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In this post, I am going to do a comparison of Liberty HealthShare and Samaritan Ministries.
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
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.
Samaritan Ministries Initual Unshareable Amount (IUA): The initial unshareable amount, or IUA, is the amount that a member will pay before Samaritan Ministries shares in medical expenses. Your IUA amount will depend on which program you decide to join. For the Samaritan Basic, your IUA amount is $1,500. For the Samaritan Classic, your IUA amount is $400. If you want to change your program, there is a $100 fee to do so.
Monthly Contribution Price Range
Liberty HealthShare: $159 to $1,239 + $50 extra for each family member over 5 people.
Samaritan Ministries: $135 to $555
Statement of Faith
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”.
Samaritan Ministries: Must agree to their Statement of Faith. Must attend church regularly (3 out of every 4 weeks). Must have your pastor or Christian church leader sign a statement confirming that you meet their requirements.
Church denominations not allowed to join Samaritan Ministries: Church of Scientology, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Unitarianism.
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
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.
Samaritan Ministries: Routine care (dental, vision, yearly wellness checks, colonoscopies, etc.) is generally not shared by Samaritan members. If a shareable condition is discovered because of a routine visit, those related medical expenses can be shared.
Pre-Existing Conditions
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.
Samaritan Ministries: Needs that result from a condition that existed prior to membership are only shareable if the condition has been symptom, treatment, and medication-free for 12 consecutive months. Some pre-existing conditions, such as cancer, heart conditions, and hereditary diseases, have a five-year period before they are eligible for sharing.
For more detailed information, please read my post about How The Top HealthShare’s Handle Pre-Existing Conditions.
Maternity
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).
Samaritan Ministries: Maternity needs are shareable in Samaritan Classic provided there are at least two family members in the same membership program prior to conception. A maternity need will be shared at 100% after the IUA has been met and has a maximum shareable amount of $250,000.
Feel free to learn more at The Top HealthShare’s Maternity Benefits (Comparison Guide).
Turnaround Time for Paying Medical Bills
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.
Samaritan Ministries: 60-90 days
Considerations
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.
Samaritan Ministries: Samaritan Classic has a $250,000 maximum limit per medical need and the Samaritan Basic has a $236,500 maximum limit per medical need. If you want additional sharing available, you can pay extra to join the Save to Share™ program. In addition to the annual administrative share, each participating household must set aside funds that will be dedicated for use in the program. As of March 2021, the current annual household amount required to be set aside is $133 for one person, $266 for a two-person membership and single-parent family, and $399 for a three or more person family.
Which Health Share Plan Should You Join?
Choosing a Health Share plan is a very personal decision. Feel free to check out Liberty HealthShare Reviews and Samaritan Ministries 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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