Christian Healthcare Ministries Insurance Review
Monday, July 25, 2022
Christian Healthcare Ministries is a non-profit Christian ministry that has been operational for over four decades. The organization shares and manages the medical bills of its members through a bill-sharing program and hopes to be a "brother's keeper" against expensive medical bills.
This article contains a thorough Christian Healthcare Ministries Insurance Review and will cover how to get a CHM membership, how to pay your bills as a CHM member, and it’ll also contain the various doctors that accept Christian Healthcare Ministries Insurance like the Deuk Spine Institute.
What is Christian Healthcare Ministries?
Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) is a self-described budget-friendly, biblical, and compassionate healthcare cost solution for Christian believers in all states in the USA and worldwide. Christian Healthcare Ministries was established in 1981 and headed by Rev. Dr. Russell Howard, making it the longest-serving Christian healthcare sharing ministry.
Christian Healthcare Ministries is not an insurance company but a bill-sharing group of thousands of Christians cutting across the country and around the world to share one another’s healthcare costs and burdens.
So far, Christian Healthcare Ministries have shared over $7 billion in its members’ medical bills.
What is Health Cost Sharing?
Health cost sharing means that you pay some of your health care costs, while another organization covers another part of your health care costs.
CHM insurance adopts a healthcare cost-sharing system where members voluntarily share medical care expenses to lessen the financial burden each CHM member might face.The Christian Healthcare Ministries share 100% of eligible bills after the first self-pay amount is met.
How Christian Healthcare Ministries Works
Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) operates a voluntary health cost-sharing ministry through which participating Christians cooperate to share the burden of medical expenses. Members have shared billions of dollars in medical bills thanks to this amicable partnership while keeping participation costs low.
Regardless, Christian Healthcare Ministries has worked with over 100,000 providers over the country. CHM ensures that the healthcare providers bill the members directly and not CHM, after which CHM members can submit the bills to CHM.
To understand how this works, here are steps to follow:
- Inform your healthcare service providers that you’re a self-pay patient, provide a valid CHM card, and tell them about your direct billing. Here, CHM members provide an itemized medical bill. However, our CHM members' cards should not be issued as insurance cards because it confuses most providers if presented.
- Ask for discounts from your providers. Christian Healthcare Ministries loves to reward members who take an active role in negotiating their medical bills.
- Apply for all financial assistance.
- Don't pay any bill above $1000 ahead of time. This makes you lose your bargaining powers.
- Ensure that you get billed directly.
- CHM members can set up a payment plan with the provider directly.
- Make prompt payments after receiving the CHM funds.
- Ask for a prepayment agreement if you are on a maternity plan.
Who is CHM For?
The Christian Healthcare Ministries is open to all willing and ready to adopt the biblical principles of faith, love, and hope in sharing medical care expenses.
The arrangements welcome all participating Christians who live a lifestyle consistent with Christian Healthcare Ministries' Statements of Beliefs, join regular worship services as their health permits, and abide by the teachings of the New Testament entirely.
The Christian Healthcare Ministries services are for:
Missionaries
The program is open to missionaries and those serving on mission fields abroad. All missionary members are free to join Christian Healthcare Ministries and enjoy the bill-sharing privileges from fellow believers’ healthcare costs. However, mission members must have a U.S. mailing address to get their sharing funds.
Christian Groups
Group members and Christian staff from Christian organizations can join Christian Healthcare Ministries. The Christian Healthcare sharing program is an attractive health care solution for church members, Christian businesses, and other faith-based organizations.
Single-parent households
The CHM arrangement is open to those legally and financially responsible for a child or children. Single Christian parents are free to partake in Christian Healthcare Ministries and still share their medical care expenses with fellow believers.
Households with one participating spouse
If one spouse is an active CHM member, the other spouse can choose not to be a member, but the household still benefits from CHM's bill-sharing healthcare system. However, the participating spouse has one CHM unit, which makes all dependent children an additional unit, becoming two CHM units.
Adult children
The Christian Healthcare Ministries program is also for Christian adults between the ages of 18-26. Christian Healthcare sharing is an attractive way for young Christian adults to meet their medical care needs and maintain their biblical values. The qualifying factors include:
- Adult Children must live by biblical principles.
- They must be single.
- They are your legal dependents of the CHM members and be reported as dependents under the income tax forms.
There are also provisions for children who are no longer legal dependents to transition seamlessly to their own CHM membership.
Adopted children
The Christian Healthcare Ministries membership is for adopted children in CHM Christian families who have adopted children. That is, when a Christian Healthcare Ministries member adopts a child or gets legal custody and responsibility for the child’s medical care, that child can be included in a CHM membership.
However, the CHM program does not cover expenses incurred before the child was adopted into the Christian family.
CHM Costs and Programs
Christian Healthcare Ministries has three membership levels: Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Each program can also add on a Brother's Keeper program. Brother’s Keeper is a safeguard against catastrophic illness or injury. Brother’s Keeper is a low-cost, biblically-based program enabling CHM members to meet medical bills that exceed the $125,000 limit per illness specified in the CHM Guidelines.
Gold
This is the most extensive financial support in the CHM program. Members can share 100% of any medical incident totaling $500 or more (as long as all other Guidelines are met), and it can reach up to $125,000 per illness.
For example, if your medical bills cost $7,500, and you get $2,500 in healthcare provider discounts, CHM shares $5,000 ($7,500 minus $2,500), which is 100 percent of the cost after discounts. In the middle of the same year, if you receive another healthcare service (for an unrelated illness) that costs $400, CHM will not share any of these medical bills because it costs less than $500.
However, if you receive another treatment that complies with CHM Guidelines amounting to $600, CHM shares the total amount of $600 because the incident costs more than $500.
The Gold Program costs $205 per unit every month, and it includes:
- Emergency care
- Independent radiology and laboratory work
- hospital events, whether inpatient or outpatient, and surgery
- Maternity Bills
- Home healthcare and physical therapy (up to 45 visits for each type)
- Doctor's appointments relating to incidents
- Prescriptions connected to the incident
- CHM SeniorShare™ gift reduction for eligible members
- Access to telemedicine services
Gold Plus Brother's Keeper Program
- Shares expenses exceeding $125,000 per illness to an unlimited amount
Silver
The CHM Silver program covers medical costs reaching $2,500 and up to $125,000 per illness. The silver package is not as extensive as the Gold Program, but it offers an excellent way for Christian families to share their medical costs.
The Silver program costs $125 per unit every month, and it covers:
- Inpatient or outpatient surgery and hospital events
- Surgery conducted at facilities that meets the best medical care standards
- Access to telemedicine services
Does not cover:
- Maternity bills
- Testing and treatment outside of a hospital
- Emergency care facilities
Silver Plus Brother's Keeper Program
- Offers an extra $100,000 of cost support
- Upon annual renewal, members get an additional $100,000, reaching up to $1 million per illness.
Bronze
CHM's Bronze program covers medical costs totaling $5,000 or more and may reach up to $125,000 per illness. This package is less extensive than the Gold and Silver Programs and the most affordable CHM program.
The CHM Bronze package costs $85 per unit a month and comes with the following options:
- Inpatient or outpatient surgery and hospital incidents
- Surgery performed at facilities meeting the best medical care standards
- Access to telemedicine services
Does not include:
- Maternity bills
- Treatment and tests outside the hospital
- Urgent care facilities
Bronze Plus Brother's Keeper Program
- It gives an extra $100,000 in medical cost support.
- Members get an additional $100,000 (reaching up to $1 million per illness) when they renew.
How to apply for a Christian Healthcare Ministries Membership
Joining the Christian Healthcare Ministries is easy. You can participate as an individual or a family to enjoy the benefits of Christian Healthcare Ministries. To join, you are asked to complete the following steps:
- Visit and Register on CHM's Website
Visit the Christian Healthcare Ministries website and click on the "Join Now" button in the "How to Join" section.
- Check CHM Guidelines
It is essential to check CHM Guidelines before proceeding to the next step. The guidelines will help you know if you qualify for Christian Healthcare Ministries membership and what is expected of you as a member.
- Fill out the Application Form
You will be required to provide your personal information such as name, email address, mailing address, and phone number. After that, you will need to select a membership option and choose the date to submit your application or the future date as your starting date.
- Submit Payment
After going through the CHM Guidelines, if you are still interested in becoming a member, click on the "Submit Payment" button, and you will be redirected to the Christian Healthcare Ministries payment page.
- Receive Your Welcome Package
After completing the registration, members receive a welcome package and CHM membership card(s) within two or three weeks of applying. CHM members also get Heartfelt Magazine, CHM’s monthly magazine, around the beginning of every month and the Member Gift Form (billing statement) around the 15th of each month.
Finally, you should know that Christian Healthcare Ministries does not have a waiting period.
Doctors that accept Christian Healthcare Ministries Insurance
Back and Spine Pain Doctors:
If you're experiencing back or spine pain, it's crucial to get medical care as soon as possible. A doctor can help you find the source of your pain and recommend a practical course of treatment.
If you’re looking for the best back and spine pain doctor who can provide a lasting solution to your problems, we’ve included the details below.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian
About the surgeon:
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian, also known as Dr. Deuk to his patients and colleagues, is a renowned neuro-spine surgeon and a true pioneer in minimally invasive, laser, and endoscopic back, neck, and thoracic pain treatment. Dr. Ara Deukmedjian, who grew up in Southern California, now practices at the Deuk Spine Institute in Florida.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian developed his laser procedure called Deuk Laser Disc Repair. Deuk Laser Disk Repair is the most advanced laser spine surgery in the world. This revolutionary procedure is an alternative to dangerous invasive surgeries like total disc replacement or spinal fusion.
Dr. Deuk has treated over 1,000 degenerated or herniated lumbar discs, performed over 2,000 cervical decompressive discectomies, and performed more than 1,300 laser spine surgeries to date with no complications.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair has had a 95% success rate with no complications in any patient, which is higher than any other surgery available today.
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian is a member of the; Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), Surgery Department Chair, Parrish Medical Center, and Brevard County Medical Society (President, Board of Governors). He has also been awarded the ‘Patients Choice Award’ for consecutive years.
The different surgery types he works on include:
- Deuk Laser Disc Repair
- Laminectomy / Foraminotomy
- Spinal Fusion
- Artificial discs
- Spinal degenerative deformity correction
Contact Dr. Deuk or schedule your free MRI review with his team today!
Pain Management Doctors
Dr. Bharat Patel
About the doctor
Dr. Bharat C. Patel's credentials include board certifications in sports medicine, physiatry, pain medicine, electrodiagnostic medicine, and interventional pain management. Fewer than one in 10,000 physicians nationwide are quintuple board certified.
The highly respected Becker's Orthopedic, Spine, and Pain Management Review included Dr. Patel on their published list: The Best Pain Management Physicians in America. Becker's has also named Dr. Patel to their exclusive list of the "12 Great Physicians in Florida."
In 2014, Dr. Patel was chosen by the Chairman and CEO of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians to serve as an examiner for the national American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians examinations. Dr. Patel scored the highest of all physicians in the country when he completed the examination.
Dr. Patel performs both non-interventional and interventional spine pain management therapies. He treats arthritis of the spine and facet joint pain with injections for pain.
Patients travel from Orlando, South Florida, and the Space Coast to get treated by Dr. Patel because of his dedication to their health and wellbeing.
Other doctors that accept Christian Healthcare Ministries Insurance include:
- Anesthesiologists
- Cardiologists
- Chiropractors
- Dermatologists
- ENT doctors
- Gastroenterologists
- General surgeons
- Internal medicine doctors
How to pay your bills as a CHM Member
Paying your Christian Healthcare Ministries monthly bills is easy. You can do it online, by phone, or by mail. Here are the steps to follow:
- Send the sharing request packet to CHM
- Submit your itemized bills and the form to CHM as soon as you receive them.
- Wait 75-80 days for the sharing time
- Pay the provider when you get the CHM funds
Christian Healthcare Ministries is an excellent way to get the healthcare you need without breaking the bank. Be sure to check if your doctor is on the list of those who accept Christian Healthcare Ministries before signing up for a membership.
CHM FAQs
How long has Christian Healthcare Ministries been around?
The organization Christian Healthcare Ministries was established in 1981. This means CHM has been around for over forty years!
Is CHM Reliable?
You can count on Christian Healthcare Ministries to be there when you need them. CHM has a long track record of fulfilling its promise to members regardless of their medical conditions and the treatment they need.
CHM makes medical bill-sharing and insurance easy by creating a network of reputable healthcare providers. So if you're suffering from chronic back and neck pain and you're looking for an institute that can provide you with a lasting solution while also accepting your CHM insurance, contact the experts at Deuk Spine Institute today.
