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Op-Ed:
Texans call on Texas Legislature to protect Christian ministries, health
care choices
[The Center Square] Bailey and Kyle
Voss
More than 150,000 Texans could soon lose their health
care option if a bill making its way through the state legislature
passes. That may not sound like a significant number to the politicians
on the House Insurance Committee who passed HB 573, but we are
significant. Our family is significant. We are among those 150,000
Texans. |
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 This harmful legislation would massively expand the
jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Insurance over religious ministries.
With nearly unlimited power afforded through the bill, this added bureaucracy
and regulation could impose insurance-style restrictions on Health Care Sharing
Ministries that would threaten their unique religious identity and could
eventually even shut them down.
Health Care Sharing Ministries are not health insurance – they
are a completely different model for managing health care expenses. These
ministries are 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, through which individuals
come together to share health care expenses that align with their religious
values. Members themselves agree on what types of medical expenses the community
will share, so long as they align with their shared biblical beliefs. For
families like ours, it is the preferred method of managing our health care
expenses and provides us with an affordable alternative to traditional health
insurance.
Our family first joined the health care sharing ministry of Medi-Share in 2017
right after we had our first daughter, Emory. For us, the catalyst was Bailey
leaving her full-time job as a fundraiser for a local children’s hospital so
that she could spend more time with our daughter. Given that our family was
still on Bailey’s employee-sponsored health insurance plan and because Kyle’s
employer did not offer an affordable coverage option, we knew that we had to
look for alternatives. That’s when we discovered that there are options outside
of insurance that would not only affordably provide for our family’s health care
costs but also align with our Christian values.
Since joining Medi-Share, we’ve added two more children to our household and
have had members from all over Texas and the United States share in meeting our
family’s health care expenses. The experience in dealing with Medi-Share and
getting our health care bills paid quickly versus having to deal with the delays
and approval process of traditional insurance isn’t even comparable. We are so
grateful that an option like Medi-Share exists because it truly makes it
possible for Bailey to stay at home and prioritize her time with our children.
Without Medi-Share, that probably wouldn’t have been possible for us. But even
more than that, we love knowing that as members of Medi-Share we are sharing in
meeting the needs and expenses of our fellow members, providing crucial
financial and spiritual support in what are often challenging circumstances.
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When we heard about this bill, we were surprised
that these new regulations were being proposed here in Texas,
especially given Texas’ conservative values and history of
protecting and prioritizing freedom and religious liberties. Being
life-long Texans, we were both raised to appreciate this state’s
frontier spirit and fierce belief in independence and individual
freedom. We see Texas as a place of opportunity where we can freely
live out our values and grow and support our family. HB 573 is an
affront to Texas values and is the opposite of conservative
governance. It opens the door to bureaucracy, takes away
opportunity, and discounts religious freedoms.
Texans like us deserve choice when it comes to personal matters like
health care, faith, values and our family. Inserting the heavy hand
of government regulation and micromanagement into this arena doesn’t
make any sense, but unfortunately that is exactly what HB 573 would
do.
Losing Medi-Share as a health care option for our family would be
devastating. The cost of a traditional health insurance plan for a
single income family relying on a small business employer to provide
coverage options is crushing, and it’s hard to fathom what losing
our health care sharing option would mean for us. It might even
impact Bailey’s ability to stay at home with our children.
We are grateful to have had Medi-Share as an option for our family
and we firmly believe that others deserve the same option. HB 573
could ultimately strip more than 150,000 Texans of their health care
solution. It is soon heading to the House floor for a vote and could
become a law. We stand in opposition to this bill and do not think
that it represents our priorities or Texas’ values. If you value
these freedoms and options, we urge you to call your representative
and senator and ask them to vote against HB 573.
Bailey and Kyle Voss live in Fort Worth, Texas. Kyle
is a civil litigation attorney and Bailey is a stay-at-home mom and
children’s’ ministry coordinator. They have been members of Medi-Share
since 2017.
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