The Most Common MediShare Complaints

One thing I do as part of the mission to spread the word about Medi-Share is try to understand any possible concerns or problems people have. Potential new members will often search to learn about any complaints, which is the smart thing to do -- before trusting your family's health, you need to do your due diligence!

First, let's begin with the Better Business Bureau.

Medi-Share's BBB Status

Medi-Share has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau as of 2020. After 26 years of consistently getting its members' medical bills paid, with hundreds of thousands of current members, there are only 14 complaints currently on file with the BBB. For comparison, Esurance has over 300 complaints in the past three years alone with an A- rating, and Aetna has almost 600 complaints.

So when it comes to the BBB, Medi-Share has the highest possible rating and very few complaints relative to the number of members they have. 

Edit: Here are the criteria for BBB ratings since a reader brought this point up.
​

Medi-Share Health Insurance Complaints

On Google, it appears that some people are searching specifically for health insurance complaints. It is important to keep in mind that while Medi-Share acts very similarly to insurance in most ways, there are important differences between health insurance and Medi-Share.

Every member of Medi-Share that I personally know has loved their experience, but with that said, here are the three most common complaints I've seen online along with my responses to them.

Medi-Share Didn't Accept Me

If you look at the Medi-Share BBB complaints, this is the top one -- someone completed the application and wasn't accepted into Medi-Share. (They wanted their $50 application fee refunded as well, which Medi-Share replied promptly saying that they had done.) This is one of the differences between Medi-Share and insurance. Typically the way insurance works is that the questions they ask when you join are just to set the price. They don't care if you smoke, for example, so long as you're willing to pay more.

To become accepted as a Medi-Share member, you must meet certain standards such as living a Christian way of life. You will be asked about this on the application including your denomination and whether you do drugs or have other non-Christian habits. If you do, it's not a matter of price -- they simply won't accept you.

Medi-Share Requires In-Network Treatment from Doctors and Hospitals

While you can actually use any doctor, hospital, lab, or treatment facility you'd like as a Medi-Share member, what's true is that the ones that are in-network will be at by far the lowest cost with the largest negotiated discounts. Keep in mind that Medi-Share's PHCS network of doctors is tremendous. We have always had a very easy time finding in-network doctors or specialists. 

So if you want to pay the minimum, just use the easy search feature to find the closest in-network doctors and specialists.

Medi-Share Didn't Pay My Bill

Members of Medi-Share vote on what expenses are eligible for sharing. Some expenses are eligible that normally wouldn't be with traditional insurance. See my family's cranial band story here for an example. Other expenses work the other way. For example, prescription drugs and chiropractors are examples of expenses that can be eligible for sharing but with limitations. 

Remember you can always Google or look at the guidelines to find if a particular type of expense is eligible for sharing. If you're ever not sure, give Medi-Share a call or do the online chat option, and you'll usually be talking with a representative in a few minutes or less.

As Dave Ramsey has pointed out, Medi-Share has the longest and most consistent track record of paying member bills of all the Christian healthcare sharing ministries. So long as it's a normal medical expense eligible for sharing, your bill will absolutely get paid.​​
​

Reader Comments

Over time, I've collected significant reader feedback on this topic. What follows is a recent update to this blog entry with a high-level overview of the issues that come up most often.

​Pre-Existing Conditions Aren't Eligible for Sharing. If you have medical bills that relate to symptoms or conditions you had prior to joining, they won't be shared. If you have any questions about what qualifies as a pre-existing condition, you should contact Medi-Share prior to joining to discuss your particular situation.

Bills May Require Upfront Payment. You may need to pay medical bills upfront and then get reimbursed. In the story I referenced earlier about my daughter's cranial band, I paid $3000 upfront for this and got reimbursed a month or two later. So it's a good system from my experience, but it helps a lot expecting this system going in.

​Provider Network Issues. Occasionally a hospital is part of the provider network but a specialist isn't. Or you end up getting care from someone who isn't part of the preferred provider network during an emergency. I definitely understand the frustration with this, and unfortunately it's a common theme in traditional health insurance as well. The most you can do is try your best to ensure that everyone involved in your care is part of the provider network. 

Limited Preventive Care and Prescriptions. Members get one annual physical per year and some labs may be eligible for sharing. Generally though, preventive care and prescriptions will be the member's responsibility. You'll often get good discounts through membership. But the bills won't be shared even when you're over your AHP. 

Cancellation Timing. A number of complaints centered around the 15-day cutoff for cancelling your membership. If you do want to cancel, you need to provide Medi-Share with 15 days notice; if you let them know 14 days or less before the end of the month that you want to cancel, it will have to be for the month after. (E.g. Telling Medi-Share on December 18 that you want to cancel your membership, it will be processed as of Feb 1.)

​Faith-Based Messaging Raises Expectations. I think this point may be the most common theme among those who complain. Medi-Share being a Christian organization makes many members expect a higher level of flexibility during difficult medical situations. When this doesn't happen, they become upset.

While I definitely understand these concerns, it's important to understand that Medi-Share operates within written guidelines that apply to all members equally. Decisions about sharing eligibility are based on those guidelines rather than individual circumstances, and the organization has little discretion to make exceptions, even in difficult cases. While this can be disappointing, it's also part of what allows the program to function at scale and remain affordable.

It’s also worth noting that a healthcare sharing ministry is not a church and is not intended to replace personal, local Christian community support. Its role is limited to facilitating the sharing of eligible medical expenses according to agreed-upon rules, not to providing pastoral care or individualized financial relief in every situation.

​For members who clearly understand this distinction going in, Medi-Share will usually be a great fit. 
​

A Final Word

There will always be people who are unhappy with their experiences in traditional insurance of healthcare sharing ministries. And those people (understandably) tend to be the most vocal. Medi-Share has complaints, but I believe a far higher percent of members are extremely satisfied with their membership compared to traditional health insurance companies.
​