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Samaritan Ministries’ Members Can Now Connect Through eSharing
Although ACA Open Enrollment Has Closed in Many States, Samaritan Ministries, One of the Nation’s Leaders in Health Care Sharing, Accepts New Members All Year Long
PEORIA, Ill.—Paying bills, buying movie tickets, ordering dinner and even giving at church—these are all tasks people are becoming accustomed to doing online, as more and more of life’s everyday actions are performed digitally.
Now, Samaritan Ministries International (samaritanministries.org) is also offering its members a way to connect members through eSharing, allowing them to send their notes and shares directly to others who are also enrolled in eSharing.
For 23 years, Samaritan Ministries, as one of the leading health care sharing ministries in America, has remained steadfast in its mission—to enable Christians to help one another with their health care needs, as the Bible instructs in Galatians 6:2: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (ESV). Online sharing through eSharing builds upon that mission, providing a new sharing process that fits the digitally oriented lifestyle of so many today.
“As both the digital world and the health care landscape change rapidly, we want to continually offer our members new and more streamlined ways to send their shares directly to other members, which is a practice unique to Samaritan Ministries,” said Anthony Hopp, Samaritan’s vice president of external relations. “As interest in eSharing grows, we look forward to exploring additional online tools for our members to use in the future. And, as more Samaritan members sign up for eSharing, opportunities to send and receive electronically will increase from month to month. We’re excited about this new way to connect our members in 2018.”
Those enrolled in eSharing through Samaritan can use their PayPal account in addition to their mailing address to send and receive shares electronically. Members can sign up on the Samaritan membership app or member Dashboard and update their sharing preferences. Read more about eSharing here.
Members regularly tell Samaritan how much they love sharing directly with other members:
- “With Samaritan, we send our share directly to the family in need. …. our money goes directly to other Christians with health needs. As a result, all the shares that we receive have notes of encouragement or small gifts to encourage our family in our time of need. When my son had extensive ear surgeries, he loved the cards he received from all over the country encouraging him and reminding him that they were praying for him. I highly recommend Samaritan Ministries to any Christian family. It has been a wonderful blessing to our family since 2012.”—John from Missouri
- “When I found out about health sharing and looked into the different ministries, one of the reasons I wanted to be a part of Samaritan was so I could send my share directly to a person—with a name and a health need! That made me so excited to be able to pray for another Kingdom member that I don’t know and help with a need to get them through a physical trial. I look forward to getting my share to see who I am blessed to pray and help out for the month. What a blessing!!”—Cathy from California
- “We are so grateful for Samaritan Ministries, who brings the larger body of Christ together to help one another in time of need. One never expects to be taken ill suddenly, but what a joy to know that we can share together, bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ through Him—to love one another.”—Jeff from North Carolina
- “I loved receiving the notes from those that sent me their shares. The first thing I did with each check was to mark it on a map of where everyone lived that sent me their shares. It is so nice sending my share to other Christians each month!”—Joanna from California
Samaritan Ministries has also reminded potential members that the ministry welcomes new members all year long, regardless of open enrollment deadlines for the Affordable Care Act. The deadline has passed in many states, but seven states have extended the deadline into January: California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Washington and Washington, D.C.
And even though health insurance premiums are increasing rapidly around the country, the share amounts Samaritan members were asked to send for both December and January were 5 percent lower than November and previous months—good news for Samaritan’s 74,000 member households.
In 2017, Samaritan Ministries introduced a new membership level, Samaritan Basic, which offers a lower monthly share amount coupled with a higher initial unshared amount, giving both current and potential members another way to make the best health care sharing choice for their families—and their budgets.
Monthly shares for Samaritan Basic start as low as $100 for one person, $200 for two people and $250 for a family of any size, depending on age. Some guidelines differ between Samaritan Basic and Samaritan Classic; contact Samaritan Ministries for details or visit this link.
Each month, more than 240,000 individuals pray and send notes, cards and monthly financial shares directly to other families, along with notes and cards of encouragement and prayers. In this way, Samaritan members share $25 million in medical needs each month through an effective, affordable and God-honoring ministry for Christian families.
Learn more about Samaritan Ministries International here; visit the Samaritan website at www.samaritanministries.org, or follow the ministry on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
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