Growing numbers seek faith-based alternative to ObamaCare

MARIETTA, Ga. – Faced with the rising cost of insuring their family of five, Lisa and Jonathan Adams canceled their high-deductible health insurance policy and put their faith in Medi-Share, a Christian organization whose members help pay one another's major medical expenses.

Five days later, their 7-year-old daughter fell out of a bunk bed and broke her arm. Medi-Share covered nearly the entire cost of her surgery and rehab therapy and provided something the Adamses had never received from an insurance company -- prayer.

"When I called to let them know that Jordan had broken her arm, the last thing they said was, 'Can we pray for you right now and pray for your family?'" Jonathan Adams recalled. "And they did, right there on the phone."

With just over 100,000 members, Medi-Share is part of a small, but growing, movement of health care-sharing ministries. These organizations are not insurance companies and offer no guarantee of payment.

But their members are exempt from having to pay penalties for lacking health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as ObamaCare. And that is driving much of the growth of health care-sharing ministries, according to Tony Meggs, CEO of Christian Care Ministry, the nonprofit organization that runs Medi-Share.

"Our organization allows an individual to comply with the law in a legal way, but do it in a way that often is more affordable and doesn't violate their conscience," Meggs said.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...rs-seek-faith-based-alternative-to-obamacare/