Health Care Sharing Ministries

[wheatstate]

Does anyone use a health care sharing ministry for "insurance"?
I put "insurance" in quotes because technically it is not insurance though it works in a similar way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_ca ... g_ministry

I am shopping for health insurance without an employer. I am a healthy, 30-something, single male in the USA
My best two options seem to be:

Option A:
www.healthcare.gov and one of the major providers
$220/month for bronze level with no subsidy
~$6000 deductible

Option B: Health Care Sharing Ministry
www.libertydirect.org
$200/month + $75-125 annual membership
$500 "unshared" amount / year -> Once this amount is spent on qualifying healthcare, other qualifying healthcare is covered 100%.
$60/month can go to a Direct Primary Care (DPC) physician for my subscription. These DPC doctors serve as a cross between primary care physician, light urgent care and overall health adviser. Typically, they do not accept traditional insurance and operate on a low-overhead, no-bureaucracy model.
Summary: $200 my monthly cost = $60 to my DPC doctor + $140 to Liberty Direct

So, the two plans are similar annual cost. The health care sharing ministry policy can be used on medium and big incidences. The bronze ACA plan is really only for big incidences and satisfying ACA insurance requirement. Advantage goes to ACA plan for legal binding agreement for care and financial backing. Advantage goes to Health Care Sharing Ministry for being affordable and usable.

Has anyone else researched these groups?
Has it worked for you?

Many of these are Christian-based in the USA. I agree with their philosophy of "help your neighbor" I don't want to go into a deeper religion-based discussion in this thread.

[Riggerjack]

I'd never heard of this, but it seems like a working plan.

I'm not real comfortable with combining health care and religion, but I do like the way the IRS and churches interact. I think there's a possibility of a grand obamacare workaround here.

Sad, that that, was my first thought...

[Dragline]

I can't speak for any of these programs in particular, but whenever you see a business operated within or marketed to an unrelated "group" of people who are alike in some way or believe the same things, this is a ripe situation for what is called "affinity fraud". Trust is built because "we're alike" and the faults of the actual product are then ignored.

This is how Madoff got his start and where most of his victims came from.

Caveat emptor.

[heyhey]

[wheatstate]

@riggerjack, I agree that it is a bit of a good workaround. In fact, the us government is not allowing new Heath care sharing ministries to be formed. So there is a limit to the ones already in existence.

@dragline, I agree with the need to be aware. In theory, this is brilliant when you are healthy. In practice, it all goes downhill when you are unhealthy/injured and the company is financially insolvent or denying claims. Right now, I consider that a 5% risk. I will keep learning more.

@heyhey, I am trying to keep my eyes open.

Bottomline, I am going to give this a try for a year to see if it is a fit. I look forward to hearing more people's answers to insurance and healthcare in the ACA marketplace. It is interesting times.