Several years ago I wrote a newspaper story about small churches that could no longer provide health insurance for their staff members.

As a result, many pastors were taking creative routes to covering this contingency. One drove a school bus primarily for the insurance; he only netted $24 a week after taxes and his share of the premium were deducted from his paycheck. Another worked as a substitute teacher, while others relied on a spouse's job-related coverage.

The high cost of health insurance doesn't just leave pastors living on faith in the event disease strikes, it inhibits some from entering risky fields. One church that planned to start a mission in a needy area of Appalachia dropped the idea after 14 pastoral candidates rejected the position because it didn't include medical coverage.

Facing catastrophe

As a freelance writer and editor working for a variety of publications and web sites, I know what it's like to face the prospect of calamity courtesy of a non-covered medical catastrophe.

However, I resolved that problem in 1996 by enrolling in a health-cost sharing ministry. These plans are a viable option for any pastor, missionary or self-employed believer without other sources to obtain coverage.

Over the past 12 years, it has paid major surgical bills for my wife and I totaling more than $100,000. I don't know the final figure yet because the bills are still being processed from my heart operation in late January.

When a reporter working on a feature about these plans interviewed me recently (the story has yet to appear), I unexpectedly got choked up when I described getting a call from the ministry back in 1999. It came from a doctor who helped negotiate discounts on hospital bills, telling me my wife's bills of nearly $50,000 for cancer surgery had been approved for payment.

Alternatives to insurance

I'm a member of Christian Care Ministry (CCM), which I've found to be reliable and pleasant to deal with. I also like its emphasis on healthy living as an alternative to facing high health costs (something I'm taking especially seriously after my surgery.)

However, I'm not trying to advertise for CCM as much as promote these plans. In recent years I've talked to three different self-employed Christians who all pay $1,100 or more a month for health insurance. As I told one, "If someone said that's what I had to pay for coverage, I'd tell them I'll just have to take my chances."

The other two major plans I'm aware of are Christian Healthcare Ministries and Samaritan Ministries. While there are variables, each operates on the same principle: Christians helping other Christians share health care expenses. Their foundational verse: "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Gal. 6:2, NIV.)

Although none fits the legal definition of insurance, they still have similar deductibles and guidelines. Sometimes that has brought oversight or even legal snarls with state insurance regulators, but thus far the ministries have prevailed.

Worth investigating

We're not talking chicken feed with these programs. Over the past 15 years Christian Healthcare says it has shared more than $450 million of medical bills; CCM has shared $350 million of expenses. (I couldn't find any figures on Samaritan's web site.)

Granted, there are potential drawbacks. These ministries don't have the financial reserves required for insurance companies, their plans don't offer the tax benefits of employer-provided health insurance, and they don't qualify as catastrophic coverage for those who want to establish a medical savings account.

However, none of those drawbacks is of much concern to me. Without health cost sharing, I would be staring up at a huge mountain of debt. If you have a similar concern, it's worth investigating one of these plans.