1. Foundational Overview
1.1. Principles of Ministry
We believe the following Biblical principles are basic to the life of every believer, and are therefore foundational to our health care sharing ministry:
Jesus Christ is our Provider for every need.
As the Creator of all things, He is the only One with all the resources necessary to meet every need.
Our needs are more than physical.
Human beings are more than just a collection of cells, and we have needs that go beyond the physical body. Our members come together to meet the financial, physical, and spiritual aspects of each medical Need.
God has made us stewards of His resources.
As a first line of defense, members of the Body of Christ are responsible for using the resources that God has provided to care for themselves, their families, and others.
Our local Christian church offers us support.
We seek to support and supplement the local Body, not replace it. We depend on local Christian church leaders to provide accountability for the REDEEM® HealthShare members under their care.
Mankind is the crown of His Creation.
Because we bear the image of God, we are to respect all human life at all stages of development. Therefore, we live according to Biblical principles in all aspects of our lives by treating our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit.
1.2. Membership
To become a member of REDEEM HealthShare, a division of Samaritan Ministries, you must meet all the requirements of this section and apply. Your pastor, church official, or person of accountability must submit the REDEEM HealthShare church Accountability Verification on your behalf and then REDEEM HealthShare must approve the Accountability Verification.
If you continue to meet these requirements and fulfill all membership responsibilities, your membership will continue.
We believe the following membership requirements benefit you and other members by being Scriptural, minimizing medical risks and costs, ensuring proper accountability, and encouraging good health practices. REDEEM HealthShare retains the discretion to remove you from membership if your behavior violates Biblical standards such that you bring the ministry into disrepute.
1.3. Membership Requirements
Be a professing Christian living by Biblical principles. Every adult on the membership must affirm the following member Statement of Faith:
- Believe in the triune God of the Bible. He is one God Who is revealed in three distinct Persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Genesis 1:26 | Luke 1:35, 3:21–22 | 2 Corinthians 13:14 | Matthew 28:18–20
- Believe Jesus Christ was God in the flesh and continues to be such even after His resurrection—fully God and fully man. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, was bodily resurrected on the third day, and is now seated in the heavens at the right hand of God the Father. Isaiah 7:14, 9:6 | Matthew 1:22–23, 26:64 | Mark 16:19 | Luke 24:38–40 | John 1:1–2, 1:14, 1:29, 2:18–21, 5:18, 8:46 | Acts 2:32–33 | 1 Corinthians 15:3–4, 15:20–21 | 2 Corinthians 5:21 | Colossians 1:15–20, 2:9 | Hebrews 1:1–4, 4:14–15, 7:26, 9:11–14, 10:10–12 | 1 Peter 2:22–24 | 1 John 3:5
- Believe that all people have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory and can be saved from eternal death only through faith in Jesus Christ, Whose atoning death and resurrection secure for us eternal life. Jeremiah 17:9 | John 3:3, 14:6, 20:30–31 | Romans 3:9–11, 3:23, 5:12–21, 10:8–13 | Ephesians 2:8–9
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As a community of Christians helping other Christians with their medical bills, every adult on a membership must attend a Biblical, Christian church regularly (at least three out of four weeks per month that your health or weather permits). If it is not possible for you to regularly attend a Biblical, Christian church, please submit a letter giving the details. Hebrews 10:25
Note: Fellowships, churches, temples, wards, and denominations that fall outside of Biblical, Christian faith—such as the Church of Scientology, Unitarian, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints— do not qualify for the church attendance requirement.
- Believe you are to bear one another’s burdens. Galatians 6:2 | Philippians 2:4
- Believe that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that abusing any substance is sin. Empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit, you are committed to living a holy and consecrated life in which you abstain from illegal drugs, legal or prescribed substance abuse, recreational marijuana, and tobacco (the ministry allows a rare celebratory cigar or pipe). Romans 13:1 | 1 Corinthians 6:12
- Believe that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that drunkenness is a sin. Empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit, you are committed to living a holy and consecrated life in which you limit consumption of alcohol to moderate amounts and do not drink to drunkenness or cause another brother or sister in Christ to stumble. Ephesians 5:18
- Believe that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that God gifted you your biological sex, and that manifesting any identity outside of your God-given biological sex is a sin. 1 Corinthians 6:18
- Believe that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and any sexual activity outside traditional, historically Biblically orthodox marriage as designed by God between one biological man and one biological woman, is a sin. Empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit, you are committed to living a holy and consecrated life in which you live a life in conformity with your God-given biological sex, and abstain from any sexual activity outside of traditional, historically orthodox Biblical marriage. Genesis 1:27, 2:24 | Matthew 19:5
- Believe that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and agree to practice good health measures in accordance with that belief. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
- Keep your membership active by fully funding your Share Wallet and sending your Share each month. If financial difficulty is the cause of these problems, assistance might be available through the Sponsorship Program, see section 5.13. Sponsorship. Luke 16:10
- Agree that when you have a dispute with a fellow Christian, and your fellow Christian is willing to submit that dispute to fellow believers for resolution, you are not to sue each other in the civil courts or other government agencies. If you initiate a legal proceeding against REDEEM HealthShare Ministry or Samaritan Ministries International, you will disqualify yourself from membership. 1 Corinthians 6:1-8
- Submit your Membership Continuation Agreement, which includes the Accountability Verification each year, confirming that you are still meeting the membership requirements. Proverbs 10:9
- During the initial application process, you will forward your pastor, church officer, or person of accountability the Accountability Verification form. This individual must complete and submit the form confirming that you meet the above requirements. Your membership will be in suspended status until your pastor, church official, or person of accountability submits the required Accountability Verification and REDEEM HealthShare approves it. REDEEM HealthShare may decline to approve your Accountability Verification if it determines, at its discretion, that a conflict of interest exists or that approval would undermine the purpose of member accountability. Hebrews 13:17
Nationality or Citizenship Requirements.
Any of the following individuals may join REDEEM HealthShare:
- U.S. Citizens
- Those who possess a U.S.-issued Social Security Number and a valid Identification Card issued by a U.S. government agency
- Those who possess a U.S.-issued Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) and who also have a government-issued Identification Card issued by Mexico, Canada, Guatemala, or the United States and who have a United States mailing address
If at any time you no longer meet all these membership requirements, you must notify REDEEM HealthShare immediately.
Your health status has no effect on your eligibility for membership. However, there are limitations on the sharing of Needs for some conditions that existed before membership or during a waiting period. For a detailed explanation of the types of Needs that are eligible or not eligible for sharing, see section 3. Sharing Expenses.
To be eligible to submit Needs for sharing, you must meet all the requirements of membership including being up to date with all monthly Shares, and the Need must not result from behavior that violates membership requirements.
1.4. Health Care Sharing in General
REDEEM HealthShare designed its programs for sharing eligible Needs related to conditions resulting from a new illness, injury, or accident. A Need is the spiritual, emotional, physical, and financial needs related to a medical condition or event. A Need includes all bills that REDEEM HealthShare determines are related to the same condition, progression of a condition, or set of symptoms. This includes separate treatments or separate episodes of symptoms. Note: In this document, Need is capitalized when referring to this glossary-defined concept. Lowercase need refers to the general English word.
To participate, you voluntarily pledge a monthly share amount according to the age of the oldest participant on the household membership, the sharing level, any optional programs added, and the number of participants on the household membership.
You pay your providers from share contributions you receive from other REDEEM HealthShare community members. Medical bill funding does not come from REDEEM HealthShare itself and REDEEM HealthShare is not liable for the payment of medical bills. Members have no legal obligation to contribute toward your (or another member’s) medical bill. It is a sharing community.
REDEEM HEALTHSHARE MINISTRY IS NOT AN INSURANCE COMPANY. HEALTH CARE SHARING IS NOT INSURANCE OR A CONTRACT FOR INSURANCE.
THE ASSISTANCE WITH MEDICAL BILLS BY MEMBERS THROUGH REDEEM HEALTHSHARE MINISTRY OR OTHERWISE IS NOT GUARANTEED IN ANY WAY.
CHECK FOR YOUR STATE’S LEGAL NOTICE REQUIREMENTS IN SECTION 9.3. STATE DISCLOSURES, NOT ALL STATES HAVE A NOTICE REQUIREMENT.