In a recent New York Times column, “Hooray for ObamaCare,” Paul Krugman tells us how successful the program has been.

“Start with the act’s most basic purpose, to cover the previously uninsured. Opponents of the law insisted that it would actually reduce coverage; in reality, around 15 million Americans have gained insurance.”

How did the government achieve its goal of increasing health insurance coverage?  The same way the Corleone family achieved its goal of expanding olive oil distribution, or a gang member achieves his goal of getting your wallet.

When you file your tax return, you must inform the government how you are complying with the ObamaCare insurance requirement.  If you decide not to get insurance, that’s no problem: just pay the greater of $975 for a family of 4, or 2% of your household income.  That’s for 2015.  A substantial increase is planned for 2016.

Health insurance is a decision each family must make for themselves.  Relevant factors include the cost of insurance compared to expected payments if uninsured; level of risk aversion; and other factors like personal or religious views toward insurance.

Many Americans therefore face a difficult choice.  Is it better to shell out for an increasingly expensive health insurance plan, even if it would otherwise not be one’s best option?  Or is it better to pay a large and increasing penalty for failure to comply?

If you’re currently uninsured, and don’t meet any of the penalty exemptions (such as being in a government jail), you do still have one recourse, which Dr. Gary North has pointed out in a previous article.

Healthcare sharing ministries function similarly to conventional insurance, while tending to be significantly less expensive.  They are a legal method — available to any Christian – to avoid the penalty.  Depending on your particular situation, it may make financial sense to join a healthcare ministry instead of paying the penalty, even if you then permanently lost your membership card.

As an example, a healthy family of four with parents aged 40 can pay about $165 per month, or $1980 per year, to join a healthcare sharing ministry.  The ObamaCare penalty in 2016 will be a minimum of $2085 for a family of 4.

The healthcare sharing ministry my wife and I belong to is called Medi-Share.  Based on our household income, we save money compared to paying the penalty.  Joining would therefore be a financially beneficial decision for us even if we did not actually use our membership.  In fact, we’ve had a very positive experience with it.

Please see my full Medi-Share Review discussing exactly how the program works.

To conclude, Paul Krugman may rejoice that ObamaCare has made “the lives of millions of Americans better and more secure.”  (Funny how that’s usually accomplished at gunpoint.)  Yet ObamaCare, like all forms of government intervention in the market, has failed.  It places a significant burden on businesses; increases the costs and complexity of health insurance; and penalizes individuals and families with heavy fines for failure to comply.

If you are a Christian not receiving health insurance from your job, your best option financially may be a healthcare sharing ministry.  The alternatives are increasingly expensive conventional health insurance plans, or paying the growing penalty at tax time.