9 years ago, in November of 2000, after several months of research, my wife Cathy and I decided to distance ourselves as far as possible from the health care train wreck. At that time, we joined a “health care sharing ministry (HCSM) called Samaritan Ministries International, (SMI), a group of 13,000+ households representing about 44,000 people that have chosen to share their medical financial burdens. SMI is just one of several such organizations that are estimated to include 100,000 in total. Since that November nine years ago, we’ve been blessed with good health while at the same time have joyfully helped others in need to the tune of about $30,000. Now Congress wishes to punish us for being prudent, responsible, healthy and compassionate.
As the specter of socialized health care evolved, it became painfully clear that there would be provisions to punish any that should choose to not participate in an approved health insurance plan. That means us. I escalated my efforts to impress upon my Congressman, Tom Perriello (D-VA-5), that there are in fact tens of thousands of us that successfully practice personal responsibility as well as compassion in health care without insurance, government or tax benefit. On September 8th, I had a long, pleasant and fruitful conversation with a Perriello staff member describing HCSMs and how any health care bill would specifically punish anyone that did not purchase insurance. He was not aware of any such provisions.
On September 9th, President Obama, in his speech to both houses of Congress made it perfectly clear that any who chose not to participate would be punished via the IRS.
On September 11th, I was able to contact the same Perriello staff member to inquire if he saw the President’s speech. His response was that yes he had, he thought specifically of our conversation when the President mentioned the punishment and suggested that I schedule an appointment with the Congressman as soon as possible as the powers that be are in a great hurry to get a health care bill passed. As a result, on Thursday, October 1st, Cathy and I headed to Washington to make our case.
As a side note, I avoid cities like the plague. I was not looking forward to the trip up. On Wednesday, the day before our appointment I checked to see if there might be a train out of Lynchburg. Surprise! Wednesday, was AMTRAK’s inaugural run from Lynchburg to Washington! Hmm. Maybe Someone’s trying to tell me something. Anyhow, thanks to AMTRAK, DC is no longer out of contention for a day trip whether for business or pleasure. Check it out.
Upon arrival, we found the Congressman’s staff cordial, courteous and professional. Our appointment was delayed because of a floor vote, but then, because our train didn’t leave until 4:50, we let others who were showing symptoms of conniptions, have their time with the Congressman ahead of us. This earned us some extra time, (maybe 30 minutes total) with him and no one in line behind us. Joining us in the meeting was Legislative Counsel Ericke Cage.
Cathy and I presented our case that, as I mentioned earlier, there are tens of thousands of us out here that are responsible as well as compassionate in our health care choices while consuming health care at a fraction of the national average, without insurance, government or tax benefit. We further stressed that because the ministry is biblically based, we have always conducted our affairs in such a way that we only wish insurers would, at least according to the demands in the President’s speech of September 9th. We have a model that should be encouraged rather than punished.
We provided the Congressman with a copy of the SMI guidelines, our September SMI newsletter, our annual SMI renewal affidavit, documentation of legislation by Delegate Kathy Byron (Va. House District 22) exempting HCSMs from Virginia insurance laws. Neither Mr. Perriello nor Mr. Cage were aware that the Massachusetts health care program, which many are holding up as a model,(ugh) provides protection to HCSMs. The government affairs representative for the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries provided me with “language” to be inserted into any health care bill to protect HCSMs, which I passed along to Mr. Perriello.
We were pleased that Mr. Perriello showed sincere interest given the breadth and depth of his questioning. We went into great detail about “how it works”. By having our September newsletter with us, we were able to walk through the entire process together. One thing I’ve noticed over time (this meeting was no exception) is that people have a difficult time understanding that we VOLUNTARILY send our share DIRECTLY to a subscriber in need. When this realization sinks in, the discourse becomes much more relaxed and sensible. Mr. Perriello seemed surprised and pleased when hefound that there is no “insurance” involved in the SMI program. He was equally pleased upon discovering that the ministry itself is financed through meager annual fees paid by the subscribers.
The Congressman eagerly promised a prompt evaluation of the issue hoping to find basis to submit to leadership, a proposal for an HCSM exemption from the individual and employer mandates. He encouraged me to contact his office within the week for an update.
We came away from the meeting with the impression that the Congressman is no friend of insurance companies. Furthermore, he impressed us with an affinity towards faith-based initiatives because, for example, faith-based housing initiatives have been far more productive than anything the government has come up with. In a development unrelated to this meeting, Congressman Perriello and nine other freshman Democrats presented, to their leadership, a list of 7 key changes to current health care reform proposals. One key change was provide incentives to encourage personal responsibility.
It is way past time for “personal responsibilty” to enter the national debate. Without “personal responsibilty” in any issue, we have nothing. We pray that our effort is fruitful, that health care sharing ministries will be protected in any health care legislation and that personal responsibilty will be the foundation for all legislation.
