Why I Ditched Health Insurance to Join a Health Share

This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you enroll through my link, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Quick Version: We save a lot of money and still have that safety net if something big happens.

Health Insurance and Health Share Plans

Whether you choose Health Insurance or a Health Share, the goal is the same: Members want help paying large medical bills that you wouldn’t be able to handle on your own (without financial ruin). In their own way, both Health Insurance and Health Share plans accomplish this goal for their members.

Why I Ditched Our Health Insurance

Health Insurance is that safety net that we’ve all been told is something that we absolutely need. You know, just in case something really big happens. But after a few life events, I started to realize just how much I was actually paying medical emergencies, even after paying thousands of dollars every year towards our monthly premiums.

For example, we were paying $850 a month for Health Insurance through my husband’s work. The company was paying for the other half of our insurance costs, as an employee benefit.

In one year, one of our kids fractured their arm and the other needed an out-patient surgery. In addition to paying $850 a month ($10,200 in monthly premiums that year), we also paid an extra $6,000 between co-pays and coinsurance. We paid a total of $16,200 for just two incidents in one year. Ouch.

When my husband had an opportunity to start working for himself, to keep the same Health Insurance would cost us $1,700 a month (no more employee benefits).

We thankfully found that there is a better and much more affordable way to pay for our expensive healthcare costs. Instead of paying $1,700 a month for Health Insurance, we now pay just $570 a month for our Health Share membership. We save $1,130 a month, which means we save $13,560 a year on my family’s healthcare costs.

What is a Health Share?

A Health Share is a non-profit organization where members have a common goal of sharing in one another’s medical expenses. A Health Share provides an organized way of making this happen.

While most Health Shares today have a religious component (also known as a Health Share Ministry), there are also Health Shares that do not require a religious affiliation to join them. The one I joined and recommend is actually a secular Health Share, so there are no religious requirements needed to join them.

How a Health Share Works

As a member of a Health Share, you would pay, or contribute, a set amount of money each month to your Health Share community. 

When the member has a larger and unexpected medical need, the member would first need to pay a set amount, which is the member’s responsibility before the Health Share community pays any medical bills. This is similar to a deductible that you’d have with a Health Insurance plan. 

Once the member has paid their responsibility, the Health Share would “share” in all eligible medical expenses.

Benefits of Joining a Health Share

• Save Money. This is the number one reason why most people (including myself) choose to join a Health Share over Health Insurance.
• Community. Members choose a community that fits their personal beliefs or lifestyle choices.
• Less or no Network Restrictions. Health Share members typically enjoy more freedom to choose which Doctors or healthcare providers they want to see.
• Nationwide or Worldwide sharing. Health Shares usually have sharing available to people all throughout the United States and even abroad. Health Shares are a great option for those who love to travel.

Which Health Share I Decided to Join

After reviewing all of the Health Share options, the one I decided to join is Zion HealthShare. 

And here’s just a few reasons why: 

• Zion HealthShare accepts members of all faiths. They are a community of individuals who strive to live a healthy lifestyle and want to share in the costs of one another’s medical burdens. While I am a devout Christian, I still felt like Zion HealthShare was the best choice for us, rather than one of the Christian Health Shares.
• Zion HealthShare members typically save 30-60% off of traditional Health Insurance. 
• Zion HealthShare does not have annual or lifetime caps on eligible need requests. This gives us peace of mind if a very large medical expenses come up, we are not capped.
• Zion HealthShare is known in the industry and to its members for processing medical needs quickly – often within five to ten business days (once all receipts and bills are submitted)! 
• Zion HealthShare will negotiate your medical bills for you – big or small. This means that the bigger medical bills have less of an impact for the entire community. For smaller medical bills that are less than your Initial Unshareable Amount (IUA) and not normally shared within the community, you are not on your own. You can still submit that medical bill to Zion HealthShare and they will work to negotiate that price down for you, so that you can pay less money out of pocket. 
• Zion HealthShare allows people with pre-existing conditions to join the health share – rather than denying them. Instead, they offer a waiting period for pre-existing conditions and a phase-in of sharing in these pre-existing conditions. We don’t have any pre-existing conditions, but even if we did, we liked Zion HealthShare’s phase-in sharing plan.
• Immediately after becoming a member, Zion HealthShare shares in Annual provider visits (up to $250 per visit each year). After six months of membership, they will share in colonoscopy, mammogram, and youth immunizations. What I love about the annual provider visits is that each member of our family can go to a Naturopathic Doctor every year. This was a huge win for us, since our previous Health Insurance plan would not pay anything for a Naturopathic doctor.
• Zion HealthShare is a Nationwide Health Share, so you can live anywhere in the United States and become a member. 
• Zion HealthShare will share in medical costs when on a vacation or serving a mission outside of the United States. 
• Members can work with providers of their choice – without network restrictions. 

Which Health Share Plan Should You Join?

Choosing a Health Share plan is a very personal decision. 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.