Today we go to a reader question. Steven from San Diego, CA writes:

"I'm thinking of joining Medi-Share but do you know if they cover counseling / anti-depressive?"

Looking at the Medi-Share guidelines, I'll try to provide the best answer I can to this question. First, psychiatrists are definitely doctors. When you go to search for a provider, one of the options you can select is specifically to locate a psychiatrist near you.

The one limit to this is that while psychiatric care and evaluation are eligible for sharing, there is a maximum of 6 months of sharing per new condition. Most forms of counseling, such as those for learning deficiencies, aren't eligible for sharing. If you have a specific type of counseling, medication, or mental health treatment you are interested in, the best option is to contact Medi-Share directly to ask.

(A benefit to Medi-Share not making all forms of expenses eligible for sharing is that this lowers the monthly cost for all members. Members get to vote on this so you have a say as a Medi-Share member for which expenses should be eligible for sharing.)

Steven, I hope that answers your question, please feel free to get back in touch if you have more information I can help with. 

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.