New ways for people to pool their funds and pay each other’s medical bills are popping up all the time. These are not health insurance. Nothing is guaranteed with any of these systems and they may just NOT have the funds when you need them. This doesn’t mean they are all bad and it doesn’t mean you can’t save some money having one versus having nothing at all, but just be sure you know what you are getting into. Most share arrangements, like ministries, work on a reimbursement basis. This means that they do not have contracts with any providers to limit charges and providers will most likely not want to work with them at all. You may have to manage, negotiate, validate, and pay these bills directly and hope to get reimbursed in some cases. Because it is not insurance, you may be able to get a cash or self-pay discount. You may also have to deal with cranky medical office staff who don’t want to see you without insurance or paying in advance.
Some bill sharing organizations offer to help negotiate your bills down for you (especially if they intend to pay some of them) but they are not obligated to do anything and may not be able to help.
Most of these organizations are religious affiliated organizations which hope to reduce medical expenses by requiring their members to make lifestyle promises which are not enforceable but may give them an out in the event of a dispute.
This recent article in the New York Times provides some examples of real life experiences with ministries and other cost sharing groups.
Yet, with all of this buyer beware, there is something nice about the idea. I think it could work in some small communities, with the exception of big catastrophes… most would not have the budget to handle that.
If you have one of these, it is just another method to help you live with being uninsured. There are lots of things you can do to make being uninsured easier..check back for our full guide (yes, it’s still in process).