Every month, members of Samaritan Ministries give to other members who have medical needs. Members pray and send their monthly share, along with notes of encouragement, directly to the member in need. This allows members to minister to all aspects of the need: spiritual, emotional, physical, and financial.
Samaritan Ministries International (SMI) is a nonprofit religious health care sharing ministry that enables Christians to help one another with medical needs without using health insurance. Because the ministry is not an insurance company, some of the terminology and processes are different than what you may be used to.
SMI members do not pay “premiums,” and money is not collected by SMI to “cover” members' medical expenses. Instead, members send their monthly shares directly to other members with medical needs. Share notifications are sent out monthly, and they inform the members who they'll be sharing with that month, and what the need was for. Once members receive their share notification, they send their designated share amount, as well as a note of encouragement directly to the member with the need.
For most of the year, members share directly with one another. When not sharing with another member directly, members send their Share(s) to the Samaritan Ministries office to support the ministry's administrative services.
Medical needs below the initial unshareable amount of $1,000 for Samaritan Classic and $2,000 for Samaritan Basic are not shared. Needs that exceed the initial unshareable amount are shareable up to the maximum shareable amount of $250,000 for Samaritan Classic and $247,500 for Samaritan Basic. Please note that maternity Needs have a maximum shareable amount of $247,000 for Samaritan Classic and $236,500 for Samaritan Basic. The amount above the maximum shareable amount may be shared for members enrolled in Save to Share™.
Needs that do not qualify according to the Guidelines cannot be shared as part of the monthly share notification. However, we can make these unqualified needs known to the membership as a Special Prayer Need, and other members are free to make donations towards the unqualified need.
SMI is governed by a nine member Board of Directors, all of whom are SMI members. Six of the Board members are elected by the membership. Each Board member's term is for three years. None of the elected Board members have a financial or employment interest in SMI. No Board members receive financial compensation for their service as Board members, except for reimbursement of expenses incurred attending the meetings. The Board has three regularly scheduled meetings each year and additional special meetings as needed.
How it Works
A medical need arises
There are no network restrictions. Choose the doctor, hospital and pharmacy that works best for you and your family.
The need is shared
Medical bills are sent to Samaritan Ministries, and we notify members to pray and send money for your shareable bills.
Your bills get paid
The money received is used to pay your medical bills and you enjoy encouraging messages from other members.
Introduction to Membership Levels
In both Samaritan Classic and Samaritan Basic, your monthly share amount is based on the number in your family participating in the membership and the age of the oldest person in that group.
Switching Membership Levels
Please read Section XIV carefully about the implications of switching levels. Switching to Basic will result in all bills subsequently received by SMI to be shared under the Basic Guidelines even if the services were provided before the switch. In switching to Classic from Basic you may totally lose the ability to share some needs.
Summarized below is a brief introduction of the key differences between membership levels. Please read the full Guidelines for a complete explanation of sharing.
Sharing Percentage
Basic—90% | Classic—100%
The amount of qualifying bills above the initial unshareable amount will be shared at 100% in Samaritan Classic, and at 90% in Samaritan Basic, absent any prorating. (Section VI.A.7)
Maternity needs in Samaritan Classic will be shared at 70% with a maximum 30% co-share amount of $3,000.
Initial Unshareable Amount
Basic—$2,000 | Classic—$1,000
The initial amount per medical condition that members do not share in Basic is $2,000, compared to$1,000 in Classic. The initial unshareable amount can be adjusted down for discounts received in Basic only. (Section VI.A.4)
A medical condition does not qualify for any sharing until the total bills exceed the initial unshareable amount (not counting discounts).
Maternity Limit
Basic—$5,000 | Classic—$247,000
Maternity needs in Samaritan Basic have a $5,000 sharing limit. Additionally, a maximum 10% co-share amount of $13,500 applies to prevent these needs from becoming too great a burden. (Section IX.A.8)
Maternity needs in Samaritan Classic have a $247,000 maximum shareable amount.
A multi-person membership (or its equivalent) is required for maternity sharing. (Section IX.A.1)
Maximum Shareable Amount
Basic—$247,500 | Classic—$250,000
We are not insurance.
Health Insurance is a contract where one party agrees to be legally responsible for and accept another party's risk of loss, in exchange for a payment called a premium.
Health care sharing is an arrangement where members share one another's medical expenses through voluntary giving, not because of legal obligation.
We are not licensed or registered by any insurance board or department, since we are not practicing the business of insurance. We do not assess applicants' health risks, because neither the ministry nor the members are assuming financial liability for any other member's risk. There is no deadline or cutoff date to sign up for SMI; you can join anytime. There is no “policy term” ... your membership continues as long as you meet your responsibilities.
No Premiums
Insurance companies collect premiums that they keep until the money is needed for claims. Samaritan Ministries is not an insurance company, so we have no premiums. Members of Samaritan Ministries retain possession of their money until it is needed. Most months each year they send their assigned share, not to the ministry, but directly to another member who has a qualified medical need.
No Claims
Because Samaritan Ministries is not an insurance company, there is no transfer of risk. This means that when a member receives medical care, there is no “claim” that is owed. There is simply a medical need. Samaritan members send proof of their medical expenses to the Samaritan Ministries office (or they can submit the need online via their Samaritan Dashboard), where the need will be evaluated according to the Guidelines. Then the qualified needs are shared among the members. Again, this giving is voluntary and does not involve any legal obligation (claim) on the ministry or the other members.
Initial Unshareable Amount
In a sharing ministry, each member is always responsible for all of their own medical expenses. A medical need below the initial unshareable amount of $1,000 for Samaritan Classic or $2,000 for Samaritan Basic is not shared by the members.
Operational Costs
Most months, members share directly with one another. On some occasions, a member will send their Share to the Samaritan Ministries office to help meet administrative needs (non-refundable after 30 days). In their first year, new members may also be asked to send a few months to the office, depending on administrative needs. Unique services provided to the members may be paid for by other means as determined by the Board of Directors. An audit of ministry finances is conducted by an independent, outside auditing firm each year to verify integrity in how administrative money is handled.
Balancing Needs and Shares
If all needs cannot be met, we use a prorating method to evenly distribute the burden. For example, if there is only enough share money for 97% of the needs submitted for a particular month, 97% of each need would be shared for that month. We can also overlap needs from two months so that there is enough money for all the needs. See Section VI.D “Balancing Needs and Shares/Proration.”
Is this legal?
Samaritan Ministries is not restricted from operating in any of the 50 United States, U.S. territories, or any foreign country, and has no legal barriers of which we are aware. Samaritan Ministries International is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit religious organization. If your state requires all residents to have health insurance during the year or be exempt from the requirement, consult samaritanministries.org/tax for instructions on how to file your exemption. Health care sharing also satisfies the mandates of the federal Affordable Care Act. For years 2018 and prior, members are to complete the IRS created Form 8965 which indicates what portion of the year they were a member of a health care sharing ministry.
Health Care / Doctor Visits as a Cash-Pay Patient
Members deal directly with the providers of their choice, as “cash-pay” patients. There are no “preferred providers” or required networks, therefore, no “out of network” penalties. Members are free to work with their providers to determine the best treatments for their families.
Sharing Large Needs
SMI members are also eligible to participate in another sharing ministry, Save to Share, where needs exceeding $250,000 may be shared. (See Save to Share Guidelines.) Massachusetts' members are required to participate in Save to Share. There is no limit on the number of needs that an individual member or household may have, and neither your membership nor monthly share amount is affected by the amount of medical expenses you have.
Receiving Shares
The sharing turnaround time is normally within two to three months from receipt of your medical bills and required information. If your Need Processing Form is correct and complete, and there are no ongoing financial negotiations with providers, your need will be shared at the beginning of the second month after we receive your need. (See Section X.)
SMI will provide you with a checklist (via postal mail and in your Samaritan Dashboard) so that you can keep track of the members assigned to send to your need. If someone on your list has stopped sharing and will not be sending to you, that amount will be reassigned the following month to a member who is sharing. You must be current in your sharing responsibilities and other member requirements to have a need shared by the membership.
Medical Care Outside the U.S.
Whether you're on vacation or a missions trip, bills from medical treatments occurring overseas can be shared. They must be written or translated into English and the price converted to U.S. dollars. They are handled the same as bills from treatment in the U.S. in all other respects.