What's it like once you join Medi-Share? There are many customer service options for speaking directly with representatives over phone or email. With that said, most of what you'll want to do on a day-to-day basis is done either automatically or through their member's portal.

The easiest way to make your monthly payment, for example, is to have it automatically debited from your bank account. Here's the most recent payment for our family:

​$177 per month is all that we pay for our family of three, and we have it set to be paid each month from our Bank of America account. 

When you go to Medi-Share logged in as a member, here are the options you see in the Member Center:
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​See a Doctor Now: Free 24/7 Online Doctor Appointments as discussed here.

Find a Provider: Search easily for an in-network doctor or specialist near you as discussed more here.

EFT/Auto Payments: Setting up the automatic payments we talked about earlier in this blog entry.

Forms: For example, if you'd like to change your AHP (deductible) at any time there is an online form for this.

Guidelines: If you're unsure about whether a particular type of medical expense will be eligible for sharing, find out right away in the guidelines section.

ID Cards: You can print out extra copies of your main Medi-Share Christian Health Insurance card or Dental/Vision card.

Medical Bill Status: As soon as Medi-Share receives your medical bill, they will add it to your member portal for you to be able to see what you were charged for, how much of a discount they negotiated, and and any amount that you still have to pay (such as before you've reached your AHP).

Refer a Friend: Medi-Share's referral program. My family and I are part of this program by the way, and if you or any friends/family are considering joining, we would be so grateful if you used our link to learn more information.

Medi-Share runs a charity program to pay for the medical expenses of families in need. It's called Extra Blessings. Our referrals allow us to make a monthly donation to fund this program as well as to continue maintaining this Medi-Share Reviews Site.

The Medi-Share network of doctors and specialists (known as a PPO) is called PHCS, which stands for Private Healthcare Systems. It includes over 700,000 healthcare professionals. I can tell you from experience that if there is a particular doctor or healthcare facility that you normally use, the odds are very good that it is part of the PHCS network. 

When you join Medi-Share, you will have instant access to their online member's center. If you click on Find A Provider, you are brought to this page:

Notice that besides ​finding a doctor, you also have options for dental and vision, as well as the 24/7 online doctor's calls done over phone or webcam.

The first option is to find a doctor. You're able to search for specific doctors, or any who meet the criteria you set who are also near you. You can specify that the doctor must have a certain specialty like occupational therapy or pediatrics, be male or female, or speak a certain language.  You can also specify how close the doctor must be, such as 1 mile or 5 miles. 

From there, you get a comprehensive list of all doctors meeting your criteria. For example, searching for pediatricians within 1 mile, I get 9 results starting with:
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So this is how you can use Medi-Share to find the right doctor for you and your family.

Medi-Share has just made a very big announcement.

First, they have added significant discounts on dentist visits, eye exams, lenses, hearing aids, and LASIK. All members have been sent new cards to use for dental, vision, and hearing services. 

The biggest news is that they now offer instant online doctor appointments, and this service is available 24/7 to every member at no cost. Simply go online, login to your account, and a list of doctors comes up. You can select them based on their background, specialty, whether you prefer a man or a woman, or any other criteria.

This is what it looks like when you first log-in to the service: A list of doctors all licensed to practice in the state you're in. They can not only diagnose and help you with symptoms, but even prescribe for you. The prescriptions are sent electronically to your pharmacy as soon as the appointment is over.

When you find a doctor you like, you can learn more about their background and what they specialize in before booking. For example, if I click on Dr. J Douglas Adams I see a page with all of his credentials and available appointment times:

Those appointment times were all same-day, with many doctors available to talk immediately. The doctors appointments are provided directly through MDLive, one of the highest rated online doctor appointment companies known for their exceptional service. 

If you wanted to get an instant doctor's appointment through MDLive, the normal rate they charge people is $49 per visit. For Medi-Share members, these appointments are now completely free.

This is a very big development and we will continue providing information about it in future posts.