On 04/29/21 my wife drove me to the local ER where I was admitted and told that I had almost died. My blood oxygen % was deadly low and after being tested I was diagnosed with acute hypoxia with pneumonia and covid-19! I was told I might need to be intubated and placed on a ventilator, so an ambulance transported me to a hospital in Des Moines, IA where I spent the next two weeks being treated before I was released to come home to a hospital bed and walker. I spent the next several weeks mostly resting in bed and sleeping while YHWH healed my body. There is a lot to this story that relates to how it built my faith stronger than it had ever been before, but that is for another day.

​

The part of the testimony I am excited to share here now is how YHWH provided miraculously for us in our finances to get through this ordeal!

 

You see, I was very sick for almost two weeks "before" I finally allowed my wife to drive me to the ER that day, which is primarily why I had progressed to become so sick. We had not had any health insurance for about 7 years, so I was trying to heal myself through much prayer and natural immune boosters such as vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, garlic, echinachea, etc. which I am fully convinced would have healed me "except" that I believe YHWH was allowing this sickness for many reasons, all of which play into this story and bring Him much glory!

​

We did actually apply for Medicaid for the first time in my life, because we happened to qualify during this particular time in our lives due to our low finances. But since I went into the ER on 04/29/21 (late on a Thursday) and my wife was pre-occupied with finding a motel and other things, she did not get a chance to apply for Medicaid "until" the next day on Friday. The Iowa Medicaid website was having problems and she could not apply until Monday over the telephone. We found out later that Medicaid had accepted both of us, but the rule in Iowa states that they will only back-date a person's coverage to the 1st of the month when they apply. That meant that our insurance coverage began on 05/01/21, therefore all of the medical expenses from 04/29/21 and 4/30/21 were not covered by Medicaid. 

​

The bill for my visit to the ER in my hometown (for about 1 hour) was $9,094! The ambulance bill to take me to Des Moines was $2,052. The bill for the 13 day stay at the hospital in Des Moines was $44,500, but a
good share of that particular bill would have been covered by Medicaid, since we had Medicaid coverage for 11 of the 13 days I was in there. But of that $44,500 bill for the total of 13 days, the first two days which were not covered by Medicaid came to over $10,500. We also had several bills from other doctors and labs during those first two days which totaled $1,425. So, all together the bills we had that were during that uncovered period during the last two days of April came to a total of just over $23,000! That could have been extremely stressful for my wife and I, however NOW I get to share the rest of the story!

​

I have belonged to a "Christian" healthcare sharing group for several years now. The name of the group is Christian Healthcare Ministries. This is NOT insurance. It is a faith-based system set up Biblically after the story of the good Samaritan, where we are suppose to carry one another's burdens and help each other during times of medical need. The cost of my monthly membership to be a part of this group is $78 per month. But being a member allowed me to "share" the burden of my "uncovered" medical bills with the group and they then took from the group fund and paid off all of my "uninsured costs"! 

​

The way this ministry works is that based on your level of membership (mine being the cheapest at $78/month) certain things are not covered when you are at the lower levels. In my case, the only thing that was not covered was my ambulance transportation bill of $2,025. 

​

When you enter the hospital, you explain that you are a "self-pay" individual and that you are part of a Faith-based healthcare sharing group. You then request the best discount that the hospital, doctor, lab, etc.. will give you as a self-pay person. Then you request a detailed bill that shows your discount and the medical billing codes. Finally, you send all of these bills into Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM).

​

CHM then reviews the bills and mails you a check(s) for the portion that you owe to the hospital, doctor, lab, etc.. (minus the discount that each offered for being a self-pay individual). Each level of membership has a so called "deductible" amount that you as a self-pay person must cover "before" CHM will kick in and start cost-sharing your medical bills.

​

So, my deductible at my "bronze" membership level was $5,000. That meant that I am responsible to cover the "first" $5,000 in medical costs, before CHM will begin sharing the rest of my medical bills. But, hold on!

​

The really GREAT part is that ALL discount amounts that you obtain from the hospital, doctor, lab, etc.. go toward that "deductible" amount. So, between all of the creditors, I was given a total of $11,753 in discounts which meant that I more than met the $5,000 "personal responsibility" amount for CHM to start sharing all the rest of my un-insured expenses! 

​

So the end of my testimony is this: Between the discounts given by each creditor and the amounts that CHM paid for, the ONLY bill that was not covered was the $2,052 ambulance bill. 

​

And because of our financial situation at the time that this all happened we qualified for a hardship grant from the ambulance company. It has been 24 months now since I sent that hardship grant application in to the ambulance company and I have tried to inquire of them by email about 5 times and they simply will not return my correspondence.

 

So, we ended up not owing any money at all for the entire Covid experience! Now, that my friends is the fantastic grace and mercy of our loving Heavenly Father!

​

If you are interested in learning more about this Christian Healthcare Ministries "health care cost sharing", feel free to go to the following link listed below that will explain to you how you can get FREE membership in this group. That's right. I said "free membership"! It works like this, CHM gives you a free month of membership for every person you refer to them who joins. So, if you share this plan with 1 person (who signs up) each month, then your annual membership costs would be free!

​

BUT, even if you do not ever share it with anyone, it is still a great deal. Normally (with health "INSURANCE", you have to pay a much heftier monthly premium than you will ever pay to CHM. Then you must meet an also sizeable deductible BEFORE your health insurance will start paying anything. And lastly, most health care INSURANCE plans are a 25/75 plan, or a 20/80 plan or if you are really lucky you might find a 15/85 plan which means even AFTER you pay the hefty monthly premium, the sizable deductible, then the INSURANCE company is only going to cover 75-85% of the remainder of the bills, while you are still stuck paying the 15-25%. 

​

I don't think there is anything that comes close to what CHM offers, but I will leave that up to you to decide.