What about the really big costs?
Samaritan Ministries will share medical need costs up to $250,000 with a standard membership. This will cover 99% of medical needs people have, especially since discounts can be applied on large bills to get them lowered. But what about the really big costs that go over $250,000? We hope it won’t happen to us, but it can, and we don’t want to be caught unprepared. Fortunately there is a plan for this. It’s called Save to Share.
Save to Share is specifically designed for sharing of those much higher medical bills.
The largest need shared to date was $1.5 million, which was discounted down to $700,000, and it was fully paid for through member shares. That is WELL OVER $250,000, so by being part of the Save to Share program, that person’s needs were covered all the way to $700,000 (after the discounts). That person could focus entirely on healing and not a single penny was owed out of pocket for those hospital bills. Save to Share covered the extra $450,000 beyond the standard membership coverage of $250k for that need. If they had not been on Save to Share, there would be a large amount of money for them to deal with. Ouch.
Save to Share participants are asked to put a certain amount in savings (that amount shown below) based on the type of membership they have with Samaritan. The money is not sent to Samaritan. It’s ours to keep in savings until it’s needed. We have a two parent family membership so we put $399 a year into savings (yes, yearly). Samaritan may ask me to pull out some of that $399 and send it to a member with a large need. Samaritan never asks me to send more than 1/2 of my available amount to any one need.
| Membership Type | Yearly Set-Aside |
|---|---|
| Singles | $133 |
| Couples | $266 |
| Single-Parent Family | $266 |
| Two-Parent Family | $399 |
Any proposed increase in these amounts is presented to the members for a vote. The annual administrative fee is $15 for any size membership. Massachusetts’ residents are required to be in Save to Share to meet state legal requirements.
This program provides tremendous peace of mind that no matter what kind of huge medical need we may have (long running cancer treatment, major heart issues, big accident, etc) they will be covered. There are millions and millions of dollars sitting in member savings accounts around the country, ready and waiting in case someone has that large need. A few years ago there would be maybe one Save to Share need per year. Now with rising medical costs the group has about 1 need per month. The importance of being part of Save to Share increases all the time.
Since the money stays in our own savings account, if it’s not called on to be used it’s still ours, waiting in savings. Unlike an insurance company which would take the money and keep it, Samaritan wants everything to be transparent so the money stays with us until needed. I LOVE THAT.
Save to Share needs are shared as part of the regular newsletter, so as an example, this month we were asked to send $370.47 to our member with a need. The extra 47 cents was to come from our Save to Share pot. It all went to the same guy. 47 cents isn’t much, but multiplied times all the members who are part of the StoS program it was all that was needed to cover the little bit that went above $250,000 for his or her need. Next month I may send $10 out of the Save to Share pot, the following month I may not need to send anything. Samaritan knows exactly what they’ve had me send and what is left. I will never need to spend more than I’ve put back. I love how this ministry watches out for everyone.
You can read more about Save to Share rules in the Guidelines. Here’s a link to the guidelines for Classic & Basic memberships, once there just click on any of the Save to Share sections.
UPDATE 4/28/14: To give you an idea of our save-to-share commitment so far, we have been members 6 months and still have over $350 in our Save to Share pot. So in 6 months time we’ve been asked to send a little under $50 total (it was split among 4 different needs) and the highest one was $24 if I remember correctly. 2 months were zero dollar, one was about $9, and I forget the rest. I’ve already looked ahead to our May share (possible through our online Samaritan account) and there is no save to share obligation for May from us.
UPDATE 10/10/15: We’ve been members almost 2 years and still have about $635 in our save to share pot. We’ve put in $798 (399 each year), and spent a total of $163 in 2 years. That’s an average of $81.50 per year actual spending. VERY LOW. It makes Save to Share membership a no brainer for us. I love knowing we’re protected even for those huge events, and I don’t have to worry about costs should they occur. I don’t want that nagging feeling in the back of my mind and by being in Save to Share I don’t have to deal with it. We’ll add another $399 next month (beginning of our 3rd year as members), which will bring our pot up to $1034. The max they want us to keep in there is 3 yrs worth ($1197) so beginning year 4 we won’t have to add the full amount (assuming the usage stays about the same). Ooh, and the uber generous online bank *sarcasm* is paying us 1% interest on that account so I earn about 25 cents a month on it. haha.
I’m a little leery about how the payments go directly to people and not to the organization itself. Have you had any trouble with that?
Hi Lauren. It’s actually one of my favorite parts about it. 🙂 Members can choose to receive payments through the mail or by paypal, and Samaritan does a good job matching up senders and receivers accordingly. We still prefer postal mail so going to the mail box to see several envelopes from people helping us pay a larger bill is a Christmas like feeling, and reading the personal notes is uplifting. Checks come all throughout the assigned month. We are responsible for reporting the shares we receive so Samaritan knows (there’s an online portal or can send back a paper list for those who aren’t techy). Anything that doesn’t come in by the due date Samaritan reaches out to the sender to find the problem. In all cases we are made whole if there is a problem (lost in mail, member failed to send, etc). We’ve never missed sending or receiving a share for the needs we’ve had. Some people are leery of sending a check. It’s never been a concern to me, but some members do online bill pay through their bank instead, some prefer paypal (if the receiver allows it), and some send regular checks. Overall Samaritan does an incredible job of making sure we always get the shares we’re supposed to, and giving us the resources to make sure everything is in order and reported properly. We joined Samaritan in 2013, and it was definitely a step out in faith for us back then. The first time we had a need and checks started arriving my faith was validated that this ministry is what it says it is. Our needs have all been met, the process was incredibly smooth, and the support from Samaritan staff and members has been incredible. I can’t imagine going back to traditional insurance.
Hello, I know this is an older post but we have just signed up for Samaritan and are paying for Save to Share. My question is, is there a cap to HOW LONG needs are shared over the maximum of $250,000. Say the worst happens and a family member is looking at a few years of cancer treatment or other long term treatment. Is the sharing limited to one year?
Hi Melea. I looked up the Samaritan guidelines and found this information.
b. Limits on Visits
1) We share—
(a) Inpatient—all eligible therapy sessions administered as part of receiving inpatient care (e.g. while admitted to a hospital, or a long-term care hospital. Therapy at an inpatient rehab center is shareable for up to 45 days.) Inpatient services do not count toward the 40-session outpatient therapy limit;
(b) Outpatient—potentially up to 40 sessions of eligible outpatient therapy of all kinds combined for any one need. However, sessions prior to reaching the 40-session limit are no longer shareable:
i. when they become maintenance, or
ii. after one year unless a treatment plan allowing such treatments has previously been submitted and approved.
2) A single visit to an outpatient health care provider will only be counted as one therapy session, even if multiple types of therapy are provided during that single visit.
3) The 40-session limit does not apply to outpatient therapy that is a direct treatment for cancer or treats the pain or side effects of chemo/radiation.
c. Misc. Requirements and Limitations
1) Not Eligible for Sharing—
(a) Therapy that is simply maintenance, preventive, or to improve wellness/performance where no harmful symptoms are present for which the therapy is prescribed to improve;
(b) Remote therapy where the patient and the source of therapy are not in the same location. Services such as telemedicine consultation and prescriptions are eligible for sharing.
Hope that information helps. For further clarification to specific example situations I recommend calling Samaritan staff, they are very helpful and speak from a place of genuine caring and desire to help others. Also, here’s the link to Samaritan’s guidelines, they are also searchable for keywords you are looking for. https://samaritanministries.org/resources/classic-basic-guidelines. Also according to the guidelines cancer treatment meds do not have a time limit.
Can you clarify- If a family sets aside the $399 for the year, in the second year would they need to have $798 available and so on. Thanks.
Yes, up to a max of 3 years worth of whatever level you’re at (so $1197 if 3 yrs of $399)… you’ll also be spending from that cushion throughout the year, so about the 4th or 5th year we don’t have to put back the full $399 each time (usually) because there is often enough left over that maybe only a couple hundred is needed to get us up to the 3 yr max. It just depends on how many Save to Share needs there were during that period. A possible scenario could be:
year 1: $399 (then spend $200, leaves $199 balance)
year 2: $199 + $399 = $598 (spend $50, leaves $548 balance)
year 3: $548 + $399 = $947 (spend $100, leaves $847 balance)
year 4: $847 + only $350 needed now = $1197 max (spend down some…)
If you are asked to spend more of it during any given year, then it may take 5 or 6 years to reach the max level requested of us. I found it easiest to earmark a specific savings account for this (an online high yield savings account allows us to earn interest on that money, too, which is finally starting to mean something with interest rates at 4.5-5%)… by having it in savings it should never be painful to spend from it, this is earmarked only for Save to Share needs. And they will never ask us to send more than what we have put back, which they keep track of also and we can see at any time in our membership dashboard online. Hope that helps.
When can we upgrade/sign up for Save to Share? Do we need to wait until our membership renews?
You can join anytime, doesn’t have to be at membership renewal. Just give the Samaritan office a call and sign up. 🙂
Dental, go to Mexico from the USA… El Paso, I used Washington Dental for a complete new mouth, have every tooth capped (cheap crown) 2 years ago at a fraction of the time and money they quoted me in the US.
What about dental? We wouldn’t mind a mind being a part of this type of program if we could have dental as well especially in the save to share.
Hi Kristina. Routine dental as we think of it is not shareable, although it can be listed as a special prayer need (I’ve seen a few braces in special prayer need listings). Some dental is shareable such as jaw injuries, the guidelines have more details about dental surgery items that are shareable. https://samaritanministries.org/guidelines Members will sometimes get a dentist discount card, or an outside insurance just for dental items, some even get services through dental schools for reduced/free treatment (depending on location). I think a lot of members just save up for their routine visits since dental insurance premiums tend to just match with what people could have saved anyway.
Is there a cap to the Save to Share? If so, what is it?
Thanks!
Hi Hannah, Save to Share has no cap. That’s one of the huge benefits. We get peace of mind that our worst-case size needs will be provided for, without breaking the bank on a monthly cost. I highly recommend that every member be part of it.
Thanks for asking. We have officially been members for just a couple months, it just feels like longer with all the research I’ve done (reading early newsletters, talking to members and staff, talking to providers, etc). 🙂 Members are never asked to send more than 1/2 their available Save to Share pot to any one need. I don’t remember the specific amounts of save to share requests that members had earlier this year, but I don’t recall anyone saying it was a lot or large. During the course of the year those little requests have the potential to add up to the max of our set aside amount (for us that’s $399), but there doesn’t have to be a request every month and it cannot be more than we’ve set aside.
We haven’t needed to send in a need yet, thankfully, but several friends of ours have, most having been members 5-10 years, and they all got paid on time and in full. Even the large ones. I just wish they had shared this information sooner! 🙂