With the rising cost of health care, more and more people are looking for alternatives, like a health care sharing ministry. These are non-profit (often) religious organizations that share the costs of medical care between like-minded people.
I learned about them after I quit my job as a high school band director run this site full-time. Since my wife and I were then self-employed, we had pretty limited options. It’s been two years since we made the switch, and we’ve been really happy with our experience so far.
But, health care sharing ministries aren’t for everyone.
Today, my goal is to help you understand how health sharing ministries work to see if they’re the right choice for you. I’m also going to give you a comparison of the top four companies on the market.
And before I go on, I know health insurance is a hot topic right now, but M$M is not a political site. Please keep the politics to yourself and out of the comments. Thx.
Quick Links
- What is a health sharing ministry?
- Health care sharing ministries are not the same as health insurance
- Understanding health care sharing terminology
- How to do health share ministries work?
- Health care sharing ministry comparison:
- Liberty HealthShare
- Liberty HealthShare costs/plans
- Medi-Share
- Medi-Share costs/plans
- Christian Healthcare Ministry
- Christian Healthcare Ministry costs/plans
- Samaritan Ministries
- Samaritan Ministries costs/plans
- What about people with pre-existing conditions?
- What about tobacco and alcohol use?
- Do you have to be Christian to use a health care sharing ministry?
- What about the negative reviews?
- Final thoughts on using a health care sharing ministry
What is a health sharing ministry?
Health care sharing ministries are non-profit, Christian-based health insurance alternatives that allow members to share healthcare costs among themselves. The basic gist is this: you pay a monthly membership fee that is pooled together to cover a portion of the cost of other members’ medical bills. When you have a need, other members’ funds cover part of your expenses.
Health share plans are different from company to company, and you pick the one you need based on family size, level of coverage, and features. These plans have different membership fees and annual unshared amounts or household portions.
Health care sharing ministries are not the same as health insurance
You’re going to hear me say this over and over again in this article because it’s so freaking important. At their core, health insurance and health care sharing ministries are intended to help cover the costs of healthcare, but they are very different.
Health share ministries are able to get discounts and lower rates on your care, and you share costs with like-minded people who have made a commitment to living a spiritually and physically healthy lifestyle. However, many companies won’t cover pre-existing conditions. They can also outright deny coverage.
Having health insurance means you’ve entered into a legally binding contract, and regulatory oversight ensures that your costs are covered. But insurance can be extremely expensive. Not to mention, the cost of care (what you and your insurance company are billed) is often inflated.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a perfect solution. But, for self-employed workers and/or those who are tired of the high cost of insurance, health care sharing ministries give people a much-needed choice.
Understanding health care sharing terminology
When my wife and I joined Liberty HealthShare, we had to get used to using a new language. Words like deductible and premium weren’t used at all because health care sharing is different than health insurance.
This terminology sets health care sharing apart from insurance, but it can be confusing if you aren’t familiar with it. To help you as you read on, here are a few standard health insurance terms and their health share counterparts:
- Deductibles are called personal responsibility, annual household portion (AHP), or annual unshared amount (AUA).
- Premiums are your monthly share.
- Claims are called eligible events, incidents, or illness.
- Explanation of Benefits (EOB) is now explanation of sharing (EOS).
How to do health share ministries work?
Health sharing plans work a little different from company to company, but there are some key similarities between them all.
One, you can still see the doctor like you would if you used health insurance. And in every case I’ve seen, you can choose whichever doctor you like — health share ministries don’t have in and out of network providers.
When your provider asks about insurance, you tell them that you’re a self-pay patient. Some health share ministries will help you negotiate the costs of your bills, and others ask you to do it on your own.
Once you’ve paid up to your annual unshared amount, members of your health care sharing community will start covering your remaining balance. Funds might come from the health share ministry or directly from other members.
Health care sharing ministry comparison:
These companies are the most popular options for health care sharing, and this is the most up-to-date information on each.
Liberty HealthShare
Liberty HealthShare has three tiers of coverage, and the cost of each level depends on the age and number of people in your family. This is the health share ministry I’ve been using for the past two years, and it’s been meeting all of our needs.
A few things to note about Liberty HealthShare:
- Liberty is the most inclusive option in this comparison.
- Unlike other sharing ministries, they consider immunizations part of a shareable expense.
- They may not cover injuries due to activities deemed hazardous, which can include rock climbing, skydiving, or bungee jumping.
- Their HealthTrac program, an additional $80 per month, gives members a Health Coach to help them overcome chronic and/or correctable conditions, like high cholesterol, obesity, hypertension, etc. They require you to do this until your condition has been corrected.
- SavNet offers discounts on the care that isn’t covered — dental, vision, hearing, chiropractic, etc.
- Liberty HealthShare Rx is a prescription savings program available to all members.
Their sharing system is a six-step process, which is closest to traditional health insurance. You contribute your monthly share, visit the doctor when needed, your doctor submits the bill, and Liberty processes your request. The final two steps involve being paid out of a Share Box, AKA fund where the money is held, and then you and your doctor receive an Explanation of Sharing to confirm payment.
Liberty HealthShare costs/plans
Before any of your expenses can be shared, you will have to meet your annual unshared amount, which is:
- Single $1,000
- Couple $1,750
- Family (three or more members of the sharing family) $2,250
Read more about Liberty at Liberty HealthShare Review: My Alternative to Health Insurance.
Medi-Share
Medi-Share is one of the most popular health share groups out there right now. My assistant and her family recently switched to them, and last year she used them for maternity coverage and the birth of their fourth child — she was really happy with how low the costs were.
A few things to note about Medi-Share:
- It is the only company with no lifetime or per incident/illness maximums.
- They offer a program meant to supplement Medicare, called Senior Assist.
- For members meeting certain health standards, their Health Incentive program gives you up to a 20% discount on your monthly share.
- You need to show proof that you are a member of a church to use Medi-Share.
- Routine and preventative care are not eligible for sharing.
Medi-Share costs/plans
The monthly pricing for Medi-Share is based on the AHP amount that you choose as well as your age and number of family members that will be using Medi-Share.
Unlike the rest of the companies in this health share ministry comparison, Medi-Share does not list their specific monthly plans on their website. However, they do have a Share Amount Calculator that will show users their AHP (Annual Household Portion) and monthly share prices.
I ran the numbers for a family of three or more, with the oldest member being 35.
You can read about my assistant’s experience in Medi-Share Review 2019: A Less Expensive Option for Health Care.
Christian Healthcare Ministry
Christian Healthcare Ministry is one of the oldest health share ministries, and they pride themselves on not having increased their member fees in over 11 years.
A few things to note about CHM:
- The cost of each plan only changes across coverage, not age, meaning millennials would be paying the same rates as their parents.
- You are free to choose whichever healthcare provider you like.
- You are responsible for negotiating your bill with your provider and then submitting it for sharing.
- They cover as many “incidents” or medical expenses per year as necessary. Maternity coverage is considered one incident, starting from the first OBGYN visit to the follow-up visits.
Christian Healthcare Ministry costs/plans
These costs are written in units, or per person costs. You pay per person (one unit), per couple (two units), or family (three units). Brother’s Keeper is an add-on program to safeguard you from the cost of catastrophic illnesses or injury. The Brother’s Keeper fee is an additional estimated fee of $25/quarter per person plus $40/year.
The Gold Program offers the best coverage, by far. And Christian Healthcare recommends Silver and Bronze primarily for hospital coverage.
Gold Program
- $150/unit per month
- Incidents are eligible for sharing if they exceed $500
- You can receive up to $125,000 per illness
- Includes incident-related doctor’s visits, prescriptions, and up to 45 physical therapy/home healthcare visits per injury/illness
- With Brother’s Keeper, unlimited financial assistance for medical bills, after you meet the $500/incident cost.
Silver Program
- $85/unit per month
- Incidents are eligible for sharing if they exceed $1,000
- You can receive up to $125,000 per illness
- Brother’s Keeper will provide you with an additional $100,000/year of sharing support. Annual renewals increase that amount by $100,000/year, up to $1 million.
Bronze Program
- $45/unit per month
- Incidents are eligible for sharing if they exceed $5,000
- You can receive up to $125,000 per illness
- Brother’s Keeper will provide you with an additional $100,000/year of sharing support. Annual renewals increase that amount by $100,000/year, up to $1 million.
Samaritan Ministries
Samaritan Ministries was founded in 1994 after its founder joined another health care sharing ministry and wanted to create an option that reached a larger population and shared needs more efficiently.
You can see the efficiency pretty clearly — members send their monthly share amount directly to other members instead of sending it to Samaritan first.
Notable things about Samaritan Ministries:
- They have the most exclusive eligibility requirements out of the four companies in this health share ministry comparison, including annual verification from a church official stating that you attend services a certain number of times per month.
- After you negotiate your bill with a provider and submit it for sharing, Samaritan will let you know if they think you could have received a larger discount. They might ask you to stop seeing a provider that doesn’t discount enough.
- When you submit a need, Samaritan asks that you also include a note explaining your need to be shared in their Prayer Guide.
- Pre-existing conditions and routine care are not shareable.
Samaritan Ministries costs/plans
There are two levels of coverage, and the cost of each plan depends on your age and number of members of your household. I’m going to show you the two plans, and then give you a couple of estimated costs.
Using the Classic Plan, a couple aged 30-44 would pay $454/month.
If you added two children to this plan, it would cost $530/month.
Using the Basic Plan, this couple would pay $240/month.
Adding two children would increase the cost to $300/month.
Save to Share is an additional option to cover needs over $250,000. The cost depends on family size — $133, $266, or $399 — and is paid annually, plus a $15 administrative fee.
What about people with pre-existing conditions?
A health care sharing ministry might not be the best option if you have a pre-existing condition. All four of these companies limit coverage for pre-existing coverage to some extent.
- Liberty HealthShare will share some costs related to pre-existing conditions after one year.
- Medi-Share will share up to $100,000 after three years and $500,000 after five years. However, the condition must be cured OR you must be sharing for that entire time.
- Christian Healthcare Ministry only offers sharing for Gold members. The amount shared for pre-existing conditions is on a three-year schedule.
- Samaritan Ministries doesn’t allow sharing for pre-existing conditions unless it’s been cured. For genetic defects, cancer, hereditary diseases, and heart conditions, you have to be treatment and symptom-free for five years.
What about tobacco and alcohol use?
All of the health share ministries in this comparison have restrictions on tobacco use that range from showing proof of quitting tobacco within six months of joining to abstaining from tobacco use for a full year before.
When it comes to alcohol, responsible use is okay. But, these companies can deny sharing if you have an incident or illness that is related to alcohol abuse. They may also deny sharing for any activity that goes against Christian standards.
Do you have to be Christian to use a health care sharing ministry?
In short, yes, or you at least need to live by Christian values.
There is a faith-based component of each company’s acceptance policy. If you don’t agree with the religious ideals of these health share ministries or attend church regularly, you may find that these services aren’t the best fit for your particular situation.
They all have policies that reflect their principles, and those are important to understand before choosing which one is right for you. They have strict guidelines on things like birth control, self-harm, diseases, or pregnancy outside of marriage, to name a few.
What about the negative reviews?
If you’ve done your research on any of these health share plans, then you’ve probably seen some negative reviews. But remember, people are always quick to share how much something sucks than to say how awesome it was. Look at any Yelp review, and you’ll see that’s true.
But here’s the hard reality that you need to consider if you’re wondering whether or not a health care sharing ministry is right for you…
Health sharing ministries are not legally obligated to cover your costs. If you read the fine print on any of these plans, you’ll see language like “participation is voluntary,” and “the program does not create a legally enforceable right to receive funds.”
If the needs of the sharing community exceed the amount available for sharing, that will cause a lack of funds. If members aren’t abiding by healthy lifestyle guidelines, they may not have their costs covered either.
Final thoughts on using a health care sharing ministry
I think that, overall, health sharing ministries can be a good alternative or supplement to your existing health insurance plan. Many of these services are reasonably priced and provide a good level of financial support for medical needs.
If you are a smoker or someone that primarily needs insurance for a pre-existing condition, health share groups aren’t going to be a good option for you.
The thing that I think is most attractive about these policies is that they are working against the current healthcare system. Like I said from the get-go, I don’t want to get political here, but I think we can all agree that things aren’t quite working. The influx of members of health sharing ministries seems to prove that something has to give.
Comments
Chonce
I keep hearing about health care ministries, and it’s awesome how they can help so many who a) pay high insurance premiums or b) are self-employed (which also usually results in A). I will be looking into these! Thanks for sharing such an in-depth review.
Millennial Money Man
No problem! This took forever – every group has very different requirements and payment structures. After doing the review I think I’m going to go ahead and switch over to Liberty or Medi-share. I used to have awesome doctors and pretty good insurance, but now that I’m self-employed they totally suck.
Rod
Good post. After a lot of research, we chose Medi-Share when my wife retired. We have a few years to go before we reach Medicare age. We like that once we reach 65, Medi-Share has a different plan that we can switch to.
Miguel
Very comprehensive post about an option that many people do not consider (I myself did not know they existed until very recently). For people who are self-employed it might also be worth it to look into getting health insurance through an association, like the Freelancers Union.
Millennial Money Man
Yeah I think we’ll see more and more people start making the jump if health care costs keep going up.
Jamie Pomeroy @ FinancialGusto.com
I haven’t seen a better comparison of these four options, than this one! My family and I seriously explored Liberty and Samaritan recently, and this helps compare them further. Such a great alternative that lots of people still don’t know exists! Thanks Bobby!
Millennial Money Man
Thanks Jamie! There aren’t many good comparisons out there right now, so I figured it was time to make one!
Jamie Pomeroy @ FinancialGusto.com
Hear hear! Thanks for putting it together! Super helpful.
R
What about aliera and altrua?
Mrs. Picky Pincher
I have a few friends who are Catholic who have great success with these. I’m not religious, so health care sharing isn’t an option for me personally. I think it can work out if you fit the requirements! Just be sure to compare the coverage between traditional health insurance. You might get more coverage with less restrictions, although for higher payments. Insurance is one of those things that I personally wouldn’t want to scrimp on.
Millennial Money Man
I agree – this is a decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly. After my last doctor’s appointment, my new doctor (one of the only ones that take my insurance in my area) literally walked out from my appointment and went to get a drink at a bar next door.
That’s when I started looking into this haha
Lindsay @ Notorious D.E.B.T.
Interesting. Sounds like a good option for those who are religious. Too bad there aren’t any for non-religious folks – I guess we’re just SOL lol.
Millennial Money Man
Maybe you can start one??? haha
Live Free MD
There aren’t any non-religious healthcare sharing programs because only religious-based programs qualify for an exemption from the ACA individual mandate. Perhaps it would be possible to argue that atheism Is a religion?
Benji Nunn
I have Samaritan’s ministries and they have the option called “Save to Share” that covers you above $250k. For a couple it’s like $260/year, or there about (well worth the money). We love Samaritan’s Ministries because when someone has a need, we directly mail the person a check and we often write a note of encouragement to them. We haven’t had a need yet, but I have had a friend that had a need and was very pleased with how the ministry handled the process. I HIGHLY recommend Samaritan’s to anyone that is in the market for a sharing ministry. 🙂
Millennial Money Man
Awesome! Yeah I need to go back and add in that all of these companies have an option to expand your sharing coverage. Samaritan definitely seemed like a good one for people that want to do the hands on sharing approach!
Bev
I highly recommend Samaritan’s Ministry too. We have had the policy for the last few years and had to use it for the 1st time this winter. 100% of our need was shared which means no out of pocket. Truly a stress free solution to health care.
Alberto & Ann Ortiz
Congrats for being the first to take on the health care insurance issue. Madly avoided by most financial blogers.
We been with Libertyshare now for about 18 months and have not use it. This week we are going for wellness physical for the first time.
We made sure and registered with the local clinic since not everyone is familiar with them.
We found Libertyshare to be the right choice for us at a fraction of the cost.
We have the couple plans for $299 a month incomparison to $1800 in the market place or $2200 at my retiree employer plan.
The difference was so big that enable us to retire. We have no pre-existing condition and medications.
God willing, it should work out for us.
Millennial Money Man
I hope it does! I’m sure this is a tough topic to write about for some pf bloggers – everything is so politically charged right now around healthcare. You never know who could get upset with you, even if you put a bunch of disclaimers at the beginning of the post like I did!
Enough of my readers have mentioned these programs now, so I figured that it would be good to write about them.
Kate Paredes
I have been using CHM for 3 years and LOVE it. I used them to cover my second pregnancy and they were awesome. All bills were paid before my little guy was 6 months old!
Millennial Money Man
Nice! One of the biggest benefits that readers have told me about is the pregnancy coverage. As long as you aren’t pregnant when you join some of these groups, it seemed like the coverage was awesome.
Melissa
Maybe this post is too old…but thought I’d try to get an answer anyway… if we are pregnant and looking to join a medishare, is there one that would be better recommended?
Chris @ Duke of Dollars
Had no idea these existed – how interesting. Thank you for sharing as these will be added to the personal finance mind palace.
Millennial Money Man
Haha you’re welcome!
Brian P-
As a teacher I kept the district (no cost) insurance for myself but moved my wife and children to Liberty. We anticipate a $700 per month savings with deductible savings of $6500 for the year…$15,000 will make a difference. It begins Sept. 1 – I’ll let you know how it goes!
Millennial Money Man
Yes please do!
martee
Have you had any issues with Liberty Share?
Currently I have Medi-Share, but thinking of switching to LIBERTY
LIBERTY is less expensive for me…
I am mid 60’s monthly I pay .Medishare $374 month/4,200 (Deductible)….prices are from memory but very close. LIBERTY is less expensive but still worried about switching.
Michelle
If you go with one of these sharing plans, it would seem like you would still need some kind of catastrophic insurance, as the maximums are so low, if you got cancer or something equally awful. At $250,000 or even $1,000,000 that would be quickly evaporated. Are there add on’s for something like that? Appreciate the information, first time I’ve seen it all brought together in a comparison / description format. Thanks!
Millennial Money Man
Hey there! Yes, all of these groups have a catastrophic add-on. I’m going to add another section in that talks about them. Thanks for the suggestion!
Jeff @ Maximum Cents
Never heard of this before. Probably because we have an employer plan. Thanks for sharing something new.
Millennial Money Man
No problem!
Live Free MD
For someone who is healthy with minimal pre-existing conditions, healthcare sharing programs are an excellent option. They are the closest thing to the true low cost high-deductible insurance plans that existed approximately 10 years ago prior to the ACA. Before I had employer-sponsored health insurance, I used Medi-share which carried a monthly premium of $78 for a $10,000 deductible. Compare that to the lowest cost ACA-compatible health plan in Alaska which was nearly $800 per month with a $6500 deductible.
Bruce @brucemcgrew.com
Bobby, I’m always learning something from you. I’m definitely going to start digging into this and see what happens! Thanks man!!
Millennial Money Man
🙂 no problem!
Physician on FIRE
Thanks for the great overview, Bobby.
I was unfamiliar with these plans until I started reading personal finance blogs. Initially, I dismissed them as inadequate, but I’ve come to realize a sharing plan may indeed be the best plan for my family and me when I cut loose from my employer and the provided insurance coverage.
To me, the most important aspect of any health care plan is a lack of a cap on benefits. I’ll be able to deal with out of pocket expenses in the tens of thousands if necessary, but it’s the horrible diagnoses and injuries that can lead to six and even seven-figure bills that could really throw a wrench in our plans for a lengthy retirement.
Cheers!
-PoF
Millennial Money Man
No problem! I agree – the lack of a cap is huge.
Steve
My wife and I use Liberty Healthshare and are pretty happy with it. As full-time travelers, this is one of the only affordable options in the entire “healthcare” industry. It gives us the freedom to see any doctor in the United States. No “in network” B.S.
I definitely agree that if you have a pre-existing condition, health shares may not be the best option. In regards to being Christian, it really depends on the ministry. It’s true that some do require more stringent belief requirements (which help keep the costs down for all members). We found that Liberty was BY FAR one of the least restrictive. You don’t need to be a Christian. You just need to affirm that you support and live by some very general tenants that could apply to almost anyone. That’s the primary reason why we chose Liberty.
Millennial Money Man
Yes I agree – Liberty was the least restrictive and overall seems to maybe have the most participants? I just really like their setup and plans the most.
ChrisCD
First, you aren’t the first to tackle this, but I did like your side-by-side. I personally went through them a number of years ago and settled on Liberty. My primary family has a traditional plan. Two of my adult children are on Liberty. One is a missionary and hasn’t had any medical expenses yet so no problem. The other is in college and there have been some issues.
The first year, everything incurred beyond the deductible was paid. We paid $500 and they paid $1000.
This year, it has been a bit more difficult. He has had to spend time he doesn’t have chasing down payments and started incurring late penalties so paid large bills (for a college student) out of pocket. Checks are supposed to be in the mail, but haven’t seen anything yet. Liberty claimed the bills they received from hospital weren’t adequate and hospital said they sent everything they could.
They do save you $, but you still need to have funds available to cover the expenses if the process gets dragged out.
cd :O)
Millennial Money Man
Great tip on having the funds available!
Catherine S.
Samaritan just announced this week that they will be offering a second membership option starting Oct 2nd, called Samaritan Basic, which will have lower monthly shares than Samaritan Classic, but a higher initial payment and lower limits (https://samaritanministries.org/cost).
My husband and I could save almost $3K a year with the new Basic option, but we will stick to the Classic option because a) we have a 4-month old daughter, so the odds of needing to visit the ER in the future is higher, and b) we plan on having more children (prenatal and delivery costs for our daughter came close to $15K before cash-pay discounts). Also, while we may pay more for Samaritan than traditional health insurance, we like sending our monthly shares to a person that shares our moral values and we never have to worry about our preferred doctor being in- or out-of-network.
Josh Kremer
Christian Healthcare Ministries is great for young couples having kids. Our total medical expenses for having our baby = $0. Would highly recommend it!
Chris H.
I looked in deep detail on Medi-Share when my wife became self employed (we were both on her employer’s plan prior). I ultimately chose against it because:
1) I spoke with a family member who is a doctor. She didn’t have a great view on them because they paid the lowest amount for her services than any other insurer
2) There were so many conditions on what they would cover because of the religious principles. I felt it was going to be their “out” on covering my needs if one should arise.
I ultimately went with a “Non-ACA compliant” health plan. The rate for us was much cheaper with a lower deductible even with a penalty. We also got good news that the ACA penalty is going away in 2019.
Love your blog, as a CPA, I would like to say, you write about very relevant issues facing young people today (myself included). Thank you
Jennie
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the in-depth coverage of this topic. This is the best most understandable review of these companies. We briefly used Medi-share for a couple months when my husband was temporarily unemployed a few years ago but didn’t have any medical events to submit so I didn’t actually know how it worked very well even at the time.
Nick Elkins
We had LHS for about 3 years. Even had a baby via c-section with them. They were as good as advertised.
Amber
Thank you for your in-depth discussion and comparison. We’ve waffled back and forth for years about trying this. The primary reason I keep my job is because it offers health insurance for part-time work, and while there are plenty of “in-network” doctors on the list, getting in to see them is quite difficult, and most are over an hour’s drive away. Thank you for giving my husband and I more insight for our ongoing discussion.
Nathan
This article and comparison is really helpful. I am self employed with a family of 6…soon to be 7. We have been purchasing healthcare from the marketplace. The cost continues to go up, and the quality of coverage keeps going down. This year we are going to be switching from conventional health insurance to a share program.
Sasha Patterson
Thank you for all your research on this topic ! I’m wondering if you are satisfied with Liberty two years after writing this review. I keep finding accounts of people going through terrible experiences with getting reimbursed, sometimes right away and sometimes a few years in. It’s making me think we should go with one of the older and more traditional companies who have a more established track record. Would love to hear any updates if you have them !
Bobby Hoyt
Hey! So far so good. Truth be told though, we still haven’t had a major medical expense. We’ve used it for minor things for my wife, and are generally still happy with it.