Book Review: Health Care Sharing Ministries by Stephen R. Turley

I am not part of any health care sharing ministries but in January I had the opportunity to go to a presentation by Samaritan Ministries. The presenter caught my attention when he opened with the question: “What is the Worldview of your Health Insurance Company?” I realized that I had not considered that question for myself. What does my health insurance company think about various moral issues? It is not like the medical field is an amoral field. In fact, in the scientific and technological landscape in which we live, we need to be asking about morals more often than we do. I tell my students all the time that in our age of technology we don’t need to ask “can we do this”, but rather “should we do this”. And that question is becoming more fundamental in a world where Elon Musk has launched his Tesla Roadster into space.

In this way, Turley’s book is important in pushing the conversation about health care further.

In this book, Turley gives a helpful overview of what health sharing ministries are and why they are significant. Here is a brief explanation for those who are new to the idea. A health sharing ministry is one that works as a networking system for Christians to connect with other Christians so that when a medical need arises the need can be met by Christians sending money directly to the person in need. The organization, like Samaritan Ministries, co-ordinates the exchange and directs the payer where to send his check each month. There are a few organizations on the market and each does things a little differently so it would be helpful to look into them all: Samaritan Ministries, Medi-Share, Christian Health Care Ministries, and Liberty HealthShare.  Turley has a list of resources in the back of his book on these ministries and on other medical resources.

In this book, Turley argues that we are in the age of a health care revolution and that the old insurance model is outdated and on its way out. He unpacks some of the biblical impetus behind these new sharing models. He also tells of his own experience and stories from being part of Samaritan Ministries. In this way, he shows how the system works from the inside. He also spends a chapter on the importance of the self-paying patient.

Here are some of the key elements of the book that I appreciated.

First, Christians have always been on the forefront of medical care reform and innovation. From hospitals and health care in the ancient world to adoption practices to medical research today, Christians are the movers and shakers in this field. And this is true in the area of health insurance.

Second, the health care community is changing. It is not happening quickly but there is a huge shift occurring right now. The patient/costumer is returning to his position of power in the market of healthcare through the self-paying patient movement. Turley describes this as the Amazon effect. This is named after the big internet company which has given the consumer a huge amount of power in comparing products and services and deciding how to buy. Where is the Amazon version for medical care and hospitals? Not far away really.

In January, J.P. Morgan held its 36^th annual Healthcare Conference. Some of the attendees at that conference talked about the impact of patient directed care. Gary Samuel, the vice president of Quest Diagnostics said this: “If you go to hospital lab, you could pay two to five times out of pocket for the same exact test. Because consumers are shouldering a bigger portion of their healthcare cost, they’re much more aware of the price disparities.” Companies, like Quest, are aware of these high prices and are trying to give the patient/customer more competitive prices on these medical tests. On the Quest website, they explain how to order lab tests for yourself without a doctor. Quest is not the only company doing this. DirectLabs is another one.

While this is a small step, it is evidence that the healthcare market is shifting. Innovative Christians have the chance to get ahead of the wave and make a big impact in this area.

An additional thought that I would add is a slight (very slight) push back on the book. While Turley focuses on the parable of the Good Samaritan, he doesn’t really deal with other scriptures about these health sharing methods. One of the principles in the New Testament is that families need to care for their own so that the church is not overly burdened with needs (1 Timothy 5:8;16). How does this apply to medical needs and asking other Christians to carry those burdens? When should a congregant go to his local church leaders for help first before going to a health sharing ministry? When should family members be asked to care for a need rather than a health sharing ministry? I don’t have answers to these questions but I think Christians who are part of health sharing ministries are in a good position to work these things out.

Last insight from the book is that health sharing ministries offer a way to get out of Obamacare (ministries, like Samaritan Ministries, are granted special exception from Obamacare). And this is a really big point. Christians should not rely on the government to provide health care for them. In fact, Christians should look to other Christians and to the Church more than we do. The drive to enable Christians to care for each other was the impetus behind Samaritan Ministries which started in 1994 (long before Obamacare). Services like health sharing ministries allow us a key opportunity to step away from the influence of the government. The Christian church knows how to care for its people and we should encourage this ministry as much as we can.

Turley’s book reminded me of the point that Alexis D’Tocqueville made about the limited power of the individual in a democratic country like ours. One person can say he doesn’t like Obamacare or the Health Insurance system but that single voice is not strong enough to make a change. In order to have a bigger impact, a person needs to join up with others so that all the voices can be concentrated in a single direction. A Christian joining a health sharing ministry has the opportunity to voice his dissatisfaction with the outdated system and to encourage important innovation in the medical world. Turley’s book helps us see this in a vivid way.