Thank you for your interest in Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM). Joining this biblical community is a great way to satisfy your healthcare costs while helping other Christians meet theirs. CHM members have shared nearly $10 billion in one another’s healthcare costs since 1981. Additionally, members pray for and send each other letters and cards of encouragement.

CHM membership for Maryland members is member-to-member, complying with Maryland state law.

Here’s how it works:

• Maryland members write a check for their voluntary monthly contribution* made out directly to other Maryland members, and mail it following the instructions listed on each month’s Member Contribution Form.
• When a medical event occurs, Maryland members submit their medical bills to CHM. Once CHM has reviewed their medical bills for eligibility, they then receive from CHM an Explanation of Sharing detailing the checks they will receive from other members.

*Please note that monthly financial gifts are sent by check, not credit card or bank draft because the giving is member-to-member.

CHM meets each of the qualifications set forth by the state of Maryland for Maryland residents (click to see excerpt below).

Maryland Code, Insurance § 1-202

(a) This article does not apply to:

(4) a voluntary noncontractual religious publication arrangement that:

(i) is a nonprofit religious organization for which the State may not be held in any way liable or responsible for any of its debts, claims, obligations, or liabilities;

(ii) publishes a newsletter whose subscribers are limited to members of the same denomination or religion;

(iii) acts as an organizational clearinghouse for information between subscribers who have medical costs and subscribers who choose to assist with those costs;

(iv) matches subscribers with a willingness to pay and subscribers with present medical costs;

(v) coordinates payments directly from one subscriber to another;

(vi) suggests amounts to give that are voluntary among the subscribers, with no assumption of risk or promise to pay either among the subscribers or between the subscribers and the organization;

(vii) does not use a compensated insurance producer, representative, or other person to solicit or enroll subscribers;

(viii) does not make a direct or indirect representation that it is operating in a financially sound manner or that it has had a successful history of meeting subscribers’ medical costs;

(ix) provides to each subscriber a written monthly statement listing both the total dollar amount of qualified medical costs submitted for publication and the amount actually published and assigned for payment;

(x) does not use funds paid by subscribers for medical costs to cover administrative costs;

(xi) submits a registration statement, including a copy of any application forms and guidelines, promotional, or informational material distributed by or on behalf of the arrangement, to the Secretary of State in accordance with the provisions of Title 6, Subtitle 4 of the Business Regulation Article;  and

(xii) provides the following verbatim written disclaimer as a separate cover sheet for any and all documents distributed by or on behalf of the exempt arrangement, including applications, guidelines, promotional, or informational material and all periodic publications:

Notice:

This publication is not issued by an insurance company nor is it offered through an insurance company.  It does not guarantee or promise that your medical bills will be published or assigned to others for payment. No other subscriber will be compelled to contribute toward the cost of your medical bills.  Therefore, this publication should never be considered a substitute for an insurance policy. This activity is not regulated by the State Insurance Administration, and your liabilities are not covered by the Life and Health Guaranty Fund. Whether or not you receive any payments for medical expenses and whether or not this entity continues to operate, you are always liable for any unpaid bills.

Bring-a-Friend in Maryland

Bring-a-Friend credits are limited to the equivalent of 6 months’ worth of member contribution amounts within a 12-month period.

When you submit a medical bill, you can choose at that time to apply any Bring-a-Friend credits towards your Personal Responsibility, possibly completely offsetting that amount.

For information about CHM and taxes, please visit our tax page.

CHM as an eligible option

Entering our 40^th year of ministry, Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) is a federally certified exemption to the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the PPACA, more commonly known as Obamacare). As such, CHM is an eligible option under the national healthcare law. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a faith-based, voluntary cost sharing ministry that has thousands of members in all 50 states.

CHM received notification from the federal government’s Department of Health and Human Services that says, “…the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has determined that Christian Healthcare Ministries has submitted sufficient information to substantiate its compliance with the standards specified in section 5000A(d)(2)(B)(ii) of the Code [i.e. the PPACA] and will be considered a healthcare sharing ministry for the purposes of subpart G of 45 CFR part 155.”

See the original letter here.

Christian Healthcare Ministries:

• has 40 years of compassionate and faithful service
• doesn’t reject new members if they have a health condition
• doesn’t increase rates on members who suffer a costly illness
• doesn’t “cancel” anyone’s membership because of a costly health condition
• doesn’t set rates based on a member’s age, health status, or geographic location
• has programs to help members with costs for pre-existing conditions
• has a catastrophic illness cost sharing program (CHM Plus) that assists members with healthcare costs over $125,000
• meets each of the qualifications set forth for health cost sharing ministries in the U.S. healthcare legislation (see excerpt below)

Excerpt from the Affordable Care Act

Excerpt from H.R. 3590: U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [26 U.S.C. §5000A(d)(2)(B)(ii); p. 128]:

(2) Religious exemptions

(B) Healthcare sharing ministry.

(i) In general: Such term [note: “term” refers to “penalty”] shall not include any individual for any month if such individual is a member of a healthcare sharing ministry for the month.

(ii) Healthcare sharing ministry: The term “healthcare sharing ministry” means an organization:

(I) which is described in section 501(c)(3) and is exempt from taxation under section 501(a),
(II) members of which share a common set of ethical or religious beliefs and share medical expenses among members in accordance with those beliefs and without regard to the State in which a member resides or is employed,
(III) members of which retain membership even after they develop a medical condition,
(IV) which (or a predecessor of which) has been in existence at all times since December 31, 1999, and medical expenses of its members have been shared continuously and without interruption since at least December 31, 1999, and
(V) which conducts an annual audit which is performed by an independent certified public accounting firm in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and which is made available to the public upon request.

Tax reform

The tax bill (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) regarding the ACA’s individual mandate passed by Congress on Dec. 20, 2017 doesn’t affect CHM members. The ACA’s financial penalty remained in effect until Dec. 31, 2018 for those without health cost support; however, CHM members aren’t and have never been subject to the financial penalty. Nothing in the bill changes how CHM operates, who we serve, or how we serve you. For information on how to file your taxes, see our Tax forms & resources page.