Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Untraditional Healthcare
57 Plays12 days ago
In this week’s episode, I’m taking a bit of a detour from my regular topics!
I’m sharing all about why a Christian Health Share has been a great alternative solution for my family rather than traditional health insurance. I break down the reasons it has served us well and why I love making this investment for my family. I hope this episode is helpful if you are thinking about making the switch for your family!
Links:
Samaritan Ministries (If you decide to try out Samaritan Ministries, be sure to use my name Cassidy Woelfel as your referral!)
Ready to learn more? I’ve got a ton of free resources for you!
🎉 FOLLOW me on IG @cassidy.woelfel 🎉
SIGN UP for my webinar on assessing your thyroid and metabolism at home for free
Check out my course Metabolism by Intelligent Design
SUBSCRIBE to this podcast ❤️
And don’t forget to shout me out online 😍
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Eat Like a Mother Podcast'
00:00:14
Speaker
Welcome to the eat like a mother podcast where we take complicated topics surrounding hormones and metabolism and make them simple and applicable to your daily life as a woman. I'm your host castie. Well fell.
00:00:25
Speaker
My hope is that you walk away feeling empowered to start taking radical responsibility for your health and lean into this body. God created for you. Are you ready to eat like a mother?
Podcast Purpose and Disclaimer
00:00:37
Speaker
This podcast is meant for educational purposes only and is not meant to be taken as medical advice.
00:00:43
Speaker
Please consult your physician before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Well, this is not my traditional episode, but I promise if you hang with me, this is going to be really relevant for you, particularly concerning what I assume is the crowd of people that are listening to my podcast.
00:01:00
Speaker
So hear me out and i think you'll understand
Cassidy's Personal Financial Struggles
00:01:03
Speaker
why. So tonight I am sitting here on my bed and right before I started recording this, two things have happened.
00:01:11
Speaker
So I was sitting on my computer looking at medical bills because we had a kid in the hospital this past week and that was just a huge ordeal and of course that comes with bills.
00:01:25
Speaker
The second thing that happened as I am doing this is I get a call from my husband that not only did one of our brand new tires pop,
00:01:35
Speaker
but after he changed the brand new put our spare on so that he could come home our spare tire blew and that a year ago two years ago three years ago would have really stressed me out having these two incidences happening within the same week these are two pretty significant financial burdens fixing a car because not only did our tire blow but he says that the friend in is shaking now Something's going on. It's going to be repair that we're going to have to pay to fix, right?
00:02:07
Speaker
So not only do we have to pay these medical bills from our kid that was in the hospital last week, but we are also now having to pay to fix a car. And I have this moment as I'm sitting here, i'm I'm getting ready to look at these medical bills, figure out what's going to happen next.
00:02:24
Speaker
And then also i get this call that we're going to have another major financial thing that we're going to have to cover.
Finding Peace with Samaritan Ministries
00:02:31
Speaker
And I just had this overwhelming sense of peace wash over me. And I'm so thankful because that would not have been my initial reaction ah few years ago.
00:02:41
Speaker
And one of the reasons why I'm so thankful and it it struck me that I had this reaction is because of two things that we put in place a long time ago. And the one that we're going to talk about today is Samaritan Ministries. And this is what we have chosen over traditional health care or health insurance.
00:03:01
Speaker
So if you are someone that feels like you have been slighted by medical insurance field, if you're someone that just feels so grossly overcharged when it comes to insurance or medical things or whatever might come up, this episode will be a good listen for you because it might be ah a new way of looking at health insurance and it might be something that could actually really benefit your family because it has so majorly benefited my family over the last six years.
00:03:30
Speaker
And if it's benefited me, I'm sure that it could benefit some of you. So let me take you back six years ago. Actually, scratch that. Let me take you back 20 years.
00:03:42
Speaker
Growing up, my family never had health insurance. I mean, i think we did when I was like super little and we'd go to the doctor for everything. But after the first four kids in my family, which if you're new here, hi, I'm one of eight kids. I'm number three.
00:03:57
Speaker
So after the first four kids, my mom stopped vaccinating and there really was never a need to go to the doctor anymore. So that just wasn't commonplace for us. And when we did go to the doctor, we paid out of pocket.
00:04:10
Speaker
Now I can only imagine the financial burden that my parents had with that with eight children. Now, anyways, let's fast forward, give or take 20 years, and I'm newly married.
Health Insurance Decisions as a Newlywed
00:04:21
Speaker
We were self-employed, and we were looking into different health insurance options, because that's, you know, what they tell you in marriage counseling or premarital counseling is that's going to be one of the things that adults do is have their own health insurance.
00:04:36
Speaker
Now, I want to be clear, my first year of marriage was I was not holistically minded or as holistically minded as I am now. I diffused essential oils because they smelled good.
00:04:49
Speaker
i ate moderately okay at the time. I thought I ate as clean as clean got, but that's story for another time. But suffice to say, we were not very holistic, but we were generally healthy.
00:05:02
Speaker
So the idea of paying for insurance for essentially nothing didn't make much sense for our situation. And that's when my sister actually recommended Samaritan to us.
Joining Samaritan Ministries After Miscarriage
00:05:12
Speaker
When I started looking into it, it didn't really make much sense to me and I still felt like it would be a waste of money.
00:05:18
Speaker
I couldn't see the benefit of it spending that much a month on something that we wouldn't necessarily use and then i miscarried even though i was never formally diagnosed i'm almost positive i had cysts that ruptured during this miscarriage because of how long i hemorrhaged for it was about six hours straight of passing clots the size of my fist my husband still cries when he thinks about it because he recalls the color literally leaving my body as he picked me up off the floor to take me to the emergency room
00:05:51
Speaker
Thankfully, a beloved midwife showed up just in the moment to give me something to stop the bleeding. And as you can tell, i have fully recovered, but the event was traumatic nonetheless.
00:06:03
Speaker
And it opened our eyes to the risks we're exposed to just by being humans. At that point, a stay in the hospital or a blood transfusion, which is what my husband was taking me to get,
00:06:15
Speaker
That would have financially wrecked our family. We had just finished paying off debt. I had just graduated college. We were barely making any money. And that's when we realized we couldn't afford not to have some kind of safety net.
00:06:31
Speaker
And that was the month that we joined Samaritan Ministries as our health share provider. And I am so glad we
Samaritan Ministries' Support During Husband's Injury
00:06:38
Speaker
did. Not even one week after we joined, my blue collar husband threw out his back on a job site and was unable to walk.
00:06:48
Speaker
Samaritan covered nearly all expenses, the ER, r the primary care physician visit, and all chiropractic care. At the time they covered up to 40 visits, now I believe it's up to 20 visits of chiropractic care, but we didn't even need or end up needing the 40 visits for him because he was up and moving and better than ever after just a few.
00:07:09
Speaker
Now, Samaritan is not like a typical insurance agency.
Community Support Model of Samaritan Ministries
00:07:13
Speaker
You are not paying a big company monthly. Every month, you send a check directly to a person with a physical need.
00:07:24
Speaker
I love it because every month I get to write a check to a real live human being and write a personal prayer to them and let this stranger know that we're covering them in prayer And when our family has a need, we get the same from others.
00:07:39
Speaker
I love Samaritan because they have covered all of my births, one birth center birth and
Coverage of Home Births and Unexpected Expenses
00:07:45
Speaker
one home birth. They actually prefer you to have a birth at home because they recognize that it's actually safer to birth at home than it is to birth in a hospital.
00:07:56
Speaker
So they covered all my births and this I was actually shocked about. They covered my birth center birth, which I knew going in that they would do that. They covered my home birth, which I knew going in, they would do that.
00:08:06
Speaker
But something that was shocking to me was they actually covered my free birth as well. And I did not think that they would do that because I thought I had to be under the care of the midwife in order for them to cover it.
00:08:18
Speaker
But one phone call, and this is another reason why I love them so much, is anytime I have a question, I've been able to call a real human being, talk to someone and get all of my questions answered relatively quickly.
00:08:30
Speaker
And at the end of every call, someone prays with you. And it's just so sweet and personal. I love it. So when it came to the free birth, I didn't ask for a really long time. I think I was maybe eight months pregnant when I finally was like, you know what, I'm just going to call and see. And I called them and it turns out, yeah, they would cover what I needed for my my own free birth, my own home birth.
00:08:54
Speaker
So that meant any expenses, anything that I was paying for, for birth supplies, and also all chiropractic care that I was receiving during the pregnancy. So anything that I bought for the birth, my birth pool,
00:09:08
Speaker
Any supplies that we had present, anything that I needed to have there as equipment for the birth and directly postpartum, they covered. And I just submitted the bills and I started receiving checks a few months
NICU Expenses Covered by Samaritan Ministries
00:09:19
Speaker
later. So that was mind-blowing.
00:09:21
Speaker
They also covered when my firstborn had to spend the night in the NICU directly after birth. That one bill, that one 24-hour visit that she was in the hospital was $30,000 out of pocket.
00:09:37
Speaker
And we ended up paying maybe a couple hundred just because Samaritan came in and was that safety net for us. And now with this new incident, with my youngest being in the hospital, I don't know the full severity of what the bills are. My husband and sisters and I are all placing a bet.
00:09:53
Speaker
I think it's going to be about $15,000. My one sister thinks it's $18,000. my one sister thinks it's eighteen thousand My husband thinks it's We don't know what the full extent is going to be, but I love that I am able to have these conversations and not be filled with overwhelming dread because $15,000 is a lot of money. And most people don't just have 15 grand that they can just give away. You know what i mean?
00:10:19
Speaker
But you get the picture. Having Samaritan as a safety net has been so incredibly beneficial for our family. And I'm so beyond grateful that we made this decision. And I was thinking about this not just today as I'm looking at bills and our tires popped and all the things.
00:10:37
Speaker
But I was thinking about this last week when I was in the hospital with my baby. and And i was thinking, man, I am so thankful that I'm not worried at all about what this is going to cost me.
Why Samaritan Ministries Works for Cassidy's Family
00:10:49
Speaker
All I have to worry about right now is taking care of my baby, is advocating for my baby, making sure that she gets the care that she needs and that I'm fully present in this moment.
00:11:00
Speaker
And I'm not thinking about, oh God, I'm going to get charged every single time one of these doctors walks into this room. I'm going to be charged for every single minute that I spend in this hospital and on and on and on and on.
00:11:12
Speaker
I could be fully present and focus on my family, which is what I needed in that moment. So I want to give you a few reasons why Samaritan specifically works really well for us, for my family, and it's not going to work great for everyone.
00:11:27
Speaker
I've had conversations with people on the internets that maybe it's not a great fit for them and that's okay. But here's a reason why it works really well for my family and why it might work really well for yours.
00:11:39
Speaker
Number one for us, no one in my family is taking any prescription drugs. So I don't think they cover prescription drugs. They might, Um, that would be something if if maybe someone in your family is on a prescription drug or maybe needs one, you can call in and ask again, they are so helpful in answering any questions. If you can't find the answer on their website, literally give them a call. They are so, so, so gracious. I,
00:12:07
Speaker
I love talking to their customer service. So that's one thing, you know, we're not taking any prescription drugs. Another thing is we're extremely healthy and we don't require regular doctor's visits.
00:12:19
Speaker
So the extent of doctor's visits that my children know about are the chiropractor. and that on a regular they don't samaritan does not cover chiropractic unless it is under a specific need so they covered chiropractic in my pregnancy because that was a specific need they covered chiropractic after my husband's injur injury because that was a specific need they will cover chiropractic after my youngest injury because that goes along with the need But if it's just like general wellness, which is what my family does the majority of the time, they're not going to cover that.
00:12:53
Speaker
So when my family goes once or twice a month just for regular wellness, we do pay that out of pocket, which I am perfectly fine with because, again, we're doing it. voluntarily it is for wellness to keep us healthy to keep our nervous systems in check and yes it's pricey but that's an investment that I'm willing to make in my family so do understand they don't cover just like regular wellness things that you can get unless it is under a specific need. I hope that makes sense. And if it doesn't, call them, look at their website. I'll link their website in the show notes.
00:13:33
Speaker
But yes. We're healthy, we don't go to the doctor a lot, and so we wouldn't really need something like typical insurance to maybe cover the cost of regular doctor's visits.
00:13:44
Speaker
Another reason why they work really well for us is no one in my family has any pre-existing medical
Managing Family Health at Home
00:13:49
Speaker
conditions. And that's something to look into too if you're considering something like this is I believe, and don't quote me on this because they change some of the wording every now and then. So you can look at their website and see what's going on.
00:14:03
Speaker
But for the most part, I believe they do not cover pre-existing medical conditions. I think there is some nuance to that. So go and look a little bit more. But for my family specifically, we don't have any pre-existing conditions. So that wasn't a concern for us.
00:14:19
Speaker
And lastly, why they work really well for us is i am extremely confident in caring for my family for just about anything that could happen. I feel like I could handle most things from home.
00:14:32
Speaker
So when we do end up going to the hospital or when we do have an emergency, that is truly because i have gotten to a point where this is out of my ballpark. This is not something I can handle from home and we require medical care.
00:14:47
Speaker
Which means we're not going to the hospital a lot. We're not going to the emergency room a lot. Yes, we have been a handful of times over the last six years that we have utilized Samaritan Ministries, mainly because my husband is a blue collar worker and he gets injured a lot.
00:15:03
Speaker
But there have been a handful of times that I've had to take my kids in and this has been our safety net. And the fact that they've covered all of our home births and we expect to have, you know, a million babies.
00:15:14
Speaker
That's also been a nice little cherry on top. So really, i don't feel the need to take my kids to be seen by someone when they're unwell. I can take care of them naturally. ah most injuries my husband has i can take care of them naturally and he's actually getting better about trusting me about that early on we had more yeah ER visits because he was like no way you crazy psycho woman no way you can take care of this we are coming up on seven years of marriage and he is finally getting to a point where he's like Okay, maybe I'll let you do this and see what happens because I've proven trustworthy and actually able to do what I say I can do.
00:15:54
Speaker
So we have less and less emergency room visits with him, which is great. I've also been honestly really successful in caring for the ins and outs of daily life through natural remedies.
00:16:05
Speaker
And I don't really need another person to tell me what to do. So again, we're not going to the doctor or to all of these different professionals regularly. I'm pretty good at doing my own research and figuring out what the next right move is for my family.
00:16:19
Speaker
And if you don't have that skill, I highly recommend training that skill because it will pay off tenfold. But I digress. This is not an episode about research and learning to make decisions for yourself. this is an episode about different kinds of Healthcare.
Using Samaritan as an Emergency Safety Net
00:16:36
Speaker
So anyways, I see why Samaritan would not be a perfect fit for everyone. definitely do your own research and see if it might work well for you. I personally have had nothing but a positive experience with them.
00:16:49
Speaker
Any questions I've had, I've been able to call and they've answered all my questions. Clearly, in having this as a safety net, which that's how I view it, if you're viewing it as a traditional or kind of like a traditional healthcare or insurance, whatever, it's not like traditional insurance. It is really just that it's a safety net.
00:17:09
Speaker
for emergencies and that's how we use it. We're not going to use it to cover all of the natural things that we do with our family, any natural routes or more holistic routes that we take, but we do have it in case of an emergency and I feel like that's wise. I know for us it has proven to be so beneficial because like I said, in these moments when I really need to be fully present with my family and I need to be able to give them the care that they need for an actual emergency.
Audience Suitability for Samaritan Ministries
00:17:38
Speaker
i don't need to be worrying about money and I don't want you to be worrying about money in those moments because it is stressful enough. anyways that is my little musing for this evening i feel like the majority of people listening to my podcast are probably semi-crunchy and so most of you listening could probably benefit from something like this because most of you probably are in a similar boat as my family you're probably really good at doing your own research probably really good about taking care of illnesses at home with your family naturally
00:18:10
Speaker
You're probably not on prescription medications. You're probably seeking more holistic options. And also, you might have an insane toddler like i do that is constantly throwing himself off high heights that might require an emergency room visit every now and then.
00:18:28
Speaker
Or you might have a husband who is a blue-collar worker who is prone to incidents and having a safety net it could be a really wise decision.
Cost Structure and Encouragement to Explore Samaritan Ministries
00:18:37
Speaker
So if you have not considered health share ministry in the past, I hope this opens your eyes a little bit to it.
00:18:44
Speaker
I'll link to Samaritan Ministries website in the show notes. You can peruse it and see ah what it would look like for your family. They base the cost based off of your family size, your age, and like any pre-existing conditions or like how healthy you are.
00:19:02
Speaker
So what you're going to pay is going to look different from the next person. I like that what we pay doesn't increase the more children that we have. That's a really big selling point for me.
00:19:13
Speaker
So when it was just my husband and I, we paid a certain amount. And then when my firstborn was born, that increased, which, you know, understandable. But then when my second and third were born, our price did not increase at all, which I love because we plan on having a lot of kids.
00:19:28
Speaker
So peruse their website. It'll be linked in the show notes. I will say i am not getting paid to talk about Samaritan. They do not pay me. They have not asked me to talk about this. This is just something that I genuinely love and my family has used for over six years now. And it has proven to be a very wise investment for my family Because when emergencies do happen, and they do happen, we have that safety net, that cushion to be able to fall back on and know that our medical needs are going to be covered because we have this in place.
00:20:02
Speaker
So anyways, I hope that this episode was helpful for you. I hope that this gives you something to think about. Maybe if you are flirting with the idea of potential other options aside from traditional insurance, this is something that I highly recommend you look into.
00:20:18
Speaker
So thank you so much for listening and I hope you have a great week and we'll see you all next week.
00:20:28
Speaker
If you found this podcast helpful or encouraging, would you mind leaving us a rating or review? I love hearing from you. So be sure to shout us out on Instagram and tag me at Cassidy dot well bell.
00:20:39
Speaker
we'll be sure to shout you right back out. Let's get this message to as many women as possible until next time, friend.