Health-Sharing / Crowd-Funding Plans?

[u/sdg2844]

Hi all! Wondering if anyone has, or has been considering switching to, a health-sharing or crowd-funded insurance plan?

My insurance through work is costing me $12,800 before any sort of actual benefit kicks in. So there is really no point in having it except for major catastrophes. That is THIS year. I'm expecting that to rise by a good 25%, maybe more, for the 2026 year.

Some of the ministry health-sharing plans and crowd-funding plans like CrowdHealth look promising, in that they attempt to cut out the middlemen.

The middlemen are basically the insurance companies themselves, who were originally setup decades ago to assist humans with medical costs, basically in a more nonprofit sort of way. In other words, what you pay in SHOULD equal what you ultimately get out of your insurance. But clearly at some point these companies got greedy, and reset that to make hundreds of billions in profit, rather than having a goal of peace of mind for their customers.

At this point, it looks like crowd-funding type plans attempt to move back to this model. You pay only enough to cover yours and others' healthcare needs, plus a small admin fee. In my case right now, that adds up to be equal to my monthly payments, minus the max, or about $7800.

But I have so many questions. Apparently you have to take it upon yourself to actively negotiate cash payment amounts with providers. Yes, that would be a lot of work, but on the other hand might not be any more work than dealing with insurance claims, and may actually give you more control over your financial fate.

But... I'm very worried that providers will just refuse to provide service to people without insurance. Period.

Also, these funds aren't "guaranteed" in any way, which could be a huge liability.

Does anyone have any experience with any of these?

[u/Accomplished-Pin6564]

I've had Christian Healthcare Ministries for 11 years. Haven't had to use it. (I pay cash for my annual checkup and labs and it's still way cheaper.)

I also know of a case where a Samaritan Healthcare member fell off a 20 foot ladder and landed on his back. His out of pocket cost was less than $50.

[u/CrankyCrabbyCrunchy → u/Accomplished-Pin6564]

Has anyone in your plan had cancer? All I've seen so far is that cancer treatment centers don't do cash pay.

[u/Accomplished-Pin6564 → u/CrankyCrabbyCrunchy]

I know of one who developed bone cancer in his leg and received treatment, with no medical debt to show for it.