prayer Need ourselves. I know that for myself because I continue to have to deal with my pre-existing Churg-Strauss syndrome. The $20 and even extra is a small step to provide for the pre-existing expenses.”

The need process has worked well for the Petersons, Ben says.

“There’s some extra work in it,” he says. “I’ve had to go to a medical supplier or hospital or clinic and work to get the price down. Yeah, instead of getting one check, we get a whole bunch of them and have to keep records. But in the end, it is worth it. And the special notes that we receive are a real encouragement.”