Reader Geoff R. from San Diego, CA wrote in to me with a question; with his permission, I share it here and offer my reply.

I've been looking into Medi Share and see on their site and yours that it's not insurance. I read the explanation but still don't quite get it. If you join, you pay a certain amount every month, and then they pay your medical bills. In what way is this not insurance?
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Enter the election of Donald Trump. The President-Elect has stated that he will repeal Obamacare. Whether he will actually do that, and eliminate compulsory insurance, remains to be seen. While we certainly hope that happens, Mr. Trump has previously stated that he is in favor of universal healthcare, and subsequent to being elected, has begun praising aspects of ObamaCare -- such as the “prohibition against insurers denying coverage because of patients' existing conditions.”

As discussed in the Chicago Tribune article mentioned in the first paragraph, measures such as requiring insurers to grant full coverage to those with existing conditions, and limiting how much the elderly can be charged, may sound both positive and charitable. But unfortunately someone has to bear the cost, and the average person pays significantly more for insurance as a result ... often a completely unaffordable amount for hard-working middle class families.

What do we advocate instead?

The one true solution is a free market with transparent pricing where doctors and hospitals compete for our business with better service and lower prices. We should know how much we'll be paying in advance, and have control over our own healthcare. Let us also all contribute to charities we like that help provide medical care to those who can't afford it for themselves. But such contributions should be voluntary.

We will see in the coming months exactly what President Elect Trump intends to do. We hope that in addition to ending any form of compulsory health insurance, he also works toward a freer market in healthcare and lower prices.

If you do not want to pay the skyrocketing costs of conventional insurance, or potentially thousands of dollars per year in penalties to the government, consider healthcare sharing. See what you would pay with Medi-Share compared to conventional insurance. Call them up and see how easy it is to talk with an actual human who wants to answer your questions and help you.

Christians can opt out of the failed system like so many others want to do, but without paying the high and increasing Obamacare penalty. And in the process, we can have significantly more flexibility, pay much less each month, and become part of a system that genuinely cares about its members.



(Blog Image Credit to Gage Skidmore)

The term "Christian health insurance" is an interesting one because it doesn't mean what it appears to: health insurance for Christians. The reason is that it isn't traditional insurance. 

I received an email from Steve in Corpus Christi, Texas, in reply to an article I wrote for the conservative site LewRockwell.  In his email, Steve talked a little about his own experiences with MediShare.  I asked him if he could expand what he wrote and turn it into a guest post, and he was kind enough to do that.

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My family and I have been in the Medi Share program since January 2012.  We started when I quit my job to start a small construction business and lost the insurance I had with my job.  Joining and getting setup with the program were real easy.  

I'm 45, my wifes 38, and our kids are 14 11 and 9.  We pay $387 a month, and the cheapest decent option I found for normal insurance would've been about $850 so it was pretty clear to join.

In your review, you say it's basically like normal insurance just with different terms for the deductible etc. I'd definitely agree with that.  The only thing that's real important, and we didn't fully understand at first, is that nothing "routine" is covered.  So what that means is that physicals and normal stuff for the kids aren't reimbursed, which is a downside but we still end up paying a lot less overall.

Other than that, we have no complaints.  There are doctors for everything, and we've never had to go out of the network (you pay extra for that but its never been an issue for us).  Getting your bills submitted is easy since they do that for you and there haven't been any surprises.

The health plan I had through my job was with Cigna.  I had a lot of bad experiences with their customer service, wrong reimbursement amounts etc.  Dealing with MediShare has been a lot easier.  Their customer service is really good and there haven't been any surprises in terms of unexpected expenses or hassles.  

One other thing that's nice is the prayer they have when people are sick and my wife is very involved with that.  Also we've had a few hundred taken off our bill from friends signing up.  

So that's it, we've been real happy with it.

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Thanks for chiming in Steve!

The two largest healthcare sharing ministries (HCSMs) are MediShare and Samaritan Ministries International (SMI). We'll compare these alternative healthcare options using five important criteria, deciding which has the advantage for each.  

Monthly payments in MediShare range from roughly $30 to $800.  Monthly payments in SMI range from roughly $180 to $405.  Of course, you're getting different benefits depending on which HCSM you choose and which plan.  But one nice advantage to having lower-priced options is that if you are signing up to avoid the ObamaCare penalty, you can do that very inexpensively through MediShare (often for less than the 2016 penalty would be).

Advantage: MediShare

     

Technically this is inaccurate, as neither program is standard insurance with copays and deductibles.  But the two HCSMs function similarly to insurance with different structures.  In MediShare, different plans have different deductibles (called an annual household portion), and the copay (called a provider payment) is always $35 for doctor/hospital visits, and $135 for emergency room visits.  In SMI, you pay a flat $300 per visit, and the rest (up to $250,000) is covered.  This is like having no deductible and a $300 copay.

Either of these types of plans could be better depending on your particular situation.

Advantage: None.

If you belong to SMI, you must send in your medical bills yourself.  Whereas your health care provider sends the bills directly to MediShare for processing.

Advantage: MediShare

MediShare has a large network, but if you want to see a doctor outside of that network, you must pay a fee to do so.  With SMI, there is no network and you can see any doctor without penalty.

Advantage: SMI

MediShare has no maximum amount per claim, whereas the maximum is $250,000 for SMI -- above that you have to pay yourself.  So with SMI, this could leave you open to a very large bill in the event of catastrophe.

Advantage: MediShare



So which is the better HCSM overall?  I believe the answer is MediShare, but only you can judge for yourself and your family.  

Which HCSM do you belong to, and are you happy with them?  

Obamacare comes with a stiff penalty for those who different have insurance.  We're going to talk about how much that penalty is, and exactly what are options are for avoiding it.  

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was passed into law in early 2010.  An ostensible goal was to make more Americans insured, and the bill has succeeded in the goal. How did it accomplish this?

Primarily, it required that those without insurance get it or pay a significant penalty.  When you file your taxes, you now have to provide information about your health insurance.  If you or your dependents don't have health insurance in 2015, you will pay a minimum of $325 per person ($162.50 for dependents), up to a maximum penalty per family of $975.  Or if 2% of your income is higher than this per-person penalty, you must pay that amount instead.

The Obamacare penalty will increase even higher in 2016.  

There are exemptions from this penalty, which fall in three main categories.

The first main category of Obamacare exemptions is hardship.  You can get an exemption, for example, if your income is below the tax filing threshold, insurance would cost more than 8% of your household income, or other types of general hardship.

The second category is membership in certain groups.  For example, if you belong to a Native American tribe or belong to certain religious sects, you may qualify for an exemption.

The third category for exemption is membership in a healthcare sharing ministry.

Of course, the advantage to this third category of exemption is that you still get benefits and protection similar to normal health insurance through your membership in the healthcare sharing ministry.  You can pay less for these benefits, opt out of Obamacare, and win on both fronts.

This is the reason why my wife and I joined MediShare.  We wanted the benefits of health insurance, affordability, and exemption from the expensive Obamacare penalty.  

Whether you join MediShare like we did, or join a different healthcare sharing ministry, I would highly recommend exploring this alternative to conventional health insurance.  

If you belong to a healthcare sharing ministry, or have another alternative to Obamacare to suggest, please contact me or share it in the comments.  I would be very happy to hear from you.