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In this post, I am going to do a comparison of Altrua Healthshare and Liberty Healthshare.
I will go over member responsibility amounts (what member’s pay before the community shares in any medical bills), monthly costs (this is dependent on age, individual/family memberships, and the Member Responsibility amount you choose), preventative sharing, pre-existing conditions, maternity, turnaround time to pay medical bills, and any special considerations to be aware of.
Member Responsibility Amounts
Altrua Healthshare Member Responsibility Amount (MRA): For the first MRA, it is $500 (Diamond Plan), $1000 (Emerald Plan), $1500 (Sapphire Plan), or $7500 (Ruby Plan). For the second MRA: If the member is on the Ruby Plan, the member is responsible for 50% of the next $10,000 per member ($5,000 maximum) if the licensed medical professional/facility is non-affiliated. If the member is on the Sapphire, Emerald, or Diamond Plan, the member is responsible for a maximum of $2,500 to the licensed medical professional/facility (maximum of $5,000 if Medicare Plus 25% isn’t accepted and licensed medical professional/facility is non-affiliated).
Liberty HealthShare Annual Unshared Amount (AUA): The Annual Unshared Amount for each program level must be paid before medical costs are eligible for sharing. Your AUA amount is determined by your account type;
Single: $1,000 (Liberty Unite and Liberty Connect) or $4,000 (Liberty Essential Plan)
Couple: $1,750 (Liberty Unite), $2,000 (Liberty Connect) or $8,000 (Liberty Essential Plan)
Family: $2,250 (Liberty Unite), $3,000 (Liberty Connect) or $12,000 (Liberty Essential Plan)
After you fulfill your Annual Unshared Amount (AUA), you may share eligible medical costs.
Monthly Contribution Price Range
Altrua Healthshare: $105 to $900
Liberty HealthShare: $159 to $1,239 + $50 extra for each family member over 5 people.
Statement of Faith
Altrua Healthshare:Must agree to a “Statement of Standards” – These are based on ethical and religious beliefs, including no sexual relations outside of marriage.
Liberty HealthShare: Must agree to adhering Christian standards and beliefs. The required beliefs are less strict or specific than other religious HealthShares, but they do require members to “participate regularly in worship or prayer”.
For more detailed information on faith-based requirements, please read this post about Christian HealthShare Plans.
If you prefer a HealthShare that has no religious requirements, please read my post about Secular HealthShare Plans.
Preventative Sharing
Altrua Healthshare: Emerald and Diamond plans allow members to go to an annual wellness visit. Members would need to pay $35 and the visit is shareable up to $300.
Liberty HealthShare: Annual wellness visits are shared up to $400 per visit. After two months of membership, mammograms, prostate examinations, and cologuard are shareable every other year or yearly after 50 years of age.
Pre-Existing Conditions
Altrua Healthshare: There is a 2-5 year waiting period, depending on what the pre-existing condition is.
Liberty HealthShare: During the first year of membership, there is a waiting period for pre-existing conditions. During the second and third year, they will share up to $50,000 for pre-existing conditions. After the fourth year, they do not consider it a pre-existing condition anymore.
For more detailed information, please read my post about How The Top HealthShare’s Handle Pre-Existing Conditions.
Maternity
Altrua Healthshare: Members must be married in order to have maternity and newborn needs shared. The lower cost plans (Ruby and Sapphire) do not share in any maternity needs. Whether you are on the Emerald or Diamond plan, the member would need to pay a $5,000 member responsibility amount for maternity needs.
Liberty HealthShare: Not eligible for sharing on the Liberty Select plan. There is a six month waiting period to have maternity needs shared on the other plans (for all members who start on or after March 1st, 2021).
Feel free to learn more at The Top HealthShare’s Maternity Benefits (Comparison Guide).
Turnaround Time for Paying Medical Bills
Altrua Healthshare: 30-45 business days
Liberty HealthShare: 90 Days
UPDATE: Liberty HealthShare sent out an email on 03/01/2022 to all members stating that they have a backlog on paying for people’s medical bills. Members are currently waiting longer than 90 days to have their medical bills paid for.
Considerations
Altrua Healthshare: There is a lifetime limit of $2 million per member.
Liberty HealthShare: The biggest consideration for Liberty HealthShare is their current backlog on paying for people’s medical bills, which has resulted in a lawsuit. Liberty HealthShare sent out an email to their members on 03/01/2022 and said that they were making big changes in leadership, to their membership plans, and to their pricing to help fix current issues.
It’s also important to consider membership plan’s caps and limitations:
Liberty Unite Plan – Up to $1 million shareable per incident after AUA has been met.
Liberty Connect – Up to $1 million shareable per incident after AUA has been met. Members pay a 15% co-share.
Liberty Essential – Up to $600,000 sharable per incident after AUA has been met. Members pay a 25% co-share.
Health Share Reviews
Choosing a Health Share plan is a very personal decision. Feel free to check out Altrua HealthShare Reviews and CHM Reviews. I provide a lot more information on each Health Share and you can read reviews from other members.
There are so many different Health Share plans to choose from, which is great, but it can also be overwhelming! To help narrow down your choices, I wrote an article on the Best Health Share Plans. You will find which health share plans I recommend to help you on your search for affordable healthcare.
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