Why SMI? Dr. Z said health care 'didn't have to be that way'

Dissatisfied with overpriced medical insurance that failed to cover what he needed, Dr. Eric Zielinski began looking for other solutions.

Dr. Z, known online as “the essential oil guy,” says that “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

“Things don’t have to be this expensive,” he says. “It’s wrong, unethical.”

He and his family were introduced to Samaritan through a friend whose wife had a breast cancer scare. During that time, the support the couple received through the letters and cards sent by other members was so moving that Dr. Z decided to research it for himself and his family and decided it was perfect.

“You’re helping organize something that is impossible for any one person to do,” he says. “It’s beautiful.”

Dr. Z is happy to be involved with a group of people who can create change and believes that being a member of a heath care sharing ministry like Samaritan is a vote against the system, whether they know it or not.

“This is more powerful than any presidential vote we could ever have because we’re actually making a difference now,” he says. “Our medical providers are forced to make a decision on the spot of what they’re going to charge us and how they’re going to handle people whether they’re cash-pay or insurance, and they’re responding. They don’t want to deal with insurance. They’re trapped, too.”

In the spirit of natural health, Samaritan’s Guidelines allowing members to choose treatments from the licensed provider they prefer is especially appealing to the author of The Healing Power of Essential Oils.

“You don’t get that support from the medical system or from health insurance,” Dr. Z says. “That’s why I don’t belong to insurance.”

Dr. Z also says the cash-pay discounts he has received have saved Samaritan members money. He received a 60 percent discount for a son’s stitches right off the top because of cash pay. In addition, the Zielinskis paid very little money with the birth of their fourth child, Bella.

“We need to have the mind of Christ, led by the Holy Spirit, to make these decisions for life,” Dr. Z says. “This is so key to what you all do, which is why I’m such a big proponent.”