Jill Millican, Bedford, TX

Since we are self-employed, my husband and I searched for a budget-friendly method to pay our medical costs. When we learned about CHM, I liked the idea of sharing others’ needs in a biblical way. I also liked that my monthly financial gift would go to families who were incurring medical expenses.

Our CHM story began on Easter Sunday in 2017 when my 16-year-old daughter, Erin, experienced severe abdominal pain on her right side. The following day I tried to get an appointment with our doctor.

When I told the nurse that the pain continued for more than 24 hours, she encouraged me to take my daughter to the emergency room to see if it was her appendix. Tests ruled out appendicitis and the doctor surmised that she might have a virus.

Isaiah 40:12 talks about God having a strong hand and how He measures the waters in the hollow of His hand. When you have a sick child—and especially when the doctors are unsure of the cause—it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and out of control. The passage in Isaiah reminded me that God works all things together for good. I found strength in knowing that I didn’t need to fully understand the purpose of her illness because there was purpose nevertheless.

When the bills came I called the hospital and asked for a discount. The representative who spoke with me was polite, but she was also new and unfamiliar with CHM. She said we could get a discount if we paid immediately, but the discount she offered was smaller than I’d hoped.

I didn’t want to leave CHM without any room for negotiation by paying the bill at that time, so I asked her to issue me a new bill reflecting the discount being offered. I simply wanted something in writing before sending the bill to CHM. She refused.

When I called the CHM staff, Pat Turner from the Member Advocate department helped me negotiate the charges to obtain a better discount. At the time, I was out of town and my ability to communicate back and forth about our bills was limited, but Pat was flexible and her positive attitude and willingness to work with me brought great reassurance.

Negotiating Erin’s medical imaging bill was a completely different experience. The provider immediately offered a sizable discount and it was much easier to work with them.

Though I hope we don’t need to seek medical care in the future, if we do I want to have a general knowledge of our local medical facilities’ costs. I would have considered taking Erin to a different hospital had I known there can be discrepancies between medical facility costs for the same services.

To my relief, today Erin is doing well, is active in sports and keeps a very busy teenage schedule. The doctors never landed on a diagnosis but she improved anyway.

God reminded me of His faithfulness when I received the $4,500 check CHM sent to share my daughter’s medical bills. God taught me that He’s in control, that His hand is strong and that I can trust Him.

Thank you, CHM family, for being the method He used to reveal this to me.