Why SMI? The Coughlins

Daniel and Tamra Coughlin, who were expecting their first child as they headed to the mission field in Mexico in 2009, knew they needed some kind of help with health care expenses but also knew health insurance could be a dead end.

In addition to Tamra’s impending first childbirth, they had Daniel’s past cancer to deal with. He was in remission, but a history of cancer is a surefire reason for exorbitant premiums on health insurance.

“We knew we weren’t going to be able to afford insurance anytime soon, even when we had income,” Tamra says. “We were always going to have to be piggybacking off insurance companies to keep from losing our standard plan.”

Before they went south to serve with Casa Vida y Esperanza (House of Life and Hope) children’s home in Mexico, they signed up with Samaritan Ministries. After all, most, if not all, of the staff at the orphanage were members of Samaritan, including founder Bill Schick, an old acquaintance of SMI founder and president Ted Pittenger.

“It was quite a step of faith for us,” Tamra says, “because I thought that everybody needed insurance to be able to afford having a baby.”

Health insurance wouldn’t work in Mexico anyway, she says.

Their initial experiences allayed concerns about health care sharing, though. In his first contact with Member Services, Daniel was geared up for an adversarial conversation, “and they were like, ‘Oh, sure, no problem.’”

“It was different talking to somebody who wanted to help who was a Christian,” he says.

In fact, with the childbirth in Mexico, getting bills was difficult, but in the end the Coughlins were able to document the expenses, which were approved.

“I was not terribly confident they were going to be able to share that, but they did,” he says.