Bring-a-Friend Referral Program
More members join Christian Healthcare Ministries through the Bring-a-Friend program than through any other method.
For every new membership you bring into CHM, you will receive a free month of membership after your friend submits their third monthly financial gift. Those who bring a friend each month can be a part of CHM for free!
How to bring a friend
- Tell your friend about CHM. Your personal testimony is a great place to start! Many other tools also are available. The Member Portal enables you to send an email invitation to your friends and can automatically fill in your member number on their application when they sign up online. You can “share” CHM by regularly visiting and interacting with the posts on our Facebook page. A third option is to request free Information Packs to send or give to your friends.
- Provide your friend with a Member Application. Each printed Information Pack contains an application. Make as many copies as you wish or suggest that your friend joins CHM online.
- Make sure your friend knows to put your name and CHM member number in the friend section of their application. This is important because it is the only way our staff will know that you are the one who referred your friend.
- Enjoy your free month of membership after your friend submits their third monthly financial gift.
Pre-existing conditions
This information also appears in CHM Guidelines Z and AA
Definition: A pre-existing condition is any medical condition for which you experience signs, symptoms or treatment before joining Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM), even if you have not been diagnosed. CHM cannot share medical bills incurred before you join the ministry.
Active vs. maintenance: We distinguish between pre-existing conditions in “active” treatment and “maintenance” treatment. Medical bills cannot be shared if, at the time you join CHM, the bills are for pre-existing conditions that are actively undergoing treatment other than with maintenance (routine) medications. After the incident is over and your doctor states that you are on a maintenance treatment regimen, bills for any new incident related to the pre-existing illness are eligible for sharing according to the information below.
Schedule: If these criteria are met, Gold level members can receive assistance with medical bills for pre-existing conditions according to the following schedule:
- In the first year of participation, bills incurred for a pre-existing condition are eligible for sharing up to $15,000.
- In the first two years of participation, bills incurred for a pre-existing condition are eligible for sharing up to $25,000 ($15,000 during the first year plus $10,000 during the second year).
- In the first three years of participation, bills incurred for a pre-existing condition are eligible for sharing up to $50,000 ($15,000 during the first year plus $10,000 during the second year plus $25,000 during the third year).
- After the third year of participation, the condition will no longer be considered pre-existing.
Prayer Page: Bills exceeding the three-year schedule listed above may be eligible to appear on the ministry’s Prayer Page printed in the monthly CHM newsletter. All CHM members are invited and encouraged to give to Prayer Page needs (above regular monthly gifts) as they feel led. Members’ names, addresses, medical need explanation and gift updates are included on the page. Prayer Page contributions are tax-deductible, unlike CHM regular program monthly financial gifts. To learn more about the Prayer Page, call 1-800-791-6225 (ask for the Prayer Page) or send us a message.
Maternity: If a member joins CHM while she is pregnant, bills for that pregnancy cannot be shared through the regular CHM sharing program or through the Prayer Page. Members must have a due date for delivery at least 300 days after joining CHM for bills to be eligible for sharing. Please note: Our Gold program offers a generous maternity program. Silver and Bronze exclude most maternity costs. To learn more about maternity, visit our maternity page.
Brother's Keeper: CHM's Catastrophic Bills Program
Brother’s Keeper is your safeguard against catastrophic illness or injury. Brother’s Keeper is a low-cost, Bible-inspired program enabling CHM members to meet medical bills that exceed the $125,000 limit per illness specified in the CHM Guidelines.
Gold level members: Signing up for Brother’s Keeper provides unlimited cost support per illness (diagnosis).
Silver and Bronze members: Signing up for Brother’s Keeper provides an additional $100,000 of cost support. With each annual Brother’s Keeper renewal, participants receive an additional $100,000 of assistance, up to $1 million per illness.
For medical needs exceeding $125,000, Brother’s Keeper members send a quarterly designated gift amount (average amount: $45 per membership unit) to the CHM office, where it is deposited in an audited escrow account. There is also a $40 annual, nonrefundable fee per membership.
Members receive a quarterly Brother’s Keeper letter stating their quarterly gift amount and the name of a fellow Brother’s Keeper member who has medical bills. They are asked to send cards and letters of encouragement to these fellow Christians.
To join Brother’s Keeper, check the box on the CHM Member Application. If you are already a CHM member and want to join Brother's Keeper, please call our Member Assistance department at 1-800-791-6225.
Membership Levels
Please see the CHM Guidelines for more information
The Gold program provides members with the ministry’s most extensive financial support.
CHM shares 100 percent of bills for any medical incident exceeding $500 as long as all other Guidelines are met. (Total bills incurred per incident must exceed $500 in order to be eligible for sharing.) You can receive assistance up to $125,000 per illness.
Example: You receive treatment early in the year for a gallbladder problem. Your bills total $7,500 and you receive $2,500 in healthcare provider discounts. CHM shares $5,000 ($7,500-$2,500), which is 100 percent of the cost after discounts. In the middle of the same year you have some blood tests done (for an unrelated illness) that cost $400. CHM does not share any of these bills because the total cost of the incident is less than $500. At the end of the year, you break your arm and the treatment amounts to $2,500. CHM shares the entire amount of $2,500 because the incident totals more than $500 and the treatment meets all other CHM Guidelines.
Gold plus Brother’s Keeper
If you join at the Gold level and also join Brother’s Keeper, you will have unlimited financial assistance available to you for all eligible medical bills (all eligible medical bills over $500 per incident).
At the Silver level, you have a $1,000 personal responsibility per incident. In other words, you need to pay $1,000 (or receive at least $1,000 worth of discounts on your medical bills) per incident before CHM helps share your expenses. You can receive assistance up to $125,000 per illness.
Silver plus Brother’s Keeper
Signing up for Brother’s Keeper provides an additional $100,000 of cost support. With each annual Brother’s Keeper renewal, members receive an additional $100,000, accruing up to $1 million per illness.
At the Bronze level, you have a $5,000 personal responsibility per incident. In other words, you need to pay $5,000 (or receive at least $5,000 worth of discounts on your medical bills) per incident before CHM helps share your expenses. You can receive assistance up to $125,000 per illness.
Bronze plus Brother’s Keeper
Signing up for Brother’s Keeper provides an additional $100,000 of cost support. With each annual Brother’s Keeper renewal, members receive an additional $100,000, accruing up to $1 million per illness.
