Why SMI?: They knew where their money would be going

When Regan and Amy Barr started their classical education service, the Lukeion Project, they weren’t prepared for taking care of their health care needs.

Regan had been laid off from a small Christian software company in 2005. He and Amy formed the Lukeion Project later that year and started teaching classes in the spring semester of 2006, which provided for their family. But they had to rely on “barebones health insurance” for their health care needs.

“I think we were spending over $500 per month on premiums,” Regan says. “We were hoping we never had to use it, because we had a high deductible. We felt like all this money was just going away. We also had concerns about losing control of that money, because over the past few years we had developed a strong sense of stewardship. If God had blessed us with this money, we had to make sure that it wasn’t being used for purposes we consider immoral and that it’s not being wasted by going to bureaucracy or politicians.”

The Barrs mentioned their health insurance frustrations to a friend who shared that she and her husband were looking at Samaritan Ministries.

“I began investigating it,” Regan says. “It was a brand new idea to us. You really feel there’s only one way it could be done—insurance.”

Regan’s investigation convinced him otherwise. They liked the idea of knowing where their money would be going and that they would help bear fellow believers’ burdens. The Barrs finally decided to join Samaritan in 2010.

Although they have never had to submit a need, “we feel so much better writing that check every month, knowing it’s going for a real need and not for any kind of procedures we consider to be immoral or wasteful.”

Amy says that Samaritan has “been a real blessing to us.” It has encouraged the Barrs to be better stewards of their own health by watching what they eat.

“Overall, we have been thrilled,” she says.