Frequently asked questions

Testing and treatment for coronavirus (COVID-19) is eligible for sharing, just as are costs for any testing or treatment for a confirmed illness, with Personal Responsibility amounts and qualifying amounts that depend upon the member’s participation level. As with other medical issues, Personal Responsibility amounts can be reduced using your Bring-a-Friend credits.

Want the latest information about the coronavirus and how it affects CHM medical bill sharing? Check out our coronavirus page here.

Your medical bills (for coronavirus or other eligible medical incidents) can – and should be – sent to CHM. We encourage you to do so using CHM's Member Portal. The CHM staff will process your medical bills as quickly as we are able.

For complete information, please see CHM's coronavirus page which provides periodic updates and informational resources and the ministry's what's new page that details how we're serving members during this time.

Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) is a nonprofit, health cost-sharing ministry through which participating Christians have helped to pay each other's medical bills since 1981. CHM is based on Galatians 6:2 and Acts 2 and 4. CHM members have shared over $8 billion in medical bills. The ministry is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

CHM is hundreds of thousands of Christians across the United States sharing each other’s medical bills. Members send monthly financial gifts to CHM’s offices and funds are placed in an audited Member Sharing Account. The monthly membership gifts are the funds used to meet members’ medical bills. Please see How it works or the How it works video for detailed information.

• Over 40 years of compassionate and faithful service
• Budget-friendly and cost-effective healthcare provision
• A federally certified exemption to the national healthcare law; eligible option for families and individuals
• Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity
• Generous maternity program
• Flexibility to choose your own healthcare providers
• No application fee or annual membership fee
• No one is dropped or denied membership due to medical conditions
• Costs are not adjusted based on medical conditions or history
• Longevity, integrity and accountability
• Earn a credit for each new membership you bring to CHM
• Knowing that each financial gift goes to help a fellow Christian as fellow Christians are standing by to help you! (Luke 6:38)

CHM is a federally certified exemption to the individual mandate under the U.S. Affordable Care Act. As such, CHM is an eligible option for individuals and families under the national healthcare law.

To learn more, visit our Affordable Care Act page.

Christian Healthcare Ministries offers three programs: Gold ($235 per unit, per month), Silver ($135 per unit, per month) and Bronze ($90 per unit, per month). The Brother’s Keeper program for catastrophic medical bills is an optional (but highly recommended) program with a monthly cost of $22 per unit.

While it’s impossible to predict the future health, well-being and medical costs of our members, it is our goal to keep gift amounts as low as possible. We evaluate the cost of sharing medical bills regularly to make sure that CHM is taking care of our members in a timely manner. Our record shows that we are meeting this goal in spite of rising medical costs. For example, our current operating costs are less than 10 cents of each dollar you give to CHM. This means that over 90 cents of every dollar is earmarked for medical bill sharing.

Your normal monthly gift amount required for membership is not tax deductible*; however, all extra giving over and above your minimum monthly gift to Christian Healthcare Ministries (including Prayer Page giving) qualifies as a charitable contribution for tax purposes. Christian Healthcare Ministries, Inc. is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

*Per Missouri law, Missouri members' monthly gift amounts are tax deductible.

Monthly gifts (and any extra giving) should be sent to Christian Healthcare Ministries in the following ways:

• Submitted via the Member Portal
• By mail to: 
  Christian Healthcare Ministries
  P.O. Box 740569
  Cincinnati, OH 45274
  

Financial gifts are placed into a Member Sharing Account, which undergoes an annual, independent audit. Automatic, recurring giving through credit card or bank withdrawal can be set up by calling 800-791-6225.

Maryland residents only: Maryland giving is member-to-member. Learn more about Maryland membership here.

As a health cost sharing ministry, Christian Healthcare Ministries members voluntarily contribute to (or "share") one another's medical bills. CHM members reimburse each other for qualifying medical bills through monthly, pre-set financial gifts. CHM members have shared over $8 billion of each other's medical costs!

The eligibility of any bill is ultimately determined by the Christian Healthcare Ministries Guidelines and the members' participation level at the time that the signs or symptoms began.

Members in each program (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) may submit bills for inpatient or outpatient hospital visits or surgery, provided all other criteria are met. Gold level members also may submit bills for medical tests, maternity, incident-related office visits and incident-related prescriptions if all other eligibility is met.

Christian Healthcare Ministries offers a maternity program at no extra cost to Gold members. CHM members share qualifying bills up to $125,000 (or unlimited sharing support when also a member of Brother's Keeper) per pregnancy for pre-natal care, delivery, home births, midwives, postnatal care and birth complications. The Silver and Bronze levels exclude maternity sharing.

If a member joins CHM while she is pregnant, bills for that pregnancy or any related complications thereof cannot be shared through any of CHM’s programs or through the Prayer Page.

CHM has two programs to share pre-existing conditions, the Gold Schedule and the Prayer Page.

The CHM Guidelines define a pre-existing condition as any medical condition for which you experience signs, symptoms, testing or treatment before joining Christian Healthcare Ministries, regardless of whether you have received a diagnosis. (Routine or maintenance medications are considered treatment.)

For example, if you have a stent that was inserted for a heart condition, the stent is considered treatment and your heart condition is pre-existing.

A condition is no longer considered pre-existing if you have experienced one year without signs, symptoms, or treatment (including no maintenance medication) for that condition and it is documented by your official medical records. In contrast, cancer is no longer pre-existing if, after your doctor has pronounced you cancer-free or cured, you have gone five years without any signs, symptoms, testing or treatment.

Learn more about CHM's two programs for pre-existing conditions.

Christian Healthcare Ministries shares a maximum lifetime limit of $125,000 for each illness that qualifies according to CHM Guidelines. For information about health cost support of up to $1 million or more, see the Brother's Keeper page.

In general, eligible medical needs are shared by CHM members in the order they are received at the Christian Healthcare Ministries office. You can view CHM's recent average sharing time here. The sharing "clock" starts the date medical bills and all necessary forms are received at our offices.

Medical bills must be submitted within six months from the date of service.

The sooner CHM receives members’ medical bills; the sooner staff can put them in the queue for medical bill processing.

When you receive your itemized bills, immediately submit copies of the bills to CHM along with the following items:

1. The CHM Sharing Request Packet

2. Copies of your itemized medical bills –OR– your Medicare summary notice (Medicare members) –OR– prepayment agreements from your OB/hospital (expectant mothers).

3. Additional forms, if applicable

• Prayer Page Form
• Accident Verification Form
• Maternity Verification Form

You have three options to send medical bills to CHM (emailing bills is discouraged because it isn’t a secure method of transmission):

1. Online: Log into your Member Portal account and follow the prompts for submitting medical bill sharing requests.

2. U.S. Postal Service: Send your bills and Sharing Request Packet to: Christian Healthcare Ministries, Attn: Member Bill Processing,  127 Hazelwood Ave., Barberton, OH 44203

3. Fax: Fax your bills and forms to CHM at 330-848-4322.

Please watch our video on how to submit medical bills. Be sure to keep copies of anything you mail for your personal records.

Faith requires mutual sharing of needs. According to Galatians 6:2-5, every believer should “carry his own load” in addition to bearing the burdens of others.

Christian Healthcare Ministries practices this principle through the concept of Personal Responsibility. Personal Responsibility and qualifying amounts are as follows:

• Gold: Personal Responsibility (PR) and qualifying amount per incident of $1,000 per unit, per year. Maternity has a separate PR of $1,500, which can be reduced by $500 if members call CHM within the first 16 weeks of pregnancy.
• Silver: Personal Responsibility (PR) and qualifying amount per incident of $2,500 per unit, per year.
• Bronze: Personal Responsibility (PR) and qualifying amount per incident of $5,000 per unit, per year.

Bring-a-Friend credits can apply toward your Personal Responsibility amount and reduce out-of-pocket costs. Total bills incurred must total the qualifying amount per incident for the level you've chosen in order to be eligible for sharing.

You may receive treatment from your healthcare provider if the treatment is within CHM Guidelines. A searchable list of providers recommended by members is available by clicking here. We also recommend that you use other cost comparison tools for helpful information on fair pricing for medical services. For help negotiating medical bills, please contact CHM staff at 800-791-6225.

It is important to note that CHM cannot share bills pertaining to care from non-medical providers (chiropractors, psychologists, counselors, naturopaths, homeopaths, etc.) or any medical doctors practicing alternative, complementary or functional treatment.

The qualifications for joining are simple: Participating adults must be Christians who attend worship regularly as health permits (Hebrews 10:25), actively follow the teachings of the New Testament in its entirety and live a lifestyle consistent with the CHM Statements of Beliefs.

CHM members must abstain from the following activity: use of any tobacco, nicotine, smoking device, or substitutionary smoking device (including but not limited to cigarettes, cigars, pipes, herbal cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vape pens, etc.); illegal use of drugs; and sexual immorality (as defined in the Scriptures and expressed in CHM’s Statements of Beliefs). Additionally, members must follow biblical principles with respect to the use of alcohol.

Please see How it works for information.

No. No one is excluded from participating in sharing. However, Christian Healthcare Ministries cannot share bills for treatment of ineligible medical conditions (see the CHM Guidelines). For detailed information regarding pre-existing conditions, visit our pre-existing conditions section or see the CHM Guidelines.

Yes. Many members use CHM as a complement to Medicare. If you’re Medicare age or Medicare eligible, you must have parts A and B (or a Medicare Advantage Plan) to receive full sharing eligibility.

Members should plan ahead regarding their Medicare start date to avoid gaps in full CHM sharing eligibility. Membership at the Gold level combined with Brother’s Keeper is the best option for members of all ages and offers the highest level of cost support.

For more information, visit our Medicare page.

Yes. However, please note that CHM members must have access to a U.S. mailing address or reliable Internet service capable of receiving documents with confidential information. CHM cannot send funds outside the U.S. and all bills submitted must be translated into English and converted to U.S. dollars.

A unit is defined as a participating individual (s) within a membership. Monthly gifts are given based on the number of units, whether individual or family.  (For example, a husband, a wife and their four children would be considered three units. However, a single parent with four children would be considered two units.) Without an adult on the membership, two or more children must participate as two units. For more information, click here.

Bring-a-Friend (BAF) is a referral program in which members encourage Christian friends, neighbors and extended family to join CHM and experience the joy of knowing that their monthly giving will also help other Christians with their medical bills.

You will earn a BAF credit for every new membership you bring into CHM. After your friend or family member submits their third consecutive monthly financial gift, your credit will be automatically applied. This credit amount corresponds with your new friend or family member's membership level. Those who bring multiple friends can earn up to 16 months' worth of credits per year. Please see the Bring-a-Friend page for more information.

Since CHM is a nonprofit ministry and is not insurance, we’re not able to offer remuneration to individuals who promote CHM in their profession. Please note that CHM cannot be “sold” by insurance agents or bundled with insurance products of any kind. However, any individual who joins CHM has the opportunity to earn credits via the Bring-a-Friend referral program when others join CHM as a result of their efforts.

Thank you for your interest in sharing your CHM experience with other members! We’d love to consider your testimony for a future magazine article.

Simply follow the link corresponding to your story, and share how God has worked in your life by answering the questions there. This response will be sent to the CHM editor, who will reach out to you with the next steps.

• My latest CHM story is maternity related

• My latest CHM story is illness/accident related

• My CHM story is how God has worked in my personal/professional life and how CHM has been a support

• I’m a provider who has experience working with CHM

Please note that CHM does not feature book reviews, product or service advertisements, or stories that don't focus on the CHM member experience.

We at Christian Healthcare Ministries believe that supporting each other spiritually is as important as the financial support members receive. Through our Prayers Unceasing program accompanying the monthly Member Gift Form billing statements and the Prayer Page, members have the opportunity to reach out to each other through prayer, cards and notes of encouragement. CHM staff also pray daily for members, especially those who have submitted prayer requests by mail, email, or phone.

Many staff members are prayer warriors available to pray with you over the phone at your request.

Christian Healthcare Ministries partners with companies that offer discounts on prescriptions. For more information, see our prescriptions page.

The legal notices are the result of discussions with several state regulators and are part of an effort to make sure that members understand that Christian Healthcare Ministries is not an insurance company and that it does not guarantee payment of medical costs. Our role is to enable Christians to help fellow Christians through voluntary financial gifts. Since 1981, CHM members have faithfully provided for one another in accordance with and as demonstrated in Scripture. Members have shared over $8 billion to meet each other's medical costs.

Please visit the about us page and read the integrity and accountability section for more information.

Please visit our policies page for more information.

The Prayer Page, printed in the monthly Heartfelt Magazine, is another way CHM members carry each other’s burdens. It communicates need amounts from maintained pre-existing conditions, that are not eligible for sharing through the regular CHM program. The Prayer Page does not assist with bills incurred prior to joining CHM. Members are encouraged to give to Prayer Page needs (over and above their monthly financial gifts) as they feel led. This portion of our ministry is an amazing testimony to the power of the Holy Spirit to change people’s hearts. In 2021, CHM members donated over $5 million to one another’s medical bills.

Brother’s Keeper is your safeguard against catastrophic illness or injury. Brother’s Keeper is a low-cost, biblically based program enabling CHM members to meet medical bills that exceed the $125,000 limit per illness specified in the CHM Guidelines. Members have the option to add Brother’s Keeper anytime, but will receive the most support by choosing to participate from the start of their membership.

Gold level members: Signing up for Brother’s Keeper provides unlimited cost support per illness (diagnosis) for eligible medical expenses.

Silver and Bronze members: Signing up for Brother’s Keeper provides an additional $100,000 of cost support per illness, per year for eligible medical expenses. With each annual Brother’s Keeper renewal, participants receive an additional $100,000 of assistance, up to $1 million per illness.

Learn more about Brother's Keeper here.

Through HealthiestYou™, CHM members can connect with doctors free of charge over the phone or through video chat. Commonly addressed medical conditions include respiratory infections, cold and flu symptoms, allergies, skin irritations, pink eye, and much more. 

This service is available to all members at no additional cost beyond their regular monthly financial gifts. It offers convenient and easy 24-hour access to licensed physicians seven days a week. Members of any age can participate and receive quality medical care—even from the comfort of their own home.

Eager to take advantage of this incredible program or learn how to register? Click here to learn more and watch a video demonstration.

We’re always looking for ways to better serve you and fulfill our mission of glorifying God through sharing each other’s medical bills. That’s why we want to hear from you. Click here to tell us know how we’re doing.