Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) vs Liberty HealthShare

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In this post, I am going to do a comparison of Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) 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

Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM) Personal Responsibility Amount: Christian Healthcare Ministries has three levels of participation; Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Each level offers different levels of health cost sharing support.

The Gold Level – The Personal Responsibility Amount is $1,000 per incident.

Silver Level – The Personal Responsibility Amount is $2,500 per incident.

Bronze Level – The Personal Responsibility Amount is $5000 per incident.

Incident = An incident includes medical treatment or testing that lasts until one of the following events occur:

1. A certain medical condition is cured according to official medical records;
2. Treatment is at a routine maintenance routine; or
3. You experience 90 days without any kind of treatment for that particular condition. The medical bills incurred from the first test to the last treatment before the doctor releases you to a regular, routine maintenance regimen are considered a single incident. If 90 days pass and you receive no further treatment, any future bills you incur will be considered a separate incident.

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

Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM): $78 to $516 + additional costs per year and per quarter for the Brother’s Keeper if you want unlimited sharing.

Liberty HealthShare: $159 to $1,239 + $50 extra for each family member over 5 people.

Statement of Faith

Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM): Must agree to their specific Christian qualifications. Not all Christian denominations will fit into these beliefs. 

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 Non-Religious HealthShare Plans.

Preventative Sharing

Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM): Will share in preventative needs as long as you pay your member responsibility first. For example, if you are in the Bronze Plan, you would need to pay for all medical bills that are less than $5,000 per incident. If you are in the Gold Plan, you would pay for medical bills that are less than $500. When you look at how much preventative services cost, most of it will not be considered shareable and part of the Member’s Personal Responsibility – especially on the Silver and Bronze plans.

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

Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM): 1 year waiting period for most conditions. For cancer specifically, there is a 5 year waiting period before anything relating to it can be considered shareable.

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

Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM): The member would need to first pay their member responsibility amount. Maternity sharing is only available on the Gold Level plan. In the Bronze Level and Silver Level plans, they will not share in any maternity expenses. 

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

Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM): 60 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

Christian Healthcare Ministries (CHM): You are capped at $125,000 per illness (this is not per year; its for the lifetime), unless you pay extra for the Brother’s Keeper program, which gives you an additional $100,000 of sharing per year you are a member until you are capped at $1 million per illness (which you don’t have until you have been a member for nine years).  If you pay for the Gold Level Membership and pay extra for the Brother’s Keeper program, then you will have unlimited sharing available to you immediately (on eligible needs).

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.

Find out which HealthShare I recommend at The Best HealthShare for Individuals and Families.

Which Health Share Plan Should You Join?

Choosing a Health Share plan is a very personal decision. Feel free to check out Christian Healthcare Ministries Reviews (CHM Reviews) and Liberty HealthShare 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.