10. Free 24/7 Doctors Appointments. This is a tremendous perk of membership. Even if you pay less than $50 a month as a member,  you still get access to free online phone/webcam doctor appointments that are available almost instantly.

So, for example, if you need antibiotics on a Saturday night for your toddler, you can easily and conveniently make an appointment to get this prescription called in to your pharmacy at no cost.

9. Discounts on Bills. Even if you're below your AHP (the Annual Household Portion works like a deductible), so long as you're in-network, Medi-Share will negotiate the largest discount they can on your bills -- which I can tell you from experience is often 70% or more.

8. Customer Service. Calling in and want to speak to a human? You can usually reach a member of Medi-Share's customer service team within a minute or two of dialing. They're also almost always both friendly and knowledgeable.

For slightly more detail on how they accomplish these short wait times, take a look here.

7. No Preliminary Approval. An under-rated benefit of Medi-Share membership is that you don't need prior approval for a procedure to have it eligible for sharing. In our case, saving these weeks of delay was vital for treating our daughter's plagiocephaly.

6. Vision and Dental. Discounts are now available for both as part of membership. Here is a short post with more on vision, dental and prescriptions.

5. The Vast Number of In-Network Doctors and Specialists. The PHCS Network of doctors and specialists is mammoth. The vast majority of doctors accept it, and it's almost always easy to find the type of doctor you're looking for in your area.

4. Online Portal. You can see recently submitted medical bills, book an online doctor's appointment, find a close-by in-network doctor, or do almost anything else just by logging in to the excellently designed Member's Center.

To see a live look in the Member's Center, take a look at our Medi-Share Review Video.

3. Mobile App. Related, download the Medi-Share App for your iPhone or Android phone and do almost all of these things directly from your mobile device.

2. Christian Values. Rather than supply the profits to a large, impersonal insurance company, you can share medical bills with fellow Christians who decide together what medical expenses are eligible for sharing. 

1. The Monthly Savings. We're all looking to make the best possible financial decision for our families, so for that reason, I have to make the 65% average monthly savings relative to traditional insurance the top reason to join Medi-Share. 

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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.