Samaritan does have some requirements in order to join. These requirements help keep costs down for everyone and they match their Christian belief system.

• No s-e-x outside of marriage (trying to keep the site G rated)
• No smoking
• No drinking to excess (alcohol in moderation is ok)
• Must agree with the statement of faith
• Must live a healthy Christian lifestyle
• No illegal drug use, no abuse of legal drugs
• Must be a Christian attending church regularly (3 out of 4) and must have your application signed by your minister.
• Check your mail 🙂
• Send your share

These requirements helps to ensure that members are living a Christian lifestyle, and that keeps medical costs lower for all participants.

Samaritan does not cancel your membership if you have a lot of medical needs, nor do they prevent you from joining if you have pre-existing conditions. Needs related to pre-existing conditions will generally not be shareable (they can be listed as a special prayer need though), unless you have gone 12 months without treatment or symptoms, or in the case of cancer you must be treatment/symptom free for 5 years. At that point it is no longer considered pre-existing. Some conditions are always considered pre-existing, such as type 1 diabetes.

Many members have pre-existing conditions which are well managed and aren’t likely to have a future problem. In the past insurance denied them coverage regardless. Today, thanks to Obamacare, these people could get insurance coverage now, but the monthly cost and co-insurance may still be out of reach (see my example for our family). For those people Samaritan is still the best option since the costs are so much lower and their condition is well managed (through diet or otherwise).