The Anabaptist perception towards insurance policies!

[Ken]

OK, I have to admit I was a bit confused here. Because there is a Mennonite Mutual Aid company that is actually an insurance company with the name of Mennonite Mutual Aid https://www.mennonitemutual.com/

And then there is a separate organization run by CAM that is called CAM Mutual Aid: https://www.cammutualaid.com/

I assume you are all talking about the latter?

Both of these are Anabaptist-affiliated organizations. Can someone articulate the theological reason for why insurance from the first organization is unacceptable but an insurance substitute provided by the second organization is acceptable?

[mike]

OK, I have to admit I was a bit confused here. Because there is a Mennonite Mutual Aid company that is actually an insurance company with the name of Mennonite Mutual Aid https://www.mennonitemutual.com/

And then there is a separate organization run by CAM that is called CAM Mutual Aid: https://www.cammutualaid.com/

I assume you are all talking about the latter?

Both of these are Anabaptist-affiliated organizations. Can someone articulate the theological reason for why insurance from the first organization is unacceptable but an insurance substitute provided by the second organization is acceptable?

CAM Mutual Aid is actually not run by Christian Aid Ministries. The CAM Mutual Aid acronym refers to Conservative Amish Mennonite.

I've never heard of Mennonite Mutual, but it looks like they have evolved from a mutual aid association restricted to Mennonites into an ordinary insurance company.

I have some brother in laws who use CAM Mutual Aid and one of the interesting things that organization does is distribute a regular list of beneficiaries and payouts. I hear that this particular list tends to generate interesting dinner table discussions.

[mike]

The conservative Mennonite church we attend doesn't object to insurance, and folks would use commercial insurance when needed or desired. For medical insurance, some older folks are on Medicare, and some others with severe needs might utilize Medicaid. But most folks use a medical mutual aid plan, operated by a pool of various groups of conservative Mennonite churches. It's called AMA but I'm not actually sure what that stands for.

[ken_sylvania]

OK, I have to admit I was a bit confused here. Because there is a Mennonite Mutual Aid company that is actually an insurance company with the name of Mennonite Mutual Aid https://www.mennonitemutual.com/

And then there is a separate organization run by CAM that is called CAM Mutual Aid: https://www.cammutualaid.com/

I assume you are all talking about the latter?

Both of these are Anabaptist-affiliated organizations. Can someone articulate the theological reason for why insurance from the first organization is unacceptable but an insurance substitute provided by the second organization is acceptable?

I am nearly 100% certain that CAM Mutual Aid is not in any way affiliated with the nonprofit named Christian Aid Ministries in Berlin, OH.

[ken_sylvania]

The conservative Mennonite church we attend doesn't object to insurance, and folks would use commercial insurance when needed or desired. For medical insurance, some older folks are on Medicare, and some others with severe needs might utilize Medicaid. But most folks use a medical mutual aid plan, operated by a pool of various groups of conservative Mennonite churches. It's called AMA but I'm not actually sure what that stands for.

Amish-Mennonite Aid I believe.

[ohio jones]

OK, I have to admit I was a bit confused here.

Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company is not the same as Mennonite Mutual Aid, which changed its name to Everence quite some time ago. In addition to insurance, Everence has mutual funds, a credit union, a foundation for planned giving, and other services.

C.A.M. Mutual Aid has no affiliation with Christian Aid Ministries and is not an insurance company.

There are other organizations you haven't found yet, some with overlapping names, in both categories. There are yet more organizations you probably will never find since they don't have an online presence. In the absence of specificity, "we" may be talking about any or all of the above.

[mike]

The conservative Mennonite church we attend doesn't object to insurance, and folks would use commercial insurance when needed or desired. For medical insurance, some older folks are on Medicare, and some others with severe needs might utilize Medicaid. But most folks use a medical mutual aid plan, operated by a pool of various groups of conservative Mennonite churches. It's called AMA but I'm not actually sure what that stands for.

Amish-Mennonite Aid I believe.

The conservative Mennonite church we attend doesn't object to insurance, and folks would use commercial insurance when needed or desired. For medical insurance, some older folks are on Medicare, and some others with severe needs might utilize Medicaid. But most folks use a medical mutual aid plan, operated by a pool of various groups of conservative Mennonite churches. It's called AMA but I'm not actually sure what that stands for.

Amish-Mennonite Aid I believe.

It could stand for that, but I know it's not the widely known Amish Mennonite Aid organization. The AMA medical aid plan only does medical cost sharing, where the Beachy-run AMA is a larger mission group.

Too many acronyms.

[mike]

OK, I have to admit I was a bit confused here. Because there is a Mennonite Mutual Aid company that is actually an insurance company with the name of Mennonite Mutual Aid https://www.mennonitemutual.com/

And then there is a separate organization run by CAM that is called CAM Mutual Aid: https://www.cammutualaid.com/

I assume you are all talking about the latter?

Both of these are Anabaptist-affiliated organizations. Can someone articulate the theological reason for why insurance from the first organization is unacceptable but an insurance substitute provided by the second organization is acceptable?

I'll make a stab at the theology of Anabaptists who oppose insurance in favor of mutual aid organizations. I think it has to do with concern that funds are mutually shared among brothers and sisters in the Lord, and not going to support a third party organization or people who are living worldly or sinful lifestyles. As I understand it.

[Ken]

OK, I have to admit I was a bit confused here. Because there is a Mennonite Mutual Aid company that is actually an insurance company with the name of Mennonite Mutual Aid https://www.mennonitemutual.com/

And then there is a separate organization run by CAM that is called CAM Mutual Aid: https://www.cammutualaid.com/

I assume you are all talking about the latter?

Both of these are Anabaptist-affiliated organizations. Can someone articulate the theological reason for why insurance from the first organization is unacceptable but an insurance substitute provided by the second organization is acceptable?

I'll make a stab at the theology of Anabaptists who oppose insurance in favor of mutual aid organizations. I think it has to do with concern that funds are mutually shared among brothers and sisters in the Lord, and not going to support a third party organization or people who are living worldly or sinful lifestyles. As I understand it.

So how is buying insurance from a public insurance company where your dollars might go to people living a worldly lifestyle

different from...

buying a car from a non-Menno car dealership where your dollars might go to a company or the salesman in the form of commission who are also people who might be living a "worldly" lifestyle

Both the insurance agent and the car dealer are just selling a product.

In reality, traditional insurance companies don't really "pool" people's money and save it. What they do is bring in revenue by selling policies. And then they invest that revenue in any variety of investments from bonds to real estate. And then if the number of claims they have to pay is less than the earnings from their investments they make money. If the claims they have to pay out are more than their investment earnings they lose money. And the cost of the policy is adjusted in order to make sure that revenues exceed claims or the company goes out of business. So when you buy an insurance policy your money isn't really pooled any more than when you buy a car. It is just revenue for the company against which they balance out their costs.

[RZehr]

A.M.A. or A.M.A.P. is something our church is a part of, and it stands for Anabaptist Medical Aid Plan. This is something that, strictly speaking, churches join, not individuals. Churches regularly gather money from their individual members, and send it to AMAP where the money is pooled to meet only the members medical needs. There is a website, but it is more functional and a portal for the members (claims, enrollment), and isn’t designed for public contact or outreach.

C.A.M. Mutual Aid, stands for Conservative and Amish Mennonite Mutual Aid and is in Indiana, https://www.cammutualaid.com/ and predates Christian Aid Ministries.
CAM Mutual Aid, is more about helping their members with physical asset losses.