A health care sharing ministry posts a clearly understandable mission statement, communicating that health care sharing should be an outward expression of an inward Christian faith that serves as a witness to a watching world of how the Body of Christ can bear one another’s burdens in service to one another.

1. A health care sharing ministry conforms with the Federal Government’s statutory definition of a qualifying Health Care Sharing Ministry (HCSM) as written in 26 USC § 5000A(d)(2)(B)(ii) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
2. A health care sharing ministry organizes and operates in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code’s definition of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. As a 501(c)(3), the ministry shall annually file a 990 form with the IRS.
3. A health care sharing ministry should be governed by an independent Board of Directors, the majority of whom are selected by the membership. The Board shall meet regularly to assist the executive team in the execution of the health care sharing ministry’s mission in service to its members.

1. A health care sharing ministry should produce financial statements annually using generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and should be annually audited by an independent, certified public accountant.
2. A health care sharing ministry should make these audited financial statements available to the public upon request.
A health care sharing ministry should establish and follow a conflict of interest policy in which any transaction between the ministry and
1. any member of the ministry’s Board of Directors
2. any member of its management
3. or any person or organization related to a member of the Board or management must be approved after an independent review to determine that the terms are fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the ministry. For transactions less than $10,000, disinterested members of management may carry out this review. For transactions of $10,000 or more, the disinterested members of the Board of Directors must review and approve.

1. A health care sharing ministry primarily acts as a facilitator for the bearing of medical burdens by strengthening the member-to-member connection that occurs through the voluntary medical burden-sharing process.
2. A health care sharing ministry should ensure that member dollars go primarily to meet medical needs. It is recommended that for every dollar of monthly shares contributed by members, a minimum of 80 cents will be used for medical needs, maintaining a total administrative and program cost of less than 20%.
3. A health care sharing ministry should not require their members to apply for government assistance or state aid as part of the ministry’s sharing process.
4. A health care sharing ministry should not use health insurance agents, health insurance agencies, health insurance brokers, health insurance producers, or health insurance representatives.
5. A health care sharing ministry should maintain regular monthly share amounts for its members and communicates to members the process for any change in the share amounts.
6. A health care sharing ministry does not assume any transfer of medical risk from its members or make any guarantee of payment for any expenses.
7. A health care sharing ministry should maintain a clearly orthodox Christian statement of faith and will only accept families and individuals who can voluntarily agree with the statement of faith as well as its guidelines for health care sharing.
8. A health care sharing ministry should communicate to its members every month the total dollar amount of medical needs that were shared among the membership in the prior month.
9. A health care sharing ministry should clearly communicate the following information to those who are interested in joining the ministry:
   1. The health care sharing ministry is not an insurance company, nor does it offer any insurance product.
   2. The sharing of medical costs is completely voluntary, and neither member nor the health care sharing ministry is compelled by law to pay the costs for medical bills submitted for sharing, although failure to do so may lead to that member’s removal from the ministry.
   3. All members will maintain their legal responsibility to pay for the medical bills they incur irrespective of whether they receive payment from the voluntary actions of other members or the ministry through the sharing process.