A membership in Samaritan Ministries is limited to members of the same nuclear family. Nuclear family includes only husband, wife, and children, but can include grandchildren in the circumstances described in II.F. There are five primary sizes of participation for an SMI membership—one person; two persons (two members of the same nuclear family); three to seven person family; eight or more person family (effective February 2020); and single parent with one or more children (widowed, divorced, or legally separated).
Any unmarried children age 17 and under, and unmarried children age 18 and over who meet the requirements of paragraph A, may be included as a child in a family membership. Their medical needs may be submitted for sharing if they meet the member requirements in Section I and are listed on the Membership Application/ Continuation Form. Children 18 and over must verify that they meet the member requirements by signing an application form.
A. Adult Children (Age 18 and Over)
Your single children from age 18 up to and including age 25 may be on your membership if they are living at home (which includes while away at school full time).
However, an 18 year old and over may not be on a membership with a sibling when no parent is active on the membership. Whenever that occurs, the older child will be split off to his own membership.
Children age 26 and over must split to their own membership. If an adult child turns age 26 without creating his own membership, he will be inactivated from Samaritan Ministries membership. For more information about splitting off an existing membership, see Section XIV.D.
If your child has a disability, there is administrative leeway for your child to remain on your family membership even after turning age 26. Contact your Member Services team before that date if you wish to apply for this status.
B. Marriage
When your children are married, they must have their own membership even if they qualify as your dependent, or are under age 26. The spouse will not be a part of the new membership until they submit an application.
C. Thirty Day Transition Allowance
- Children who become ineligible to be on their parents’ membership—as described in items A and B, will have a 30-day grace period to obtain their own membership after which they will no longer be considered part of their parents’ membership. It is the child’s obligation to be aware when he is responsible for his own membership.
- Gap Time—Any incidents which occur from the time a child leaves his parents’ membership to the date he begins his own, will not be shared.
D. Newborn
A newborn, whose addition to the membership will increase the monthly share amount, will be included within the membership retroactive to the date of birth, as long as at least one parent was a member as of the baby’s birth and you notify SMI to add him to the membership no later than 30 days after the birth; otherwise, the effective membership date will be no earlier than the date of notification to SMI. SMI should be notified as soon as possible to add subsequent newborn children to the membership. Please be aware that there are specific Guidelines addressing sharing needs for a newborn (Section IX).
E. Adoption
Adopted, unmarried children are considered members of the family the same as biological children.
F. Grandchildren
Grandchildren may be included as part of their grandparents’ membership if they meet all of the following criteria:
- They live permanently with their grandparents (their residence), and
- The grandparents have legal custody, or the grandchild is the child of a minor, and
- They meet the eligibility Guidelines for children, and
- They have no other agency, person, or group responsible for their medical bills.
G. Splitting Off a Membership
A child or spouse splitting off an existing membership will begin at the same level as the existing membership, but may immediately switch to a different level subject to the switching Guidelines i Section XIV.