The Holy Grail of Health Insurance Alternatives

Michael Hamilton

As health insurance costs grow and provider networks shrink, more Americans are turning to a cost-effective alternative to traditional third-party insurers, despite the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) mandate that those who can afford to purchase health insurance do so.  Unlike other federal mandate dodgers in U.S. history, a growing number of insurance dodgers are dodging in full compliance with the law. These are budget-savvy, self-pay patients who have found the best way around ACA is straight through it.  Carved into ACA’s individual mandate is an exception for members of health care sharing ministries (HCSMs). Membership in an HCSM costs less than health insurance, accommodates members’ conscientious objections to ACA, and reduces health care price inflation by placing patients directly in charge of their health care costs.

HCSMs operate similarly to insurers, with important distinctions. Instead of premiums, members pay monthly fees commonly referred to as “shares” – a key word in HCSMs’ faith-based paradigm. Sharing for religious reasons is the basis for HCSMs’ exemption. Groups such as Medi-Share, Samaritan Ministries, and Liberty HealthShare maintain Christians have been cost-sharing to meet each others’ needs since the days of the early church, almost two thousand years ago......To Read More.....