Sunday, May 11, 2014

An alternative to the Affordable Care Act

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. - Psalm 139: 13-16

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  How is everyone doing?  I pray that this blog finds everyone in good health and spirits.  Things are going great at the Jones family household.  Things are working out great for us.  I am no longer an Over The Road truck driver.  I now drive in the Shawnee, OK and Oklahoma City, OK area for Ball Pipe and Supply Company in Shawnee, OK (http://www.ballpipeandsupply.com/).  So far, I like the job.  The best part is that I am home every night and on weekends and my checks are about the same every week.

My wife and I had to make a very difficult decision when the Affordable Care Act took affect.  Do we go against what we believe is a sin and keep our insurance or do we give up our insurance and become uninsured.  Insurance itself isn't a sin. The problem is that under the Affordable Care Act, everyone has to pay for birth control pills and the morning after pill through their insurance.  Everything that Paula and I have read in the Bible says that birth control pills is a sin because birth control pills can cause  embryonic abortions and we believe that life begins at conception. The bible is very clear that we are not to endorse sin in any way shape or form.  This includes paying for things that are wrong.  

The biggest thing we had to look into is how to pay for medical costs.  Something we came across is Healthcare Sharing Ministries.  This isn't insurance, but members of the ministry help pay for medical bills.  There are a number of them out there.  After looking them over, we decided to join Samaritan Ministries ( http://samaritanministries.org/).  An added benefit to Healthcare Sharing Ministries is that they are exempt from the Affordable Care Act and we will not have to pay the penalty for not having health insurance (Sec 1501, page 148).  

We really love Samaritan Ministry.  First, we will not be paying for other people's birth control pills, morning after pills, accidents due to drunkenness, or any other non-Biblical lifestyles or actions.  The other thing is that the money we pay actually goes to another person's medical bill.  One month a year, we send the money to the organization to cover operation costs.  The other 11 months, we send the money to a person who needs money for medical costs.  It feels good sending money directly to an individual who needs it rather than to a corporation.  We are also given the opportunity to pray for the person in need because we have their name and the problem they are having.  This is what Christians should be doing, helping one another out personally.  We should not be looking to the government or companies to help out those in need.  We should be united and help out people our self. 

When Obamacare was first made law, I didn't see any good in it at all.  But once I joined Samaritan Ministries, I saw how God can take something bad and turn it into something good.  If the Affordable Care Act was not made law, I would have never thought of joining a Healthcare Sharing Ministry.  Discovering Healthcare Sharing is a true blessing and I recommend that every Christian look into it. If you are interested in finding out more about Healthcare Sharing, goto http://www.healthcaresharing.org/hcsm/.

Well, I have to go for now.  Take care and God Bless.

The Oklahoma Tomcat
http://twitter.com/oktomcat

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