Faith based medical expense sharing organizations

[Kenneth82]

Most of these plans are faith based so if you are not of the faith, you probably would not qualify. Also, there are usually requirements to join (no smoking, drinking, etc.) and they often have you sign an affidavit to that effect so if a claim results from any of these there would no coverage/sharing available. In addition, if there are pre-existing conditions, from the plans I have seen, there is limited to no initial coverage.

To those brokers selling this as health insurance, I say beware. To those selling this as comprehensive coverage, also beware because there are limits based on each program.

Very interesting. I don't know a whole lot about these faith-based plans, but I have heard stories of the money in effect drying up when a large claim is made, leaving people SOL. Is this true/a possibility with these plans?

 

[somarco]

‘Sham’ Sharing Ministries Test Faith Of Patients And Insurance Regulators

Colorado lawmakers want to crack down on companies that look like health insurers but aren’t

 

[David Block]

Very interesting. I don't know a whole lot about these faith-based plans, but I have heard stories of the money in effect drying up when a large claim is made, leaving people SOL. Is this true/a possibility with these plans?

It is an absolute possibility. There is no guarantee of coverage since claims are paid through a sharing ministry process. Participants in the plan pay a "premium" to join and then are asked to "share" when a claim arises. I am not certain how the amount of any participants share is determined, but the claimant is left with whatever portion of the claim is not shared by the ministry.

 

[pfg1]

It is an absolute possibility. There is no guarantee of coverage since claims are paid through a sharing ministry process. Participants in the plan pay a "premium" to join and then are asked to "share" when a claim arises. I am not certain how the amount of any participants share is determined, but the claimant is left with whatever portion of the claim is not shared by the ministry.

That's not actually how it works David. Everyone pays a monthly amount as a member... based on the plan you choose. IE: $500/mo for a family, or whatever it is based on what you choose.

When a member has a claim, they submit it to the company and after they verify everything is legit, they share it out among the members. Specific members are directed to send their monthly share to you. It is not voluntary. Every month you have a $ commitment (based on your plan) and will send your share to another member. If you don't send your share, you will not be allowed to stay in the plan.

IE: You have an illness, injury, accident...and your bills are $10,000.00. The company directs 20 members to specifically send YOU $500.00 each that month (their share). It works like a well oiled machine. A massive group of Christian families, collectively sharing everyone's healthcare costs (at a fraction of what traditional healthcare & insurance typically costs). Been using one for 11yrs, and have never had an issue. The key thing is its NOT insurance. So members are considered self pay, which leads to heavy discounts by providers (typically 30-50%). So bills for a surgery that might run $25k, you may be able to get discounted to $15k, then collectively the members share (send you money) to pay for all your medical bills.

Now, that said... there are some companies that are great and have been around a long time. I've heard of others that are not as good. There are also others seem to pop up to try and take advantage of the opportunity, as in any industry. IMO, if they are affiliated with selling or paying compensation in any way (IE: an agent gets paid to sell people into the plan) I would RUN AWAY.

Some do have pre-existing condition limitations -- due to the nature of sick people trying to get over on the system. The people don't want to pay high healthcare premiums, so someone tells them to join a Christian Health Sharing Ministry and have all their needs met, at a much lower monthly cost than traditional healthcare. (this ain't the companies first rodeo)
Also, some plans provide that you pay for all the small stuff. So if you need a dr visit, you go and pay your $100 or whatever it is. That is not a claim. There are some plans that have covered well care visits, sick visits, etc. Lots of variables, and each company has their offerings.

There have also been a few times that there are a large amount of claims in a month, much in excess of typical. In these cases they do everything they can to pay 100%, but I have seen it be reduced sometimes. Like down to paying 90% or whatever. It doesn't happen often but I've seen it a few times in 11yrs.
When monthly healthcare costs start to rise beyond what the total amount of monthly "premiums" total....this is when its about time to raise the monthly cost so they can keep up.

Hope this helps.

 

[pfg1]

Very interesting. I don't know a whole lot about these faith-based plans, but I have heard stories of the money in effect drying up when a large claim is made, leaving people SOL. Is this true/a possibility with these plans?

See my post above

 

[Louis Gallucci]

my dad is a pastor in CA and his church just joined a program called Missio Benefits (www.missiobenefits.com). It's only available to Christian employers but is available in all 50 states to any size group. It's a little different b/c its traditional group healthcare vs. healthcare sharing. Might be worth looking at as it is actual group healthcare insurance (doesn't have the contractual concerns associated with many of the healthcare sharing programs), based on biblical values, and leverages the size of the global church to reduce cost. Hope this helps!