In 2015, I thought my healthcare renewal statement was wrong.

The premium for my shrinking family of three (two adults and one child) was increasing by more than 30%, to $1,454 per month. My earnings place me out of the subsidy bracket, so these are real dollars out of our budget.

There were plenty of insurance companies to choose from. Shrinking availability was not a problem. It was just breathtakingly expensive.

Or so I thought.

In 2016, my premium jumped to $1,733 per month.

The galling part is that I had no control. I’d kept tabs for years. The insurance companies had never paid total reimbursements anywhere close to the premiums we’d paid, and our deductibles climbed even as our premiums shot higher.

This is not how insurance is supposed to work.

Insurance is a hedge against something unexpected happening.

The current system is glorified cost-sharing with a lot of middlemen.

With true insurance, I’d pay for small or ordinary medical costs like a broken arm or asthma treatments, and I’d pay for scheduled surgeries with savings or a payment plan. But big things, like car accidents or cancer, would be covered.

That sort of coverage isn’t possible today. Even if the proposed American Health Care Act allows it, I’m not sure how many insurance companies would offer such stripped down service.

I don’t claim to know how to fix the national problem.

Caring for everyone as we age will be expensive, but no one (including me) wants to ration care or tell doctors they simply earn too much compared to their peers in other countries.

But that doesn’t mean I sat still when I got my premium renewal notice last year.

I searched for alternatives… and I found them.

The Affordable Care Act includes a carve-out for health-sharing arrangements that existed before 2000. These organizations tend to have a religious component and work like mutual benefit societies from a bygone era.

I investigated several before choosing Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM, www.chministries.org). There’s also Medi-Share and Samaritan Ministries, among others. Each one operates a bit differently, which is why I chose CHM. But they each have the same basic principles.

I contribute $150 each month per person, or $450. That’s $1,283 less than my cost would have been in the traditional market. It adds up to $15,396 per year.

The organizations ask that you affirm your faith, and that you live a responsible life. It’s not that you need to live a life of austerity or denial. You can still have one too many at the local barbeque from time to time, or ski the black diamond runs.

Rodney Johnson
Follow me on Twitter @RJHSDent