Had this in team, but it was getting no traction except for other seeking the same info. Please share if you can.

My wife and I have been researching this as alternative to standard health insurance. Currently we are paying $1800+ per month for COBRA coverage since my wife was laid off a few months ago. Even with coverage from her old company we were still paying $1200/per month with a $5000 deductible to cover our family. (Wife, 3 kids, and me) Currently with the pricing structure I am seeing from Medi-Share we could go with a $2500 annual household portion with about $700 in monthly share.

I guess I'm looking for anyone who has used, or currently using Medi-Share and their thoughts on the company and service. Pro and Cons, etc... Would it be worth sticking with even when she finds another job with health insurance benefits? Any input is greatly appreciated.

-Six

Really, nobody?

I was hoping to learn something - Nothing?

I've been off insurance since February (don't hate me, Obongo! ) since I got laid off.  Personally, I'm rolling the dice, doing w/o until I get another full-time, full-bennie job.  53 y.o. male non-smoker on blood pressure meds, fat but I hit the gym twict a week, Dr. generally is happy with my health.  Might bite me in the arse, butt I'm just not able to stomach those UGE premiums from COBRA.   YMMV.  Didja consider the Xian healthcare?  No abortions, but other than that, seems good.

Read the fine print. How much will they pay in the event if something truly catastrophic. Expensive cancer. Need a heart transplant. Etc.

ost, and shameless bump

OP, are you set on Medi-Share?  We have friends who use them, no complaints, but there are other health sharing ministries out there.  We use CHM (Christian Healthcare Ministries), also no complaints.

No, not at all. Just heard about them through their advertisements and decided to investigate further. I'll look into CHM as well. Thanks.

Samaritan Ministries is very good

For those that are members of these:

How many claims have you had in the last few years?
Did you have to pay and then get reimbursed?  
Was it difficult to get things done?  
Anyone know the differences off hand between the different organizations?

I heard some stories a few years ago about folks having to pay up front, and then spending a year fighting to get reimbursed.



Thanks

There definitely are differences between them, some will cover more than others or have different rules for things. Read and compare the fine print.

My wife's sharing costs her $150/mo for CHM's gold coverage, plus a small quarterly amount for what they call Brother's Keeper, which allows unlimited sharing of expenses. Under this plan, she has a $500 annual deductible.

I have the same plan for myself, and we have one which covers our three kids as well. So family total is $450/mo.

We pay out of pocket for minor things like office visits, prescriptions, etc. We get to pick whoever we want to use, without restriction, because we're paying directly. Since we pay directly, we get to negotiate the price down, which can actually be fun sometimes.

My wife had a minor surgery last year, total bill was just shy of $20K. We sent the bills in for sharing, and CHM sent us a check for the full amount, since she had already met her deductible for that year. It took about 6 months for that process to play out -- a good part of that was spent negotiating prices -- so we set up a payment plan with the hospital while we were waiting. It worked out fine.

I think the people that run into problems with things like this mostly do so because they aren't completely familiar with what they are for, and what they do. This isn't insurance, and certain things are not going to be covered. That is really the whole point. These plans are fantastic for people who want to pay the day to day stuff themselves, but still be covered if something bigger happens.

Be sure you read the fine print and understand their policies well. Especially when it comes to catastrophically large expenses. Will they pay for $3,000,000 worth of heart transplant expenses?

I think you missed the very first line in my post.

As far as a $3M heart transplant, it depends on the coverage level you choose.  Like I wrote, we have gold coverage plus Brother's Keeper, which has no limits.

From their Guidelines:

1. Gold members
Signing up for Brother’s Keeper provides unlimited cost support per diagnosis

Haven't had that happen, and don't know anyone who has, but I believe they will cover it.

We are members of Christian Healthcare Ministries.  Thankfully haven't had to use it yet.  Covers both of us for $300/month.  We also have the Brother's Keeper option added for catastrophic injuries / illnesses.

They have an informative YouTube channel.

https://m.youtube.com/user/CHMNews

Brother-in-law had Medishare.  He got cancer and died :(.  They paid like any other insurance.  I think he even got interviewed for a Christian magazine about Medishare just before he got diagnosed.