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This is How we have Saved Tens of Thousands of Dollars on our Health Insurance!

6 min read

Health Cost Sharing, Medical Expenses, Medical Savings, Married to Health, Family Care

What You Will Learn

  • Our Top Frustrations with Traditional Healthcare

  • How a Family of 3 Saved Thousands on Healthcare Costs

  • Comparing Traditional Health Insurance Costs with Health Cost Sharing

  • What is Health Cost Sharing (HCS)?

  • How HCS can Change your Health and your Families’ Health Forever


 

Many of you know my wife and I as James and Dahlia Marin, Integrative Gut Health Dietitians and founders of Married to Health. We have been Integrative Registered Dietitians working with patients 1 on 1 in the wellness industry, and so much more for over a decade! However, there was a time when we were newly married, house poor, just had a baby, and were working normal 9-5 jobs as dietitians in healthcare flying by the seat of our pants!


At this time we had no clue what we were paying for insurance, what our employer was paying, or even how to use all of the benefits we had. We also hardly ever used our health insurance, except for major life events or emergencies:


  1. Our daughter being born! (best day of our lives!)

  2. Dahlia having to get her appendix removed! (Ouch!)

  3. Our daughter breaking her finger! (Poor baby!)


Even with these emergencies we were paying deductibles for the emergency room, co-pays for some specialist visits, and a higher price for any prescriptions being used.


I began to ask the question: “How can we and our employer pay so much a month, and we still have to pay something out of pocket when we use our insurance?”


There are many in our practice that communicate similar stories of frustration with their health insurance, and it only seemed to worsen as individual mandates went into effect. As of right now the penalty for not having coverage the entire year in California will be at least $900 per adult and $450 per dependent child under 18 in the household when you file your 2023 state income tax return in 2024. A family of four that goes uninsured for the whole year would face a penalty of at least $2,700.


Add to this the list of issues we remember and continue to hear from our patients:


  1. High deductibles, co-pays, and monthly premiums. This means lots more money out of your pocket.

  2. Long wait times. Doctors/providers are double or even triple booking appointments.

  3. Insurance reps that can give you the wrong information.

  4. Higher insurance price rates for medications and many procedures. The US has some of the highest priced medical treatment just because they can.

  5. Providers who are jaded with the state of US healthcare.


Something Changed!

Married to Health, Family, Health, Health Insurance, Family Health Cost Sharing, Medical Expenses
Marin Family-Founders of Married to Health

Being someone who is always asking questions, researching, and learning, I realized there had to be a better way. Dahlia and I spend so much time, effort, and care into our lifestyle that it seemed traditional insurance wasn't right for us.


To back up just a bit, before we thought about finding something better than traditional insurance we made a conscious effort to actually get healthy. No more symptoms, no more medications, and when we did this we found that we hardly ever had to go to the doctors or see a specialist, hence no more co-pays, not to mention time driving and waiting.


Dahlia does take some medication for her autoimmune thyroid condition, but she was able to decrease the amount she was using by 95%, which was a game changer! For those who are not aware of our health journey you can get all of the details here.


Just to clarify, here are the steps we took to make an actual change in our healthcare and health spending:


  1. We made huge lifestyle changes in nutrition, exercise, hydration, and environmental exposures. All with a huge focus on gut health.

  2. We were patient and took some time to assess the need for less medication and doctors’ visits.

  3. We made sure these changes were sustainable and lasted for years.

  4. We then decided to make the switch and ended our relationship with traditional health insurance.


Compare the Care!

*Numbers are for a family of 3 (2 adults and 1 child).


So after a while of our healthy habits literally paying off, we switched to Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) to allow us more flexibility, more savings, and more time to do the healthy habits that were working!


Here is our breakdown.

Benefits

Traditional Insurance:

CHM Health Cost Sharing:

Monthly Cost:

$2400/month

$440/month

Cost Per Incident:

$500-$1500

Based per incidence.

Provider Network Limitations:

Yes

NO

Self-Pay Discounts

No

YES

We have estimated that over the past 5 years we have saved over $100,000 by using Christian Healthcare Ministries. INSANE!


What is Health Cost Sharing (HCS)?

Community, Health Cost Sharing, Medical Expenses, Christian Cost Sharing

Founded in 1981, Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) is the nation’s original health cost sharing ministry. Health cost sharing is based in biblical teachings (Galatians 6:2 ) which calls on the power of sharing eligible healthcare related costs between members of a community. This community of members in all 50 states and around the world works together to share (voluntarily pay) the burden of medical expenses. CHM shares 100% of eligible medical bills, and overall has satisfied over $11 billion in members’ healthcare costs. With CHM, you can save on your healthcare without giving up your freedom.


CHM is not health insurance. As an alternative, it shares 100% of eligible medical bills, more than the typical 70% or 80% of medical bills paid by insurance companies. This allows for an estimated potential savings of up to 40% on healthcare costs compared to current traditional insurance rates. All eligible bills are shared in accordance with the CHM Guidelines.


You Have a Huge Incentive to be Healthy!


If you have been following us for a while, have been our patient, or have attended one of our speaking engagements, you know that we are well aware of the dire situation our health and healthcare systems in the US and around the world are in. We know this is a massive problem, but the actual solution is not as out of reach as one might think.


Personal responsibility and starting with your own health is actually the key to changing your health and the health of the world. This is especially true when we look at the gut microbiome, which we call the inner-ecosystem (the most important ecosystem on the planet). When you change your gut microbiome and by default your eating and living habits, these changes ripple out into the world, most notably financially!


It is estimated that for every $1 you spend on prevention: nutrition, exercise, non-toxic home ingredients, etc, you can save $5.60, which is almost a 600% return on investment! No bank account, savings account, and not even the S&P 500 can compete with these returns.


It is our own health journey that not only led us to find a better way to pay for eligible medical expenses with CHM, but it led us to start Married to Health and it continues to help us transform lives around the world!


 

Summary

  • You are not wrong, traditional health insurance is frustrating and some would even say broken.

  • You have other options, like health cost sharing with CHM, who takes care of 100% of eligible medical costs (per the CHM Guidelines).

  • Our family of 3 and great research on lifestyle medicine is proof you can be saving tens of thousands of dollars on healthcare costs!

  • If you need help with implementing healthy habits click here.

  • If you are ready to see if health cost sharing is right for you click here. 




James Marin, RD, EN and Dahlia Marin, RDN, LD, CGN
James Marin, RD, EN & Dahlia Marin, RDN, LD, CGN

We hope you continue to Heal with Each MealTM

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