TEI Burden Sharing

A Cost-Effective Means to

 Meet Burdensome Medical Expenses

Introduction

Sponsored by the Theological Education Institute (TEI) of Hartford, Connecticut, TEI Burden Sharing is a moral covenant between people of like mind who choose the power of giving and receiving mutual trust, as opposed to a legal contract.

Anyone is invited to participate who agrees with and lives by the following principles:

1. The basis for a healthy life is found in the biblical ethics rooted in the assumptions of Genesis 1-2.

2. Healthy human sexuality equals chastity outside of heterosexual faithful monogamous marriage, and fidelity within.

3. Healthy living includes no use of inhaled tobacco, no use of illegal drugs, and no abuse of alcoholic  beverages.

4. Healthy living means the pursuit of a wise diet and appropriate exercise.

5. Healthy living means preventative measures are always embraced, and so as to minimize use of      pharmaceuticals and/or surgery, and then the simplest and most direct treatment for specific illnesses.

6. Human abortion is wrong except in the rare cases where the mother would otherwise die.

These principles are exactly that B principles to serve as a guideline for how to share one another=s burdensome medical expenses.

Sharing Needs

TEI Burden Sharing manages a system of people sharing each other=s burdensome medical expenses.

TEI Burden Sharing is applicable for otherwise unmet burdensome medical expenses. Any one-time expense which exceeds $250.00 may qualify for sharing, up to the ability of the system to share it.

How the Covenant Works

1. As a signer of this moral covenant, you apply to TEI Burden Sharing, stating that you agree to live by its principles.

2. You will be interviewed personally, and if you are accepted, you will be asked how much money per month you can contribute to help meet the burdensome medical expenses of your fellow signers.  Part of the acceptance question depends on your level of participation consistent with your ability, agreement to what pre-existing conditions may or may not be possible to accept into your covenant, as well as having an annual medical and dental exam and forwarding the results to TEI Burden Sharing. You are not held to that monthly amount, but there needs to be faithful burden sharing among all signers of the moral covenant for it to work. You will need to make three months of contributions to become active. The interview is the key to the system B where in personal relationships we can determine the fairest way for burdensome medical expenses to be shared among all signers.

3. TEI Burden Sharing uses these three months of contributions to help with overhead, and then once a year thereafter it will receive your monthly contribution for that purpose. From the point you become active, for the next 11 months your contribution will go to meet the qualifying expenses of other signers of the covenant, and on the 12th month it will go to TEI Burden Sharing, thus keeping overhead at 8.3 percent.

4. As a signer of this moral covenant, when you have medical expenses that exceed the $250.00 per incident threshold, submit the final bill(s) to TEI Burden Sharing. Tell the physician, dentist, hospital, laboratory, pharmacy et al. that you are "self-pay." Arrange to pay the first $250.00 yourself, ask for a reduction in cost, and state that the balance will be paid within 30 days after the final bill has been received. Feel free to explain TEI Burden Sharing.

5. TEI Burden Sharing will call, email, fax or mail its members each month, asking them how much money they can contribute for that month. Out of these monies your bills will be paid directly. All monies set to meet medical expenses will go into an account designated solely for that purpose B "medical expenses.@ The monies received separately for overhead expenses will be in a different TEI account. If the amount of monthly gifts to the system exceed the amount needed for a given month, the monies will remain there for the subsequent month(s).

If the needs exceed the gifts pledged, then any positive balance in the medical expenses account will be used to make up the difference. If there is no balance in the medical expenses account, then all signers will be asked to make up the deficit to keep all needs current, or the corresponding percentage will be paid out according to the monies on hand (e.g., if 95% of the needed monies are on hand, 95% of each claim will be paid). The exact balance in the medical expenses account will always be available to TEI Burden Sharing signers.

6. If ever you do not meet the pledge you make for a given month, you will not be able to have your qualifying medical expenses shared until you meet your pledge and keep current. TEI Burden Sharing maintains the freedom to discontinue any signer whom it believes is not making an honest attempt to make an appropriate contribution month to month.

7. Since there is no legal contract involved, TEI Burden Sharing will work personally with you to determine if all your burdensome medical expenses can be covered. However, for example, if TEI Burden Sharing believes your costs are a result of not living by its principles, or if a more cost- effective treatment is possible, it may decline to share those expenses. If you feel TEI Burden Sharing has been unfair in this matter, or in terms of a decision to discontinue your participation, you may appeal, and a randomly selected or elected group of 9 covenantal signers, along with a TEI designated panel of 4 people, will make a final decision after you present your case to them (on a majority vote between themselves if necessary).