Originally published at: Christian medical cost-sharing ministry accused of stealing $4 million from members | Boing Boing
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Why don’t they just pray for better health and more money?
Doesn’t prayer work?
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So,a known scam turned out to be a scam? That’s hardly unexpected.
And as always, the space that these rip off merchants operate in wouldn’t exist if the US had universal health care.
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Any Xtianist enterprise almost by definition is engaged in some sort of scam.
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I have friends that swear by that type of insurance because they didn’t want Obamacare. They have not had any major medical crisis that I know of but I hope they never do with those plans.
I had a heart attack before ACA, it took 10 years to pay of the hospital.
I had a stroke with a 7 day hospital stay after ACA that only cost me 5 grand.
Recently my wife needed an echocardiogram and carotid ultrasound. Neither one is covered until our $7,000 deductible is met.
The lab Blue Cross wants us to use will not do the test unless we pay 800 bucks before the test. They do not offer monthly payments. If we go to an independent lab it’s only 300 bucks but Blue Cross will not apply that payment to our deductible.
I tell that story to wonder how the heck do these people convince any doctor, hospital, lab, etc… to wait for a payment from donations from an unregulated cost sharing something or other? Either that or pay huge bills out of pocket and hope for the best.
They also don’t cover pregnancy outside of marriage and most don’t cover things like mammograms or colonoscopy. You have to agree to live a certain lifestyle and they can refuse your claim if they think you’ve become a sinner.
Before ACA when my insurance premiums had tripled I was convinced to consider it but after reading the details it scared the crap out of me.
Premiums and deductibles are through the roof again with my ACA coverage but at least we won’t go bankrupt unless we have several years in a row with major medical.
And prescription coverage sucks with insurance, these companies don’t cover any prescriptions.
I still say when these people get to heaven Jesus will be face palming shaking his head saying you guys didn’t really read the Bible did you?
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Sounds awfully socialist to me
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I mean, when I briefly looked into these after hearing about them while researching insurance alternatives, this is one of the most common things claimants were told when being denied payouts, along with the implication that their ailments were the result of poor Christian hygiene. The other one I remember was people basically being pressured to ignore their own medical issues so that “others” would be covered; all in the name of “Christian charity”. Sounds like these guys were the “others” they were referring to. “Brothers McGinnis and Reynolds desperately need their hot/cold water therapy (ie. backyard hot tub and pool combo) to remain fit enough to properly minister the Lord’s flock.”
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Couple of meanings there 
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They don’t. This is a “you pay up front, we will (or will not) reimburse some fraction of the cost at a later date.” I hate these “insurance” products. Most don’t cover well care, vaccines, screenings on the thought that “our trust is in God.” (Insert woman in a flood story here.) They exist because “Obamacare is evil, and we offer a Godly alternaive.” And if that isn’t the fraud flag, i don’t know what is.
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This kinda reminds me a couple of years ago when my father and I walked into a used car dealership and they were playing christian/praise music on the radio there. Needless to say we didn’t buy a car from them haha
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Omg whenever some one says “as a Christian” a little bell goes off in my head like “ooh watch out I think I see a snake!”
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I usually reply to those, “As a Christian, i have a full time job making sure i am doing right. I certainly do not have time to be running other people’s lives!” Of course, my experience has been that “as a Christian” is generally a lead-in to justify hating some group that has never harmed them in any way.
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The closest a lot of these people will get to Heaven is staring up at the pearly gates wondering why their souls are plummeting so quickly.
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I think my ex-wife and my kid are on this type of insurance… Thus far I guess it has been good?
Oddly her step dad has insurance through the company he works for, but i guess it sucks so much that what ever they are on now was a better option.
I know my ex has had some medical issues, nothing major like a heart attack, but some stuff, and hasn’t complained to me about it.
I dunno - I don’t pry and it’s her life and she’s pretty smart, so hopefully making the right decisions.
She now works for herself, vs the Dept of Labor where she worked for quite a long time. I will say trying to get insurance by yourself is a fucking nightmare. Tying insurance to work is the dumbest thing we did in this country. Imagine how many more people would freelance if there was an affordable public option? Or how many more people would start up a small business if they didn’t have the added expense of setting up health plans?
So sorry to hear about your ACA woes. I was uninsured for several years, and had really crappy insurance for several more, with chronic health issues that required monthly out of pocket visits and prescriptions. Thank god someone told me you can go to Costco even if you aren’t a member. CVS and Walgreens wanted like $80-100 with out insurance, and Costco wanted $15. And I had to do a year of planning for an MRI to make it more affordable.
Hope your health improves!
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Christianity is such a rich market for scam artists. If you’ll believe that blind faith is a virtue, if you’ll believe all the contradictions and madness of the Bible are literal truth, if you’ll believe a cruel, vindictive invisible man in the sky somehow both loves you and will send you to eternal torment for sleeping with the wrong person or wearing blended fabrics, you’ll believe anything, and the scammers will take full advantage of that.
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I am shocked, SHOCKED that so-called Christians would grift rubes. Shocked I tell you. Well…not that shocked.
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Only when accompanied by thoughts.
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It’s hard to tell those apart when their effects are at homoeopathic levels.
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Now if only one could do that with a big enough crowd, say 300 million or so.
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