I wonder if there are enough CAH families to attempt to do what this ministry -- http://samaritanministries.org/ -- does.

The idea is that you use this in conjunction with a medical savings account and a catastrophic coverage plan. 

Basically, if I understand the concept right, each family handles up to $100 of their monthly medical expenses, then pools another amount to cover the medical needs of whoever in the group has them for that month. And a catastrophic plan for each family covers expenses over a set amount (I believe plans with a yearly $5,000 deductible can be fairly affordable).

The ministry I linked to, though, relies a lot on the honesty of the members. But I bet with the right organizational structure (hint, hint Kelly Leight) some sort of similar system could be established for CAH families, perhaps even in cooperation with another group so the pool of resources is larger. If we could determine the typical yearly medical expenses for CAH families and the amount of that that would fall within the deductible of an affordable catastrophic plan, then divide that by 12 we could see if that would be a workable figure for a large pool of CAH families to handle.

I know that two years ago we didn’t use up our $2,000 "savings account" that was part of our health coverage, and it rolled over to last year. But that year we used it and some. This year, of course we’ve gone way, way past it and well into what would have qualified for catastrophic coverage. I believe two years ago our medical expenses were about the same as year before last. So on the average, my guess is (figuring a catastrophic plan taking care of what was over $5,000 for the year) we would have averaged about $250 a month for a four year period. That certainly sounds like a bargain! (Even if you add $50 a month for catastrohic coverage--which I believe is usually less than that--and $50 a month to keep a medical savings account going, it’s still much, much less than insurance companies demand)

I remember hearing about a Jewish group that offered no-interest loans for small businesses and families to get back on their feet. Most of the loans were paid back, and they got enough donations each year to keep the program going strong. Maybe combining the concepts used by the Christian ministry above and perhaps the generosity of Jewish and Christian philanthropists to get the program started, it could solve the health care needs for a very large group of people. (And it combines the concept of people solving problems without the government, which I like, as well as the practice of inter-faith benevolence, which I also think is a great concept)

What does everyone else think?