What Are Health Share Plans and Health Sharing Ministries?
Health share plans are alternatives to traditional insurance, but the coverage usually isn't as good.
- Members pay a monthly fee, usually a few hundred dollars per month, to help pay for the medical costs of everyone in the share plan.
- Health share plans are often made up of groups of people with similar religious or ethical beliefs. For example, many health share plans are affiliated with churches.
- Health share plans don't count as health insurance under the law, and they don't have to cover the same things as traditional health insurance.
- These plans aren't regulated like insurance, and consumer protections vary by state.
Find Cheap Health Insurance Quotes in Your Area
On this page
How do health share plans work?
Members in health share plans pay a monthly fee, which goes into a pool to help cover medical costs.
You usually have to pay a portion of your own medical costs, sometimes called an "unshared amount," "member responsibility" or "household portion," each year before the health share plan starts to help with your bills. This is similar to a traditional health insurance deductible.
After you've met your member responsibility amount, you can submit medical bills to the health share plan. Your health share ministry will review your bills against their program guidelines. If the costs are eligible, your bill will be paid. If not, you'll have to pay the full amount yourself.
Health share plans and ministries are not the same thing as health insurance. Although they do some similar things, you'll more likely pay your own medical bills with health sharing ministries. That's because the plans aren't regulated in the same way as health insurance, and they aren't required to cover the same things.
Health share plans might be a good option for some people, but you should always compare the price and coverage to a regular health insurance plan to make sure you understand what you're buying and what it covers.
Find Cheap Health Insurance Quotes in Your Area
What are the pros and cons of health share plans and health sharing ministries?
Pros
- Usually cheaper than health insurance
- You can often use any doctor
- Plans can help you feel a sense of community
Cons
- No legal guarantee that your bills will be paid
- Covers fewer medical situations compared to health insurance
- You might not have coverage for preexisting conditions
Health share plans vs. health insurance
Health share plans don't work the same way as health insurance.
This means they often have less coverage or legal protections than health insurance plans do.
Health share plan | Health insurance | |
|---|---|---|
| Counts as insurance? | ||
| Legally required to pay covered claims? | ||
| Required to cover preexisting conditions? | ||
| Includes legally required coverage? | ||
| Subsidies available? | ||
| Religious requirements? |
Health share plans are not required to have religious affiliations, although the majority do.
Medical sharing plan costs and coverage
Because health share plans aren't regulated as tightly as health insurance, there's no guarantee that any specific type of medical care will be covered.
Before you join a health share plan, check the coverage carefully so you know what's covered and what isn't.
What's usually covered?
- Injuries
- Sicknesses
- Emergency care
- Hospitalization
Maternity care is also sometimes covered, although it may have different rules than other types of care.
What's usually not covered?
- Routine tests
- Chronic conditions
- Mental health care
- Medical costs outside the U.S.
Remember, the health share plan ministries set their own coverage rules. Some plans may cover chronic conditions or mental health care, for example. Each plan is different, which means it's impossible to create an overall list of what is and isn't covered. Be sure to check the coverage before you buy.
How much do health share plans cost?
Single adults usually pay between about $115 and $315 per month for a health share plan.
But your monthly rate is only part of your cost. You'll also have to pay your "member responsibility," similar to a deductible, before your share plan will start to pay your medical bills. These costs vary widely between plans. It's common to have to pay between $1,000 and $6,000 or more yourself before your plan pays your bill with the funds from the community. Some plans require you to pay a portion of each medical bill, such as $500 per bill, instead of one overall amount every year.
Some plans also have copays and coinsurance, just like health insurance. This means you pay a flat fee or a percentage of your medical bill.
Finally, many plans put a per-event or lifetime maximum amount on your bills.
- A per-event maximum means that the plan won't pay more than a certain amount for any one injury or illness. For example, you may have a limit of $125,000 per illness or injury. If your doctor bills for a specific medical need go over that, you'll have to pay the excess yourself.
- A lifetime maximum means the plan will only pay up to a certain amount toward your medical expenses during your life. After that, the plan won't pay any of your medical bills. For example, some plans cap their lifetime limits at $1 million. Once the plan has paid that amount toward your bills, you effectively no longer have coverage.
Health share plan and health care sharing ministry regulations
Because health share plans aren't insurance, they aren't regulated in the same way.
This usually means there are fewer protections in place if something goes wrong with your plan. Before joining a health sharing ministry, make sure you understand your state's laws around the plans.
State safe harbor laws
In 30 states, the law specifically removes health sharing ministries from insurance regulations. This means that health share plans don't have to follow the same laws that health insurance has to follow.
Find Cheap Health Insurance Quotes in Your Area
States that don't have safe harbor laws still don't usually regulate health share plans like insurance.
Because health share plans aren't bound by tight regulations, they can give you more choices when it comes to your health care. However, it also means there are fewer legal protections in place.
For example, a health share plan might run out of money, and it won't be able to pay for your medical bills at all. However, if you have traditional health insurance and your company fails, your medical bills would still get paid by the state, out of what's called a "guaranty fund."
State with safe harbor laws for health sharing ministries
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
States that require health insurance
Four states — California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island — still require that you have what's called "minimum essential coverage" health insurance.
Health share plans don't count as health insurance, which means they likely don't meet these states' laws. That means you might have to pay a fine for not having health insurance if you're part of a health sharing ministry.
Is a health share plan right for you?
Health sharing ministries can be an alternative to health insurance as long as you understand what you're getting.
If you're mostly healthy and wouldn't get discounts on a marketplace plan, a health share plan might be a good option. It could help keep your costs down while still giving you some help with medical bills.
However, health share plans are risky. That's because you might be left with high medical bills if you need care that the ministry doesn't consider "shareable." For example, some plans don't include coverage for routine medical care, dental coverage, some treatment for preexisting or chronic conditions, or certain medications.
You'll also often have to stick to the ministry's moral code. A health share plan might specifically exclude coverage for treating sexually transmitted diseases that you acquire outside of marriage, for example, because the ministry's moral code only allows for sexual activity when you're married.
Frequently asked questions
Are health share plans a good idea?
Health share plans might be an alternative to health insurance if you can't afford a traditional plan. However, you need to make sure you understand what your plan does and doesn't cover. Health share plans aren't regulated as tightly as health insurance is, which means if your plan doesn't cover something, you have very few legal protections.
Do health share plans count as health insurance?
No, health share plans aren't considered insurance. For that, you need to get what's called a "qualified health plan." The easiest way to get a qualified health plan is to get coverage through work, called a group plan, or buy a plan from HealthCare.gov or your state's marketplace site.
Will I face a penalty for using a health share plan?
You might have to pay a fee if you use a health share plan instead of getting insurance, depending on where you live. In California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island, there's still a penalty for not having health insurance. If you only have a health share plan and not a traditional health insurance plan, you may have to pay a fine in these states.
Are health share plans cheaper than insurance?
Health share plans often have cheaper monthly rates compared to health insurance. However, you may have to pay more of your medical bills yourself since health share plans don't have the same coverage as health insurance. Plus, you can't get discounts based on your income with a health share plan the way that you can with a plan from HealthCare.gov.
Methodology and sources
Rates for health share plans are ranges from Christian Healthcare Ministries, Citizens' Council for Health Freedom and Liberty HealthShare. Your rate will depend on the health share plan you choose and the specific details of that plan.
Other sources include:
- The American Psychological Association
- Christian Healthcare Ministries
- Commonwealth Fund
- HealthCare.gov
- Impact Health Sharing
- JHS Community
- KFF
- Liberty HealthShare
- Medi-Share
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
- OneShare Health
- Samaritan Ministries
- ShareWELL
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
About the Author
Insurance Writer
Cate Deventer is a ValuePenguin writer who specializes in health insurance, Medicare, auto and home insurance. She's been a licensed insurance agent since 2011.
She started her insurance career working as a customer service agent for State Farm. She later moved to an independent agency, where she worked with several insurance companies and hundreds of clients. She quoted policies, filed claims and answered insurance questions. In 2021, she pivoted her career and began writing about insurance for Bankrate. She moved to ValuePenguin in 2023 and began writing about health insurance and Medicare.
Cate has a passion for helping readers choose insurance to fit their needs. She enjoys knowing that her research and knowledge help people choose insurance products that make a positive difference in their lives.
How insurance helped Cate
Cate used her health insurance knowledge to navigate a surgery in 2023. Understanding how her policy worked let her focus on recovery instead of worrying about bills.
Expertise
- Health insurance
- Medicare & Medicaid
- Auto insurance
- Home insurance
- Life insurance
Credentials
- Licensed Life, Accident & Health Insurance Agent
- Licensed Property & Casualty Insurance Agent
Referenced by
- CBS
- NBC
- Wall Street Journal
Education
- BA, Theatre, Purdue University
- BA, English, Indiana University
Editorial note: The content of this article is based on the author's opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.
