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The cost of health insurance for churches is on the rise. What is the best church health insurance plan? It’s difficult to maneuver through the various options, especially given that it changes every year, but it’s important to choose a plan that works for your employees and where they are in life. Whether a person has a young, growing family or is older and an empty nester, there are obligations to care for family and, as we all know, salary and health care are central.
Many of the health insurance plans for churches are established shared plans, which may be a new approach, so it’s best to read about it and see if it’s a solution for you and your staff. You may want to consider the major companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, and Cigna as options, too. Particular denominations also offer group health insurance for churches that can be competitive with the plans presented below, which represent more widely available plans.
In this article, we’ll look at the best health insurance options for churches in 2019 so you can be informed and make the best decision for the hard-working staff members at your church.
Top Health Insurance for Churches
Christian Care Ministry (or Medi-Share)
Type: Shared
Cost: $1,000-$10,500 annual household portions (AHP) for family coverage and reduced pricing for individual seniors.
Medi-Share is a community of Christians who have agreed to live as the early church (Acts 2 & 4) when it comes to sharing each other’s burdens. Members share each other’s eligible medical bills and, most importantly, encourage and lift one another up in prayer.
Each month, your monthly share is matched with another’s eligible medical bills. Through a secure online portal, Christian Care Ministry coordinates the direct sharing of medical costs between members. You will know each month whose bills your share is helping pay, and when you have eligible bills and your annual household portion (AHP) has been met, your fellow believers will be sharing those bills and praying for you as well.
Samaritan Ministries
Type: Shared
Cost: $160-$495 per month for coverage
Health care sharing with Samaritan Ministries connects the Body of Christ throughout the nation to help each other with their health care costs. Using a direct health care sharing model, our members have experienced a Biblical and affordable option for their health care needs since 1994. Health care needs are multidimensional—emotional and spiritual, as much as physical and financial. We coordinate and connect members to care for the whole need with prayer, encouragement, and financial support.
GuideStone
Type: Traditional
Cost: Annual family deductible of $5,000-$10,000 depending on the plan chosen
Since 1918, GuideStone has been committed to serving those who serve the Lord with the integrity of our hearts and the skillfulness of our hands. Our service offerings are well-diversified to help meet your financial needs, including retirement, insurance, investments and property, and casualty. GuideStone also sponsors the nation’s largest Christian-screened mutual fund family — GuideStone Funds — which allows investors to align their investments with their values.
Liberty Health Share
Type: Shared
Cost: $199-$529 suggested monthly share amounts depending on the program chosen
Since 1995, Liberty HealthShare has equipped health-conscious individuals and families to make wise healthcare decisions. Our supportive community commits to bearing one another’s burdens in prayer, encouragement, and financial support. By emphasizing good stewardship of our bodies and our healthcare spending, and providing helpful advice, we help our members stay in good health, budget for medical needs, and reduce the overwhelming complexity of navigating our nation’s current medical care system.
Liberty HealthShare is a leader in the growing field of healthcare sharing ministries that offer a different approach to paying for medical care. Members make an affordable monthly contribution online, which is matched to a medical need within the group. Our large, geographically diverse community commits to supporting each other’s medical expenses after a low annual threshold is met. Liberty HealthShare offers three different programs to fit members with different resources and circumstances.
Christian Healthcare Ministries
Type: Shared
Cost: $45-$150 per unit, per month depending on the program chosen
Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) is an affordable, biblical, and compassionate healthcare cost solution for Christians in all 50 states and around the world. We’re not health insurance; rather, we’re the first and longest-serving health cost-sharing ministry, having shared more than $3.5 billion in our members’ medical bills.
CHM is a membership-based, nonprofit ministry through which hundreds of thousands of Christians voluntarily share to pay each other’s medical bills. Choose from one of three programs—Gold, Silver, or Bronze—and add the optional Brother’s Keeper program to protect against catastrophic medical bills.
Medical Cost Sharing
Type: Shared
Cost: $268-$1,039 per month for family coverage based on the plan chosen and number of dependents
MCS Medical Cost Sharing is a community of like-minded people who rely on each other to pay their medical bills. Our ministry is ideal for those who find traditional healthcare costly, lost healthcare coverage, or do not like dealing with ObamaCare.
Medical Cost Sharing, Inc., gives Christians the opportunity to minister to the Body of Christ while being thrifty and seeing to their own medical needs. The concept has grown in popularity since the 1960’s when the Older Order Amish Church Fund began the modern-era of burden-bearing. These days, participants include a broad spectrum of Christian denominations that support each other’s medical needs, not only across all fifty states but across the world.
People Keep
Type: Reimbursement
Cost: Monthly – $29 + $15/eligible employee (https://www.peoplekeep.com/pricing-you-can-afford)
PeopleKeep helps small businesses offer competitive benefits at a price they can afford. Personalized benefits automation software from PeopleKeep allows businesses to manage their benefits in minutes per month. PeopleKeep automates benefits compliance and employee support. Employees receive tax-advantaged reimbursements to pay for health insurance and other medical, dental, and vision expenses. Today more than 3,000 companies across the United States trust PeopleKeep to automate their benefits and keep employees happy.
Church health insurance programs are few and far between. Because of this, it can be difficult when evaluating your needs compared to the benefits of the plan. Like any other health insurance plan, you should find out what your needs are and compare them with the options in front of you before making a decision. Specifically, looking at church health insurance plans will be seen as a bonus for your clergy and/or staff members because they know they will be in good hands. These companies hold the same values that your church does, and because of that, you can be sure that you are receiving excellent coverage and support.
We hope this list can get your church started off on the right foot towards finding the perfect church health insurance.
Next Steps
Run your church office with confidence by completing training especially for the church administration environment. Learn more in the Church Relevance Course Shop.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in April 2016 and has been completely updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
