Why I Chose a Health Sharing Ministry over Traditional Medical Insurance

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Chonce. You can read more articles by Chonce over at her personal blog, My Debt Epiphany. Enjoy! 

Landing my first professional job out of college was exciting. I was more than ready to work at a real full-time job and earn real money just like other adults. On the other hand, I wasn’t fully prepared for what came with earning real adult money – real big expenses. Healthcare was one of my huge expenses.

Normally, your employer offers a healthcare plan and they pay a portion of the premium while the rest of the payment gets deducted from your paychecks along with taxes. However, within the past decade, more and more employer sponsored health insurance plans have declined leaving employees with the responsibility of obtaining their own healthcare.

My first big job at a start-up paid decent money, but I quickly found out I’d be responsible for obtaining my own healthcare or facing a tax penalty.

The Burden of Medical Expenses

Medical expenses can be quite a burden. While the Affordable Care Act helped medical insurance plans become more accessible to everyone, the law didn’t help ensure that medical coverage would be affordable for everyone. Younger adults have the option of staying on their parent’s insurance plan until they turn 26. I didn’t have that option.

I was prepared to insure myself when my employer started offering health insurance plans a few months after I started working. The premiums were astronomical and would take a large chunk out of my check. I expressed my concerns with my boss and he advised me to look into the marketplace to see if I could get a tax credit, since the plans he offered employees were the best he could do since our staff was small.

The marketplace didn’t seem any better even with the tax credit. The only low rates were HMO plans with picky restrictions. Not being able to afford health insurance can put you in a tight spot. You’ll not only owe the federal government money the following year as a penalty, but you’ll risk getting sick and not having any coverage to reduce your medical bills. Unpaid medical bills can be one of the most crippling forms of debt in this country. With all the odds against me, I decided to do something untraditional and try a healthy sharing ministry.

I Opted out of the Affordable Care Act

I was talking to a co-worker about my frustration with obtaining medical coverage that I could afford and he ended up sending me a link to a popular health sharing ministry as an alternative option. Health sharing ministries are faith-based programs that are community driven and can help fund a member’s medical expenses by sharing monthly dues of other members.

Members of health sharing ministries pay a monthly fee or ‘premium’ which can go toward another member’s medical expenses. Then, when you have medical expenses that need to be covered, other members’ monthly payments will go toward your expenses.

Health sharing ministries are not traditional insurance, but they are often compared to insurance policies because they help provide coverage for various different medical expenses. There are several valid health sharing ministries to choose from including: Liberty HealthShare, Samaritan Ministries, Medi-Share, and Christian Healthcare Ministries. Most of these organizations have an annual unshared amount or ‘copay’ that each member is responsible for.

I choose to look into Liberty HealthShare and realized I would pay $131 per month for up to $125,000 in coverage per medical incident with a $500 annual unshared amount that needed to be met before Liberty shared or ‘covered’ my medical expenses.

After speaking with a rep on the phone, I decided to give it a try and opt out of the Affordable Care Act and the expensive premiums I was being matched up with.

Health Sharing Ministries vs. Traditional Health Care

I chose to give a popular health sharing ministry a chance because I figured it was better than having no type of medical coverage at all. I’ve been with my particular organization for over a year now and there are quite a few things I like about it:

• I can join and leave at any time (there is no open enrollment period)
• By choosing a health sharing ministry, I was able to avoid the penalty fee around tax time for not having medical insurance. Health sharing ministries fall in the gray area between being insured and being uninsured. Hospitals and clinics will still accept my membership card and bill the organization just like with traditional insurance.
• I can visit any doctor I like and don’t have to worry about them being in-network.
• The annual unshared amount I pay, which is comparable to a deductible is relatively low. It’s much easier to set aside $500 for medical expenses, instead of a $1,000-5000 deductible.

While my health sharing ministry allow me to see any doctor I want and protect me from accumulating thousands of dollars of medical debt through their coverage, there are quite a few aspects I don’t like.

• Even though I can be seen at any hospital or clinic of my choice, that doesn’t stop the staff there from being reluctant to expect my health share membership card. Most clinics are super strict and picky about not dealing with patients who don’t have insurance that is in their network. I find it a little frustrating that more healthcare facilities don’t do their homework and become more flexible and accepting of patients who have a health share membership, but the alternative option I usually go with is to be a self-pay patient for the visit, then submit my receipt to Liberty HealthShare for reimbursement within 30 days.

With Liberty HealthShare I also like the fact that they are working on generating a list of providers throughout the country and if you have a particular doctor you would like to see, you can ask them to call their office ahead of time in an attempt to get them to accept your membership card for billing purposes.

• Another disadvantage to choosing a health sharing ministry is that most of them do not share expenses for pre-existing conditions during the first year of membership. If you have any conditions or have been treated for something in the past, this could be a red flag.
• You also can’t deduct the monthly payments from your taxes each year since it’s not actual insurance and you won’t be eligible for an HSA (health savings account) if you choose to use a health sharing ministry.

While there are clear pros and cons of this option, it’s safe to say that no solution for medical coverage in this country will be absolutely perfect so you need to determine your wants and needs so you can choose the best option for you.

As someone who’s pretty healthy and can’t afford to pay high premiums and deductibles right now, a health sharing ministry was worth it for me and the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

How about you all? What do you think about health sharing ministries? What has been your experience with health sharing ministries?

Share your experiences by commenting below!

***Photo courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/130100316@N04/16161362110/