MICRO - didn't you do this? ^^^^ Looks to me to be a great alternative. It doesn't look perfect, but it's better than nothing. Can anyone weigh in on its benefits?
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Do Christians have a little edge on health care in the United States? Health-care sharing ministries (HCSM) are exploding—membership has increased 600 percent in nine years—as these unregulated oddballs maneuver freely in an industry that today is tethered by more rules and bureaucracy than ever before.
In the second Democratic presidential primary debate, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris raised their hands when asked, “Who here would abolish their private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan?” Wiping out our nation’s $600 billion private insurance industry would most likely include my family’s membership in a HCSM.
HCSMs: An Oasis Of Markets In a Sea of Socialism
HCSMs might just be the last stronghold through which a patient can energetically participate in market-oriented health care. Each year, thousands of Christian families like ours take the plunge, drop traditional health insurance, and join a sharing ministry. Like us, many find a surprisingly humane and affordable oasis outside of the cruel desert of Healthcare.gov.
HCSMs have been around since the late 1980s in smaller forms. When Obamacare threatened to end health-care sharing ministries in 2010, religious freedom advocates got loud, most notably lobbyist James Lansberry, who famously said, “Who is this Barack Obama who mocks the armies of the living God?” Senate Democrats caved, extending a tiny exemption from the Affordable Care Act to appease a mere 150,000 HCSM members.
For nine years, as Obamacare tore through American households and clinics and hospitals, HCSMs quietly grew—twice, thrice, and now nine times their size. Today there are 1.2 million HCSM members, and their medical expenses covered by sharing ministries exceeds $1 billion annually. Membership is expected to reach 1.68 million by 2020.
Growth has its pains, and some HCSMs are under fire over issues of quality and honesty. Member complaints within Liberty HealthShare and Aliera Healthcare Inc. have raised red flags in several states, especially Washington state, where both were ordered in May to stop operating.
Voluntary, Mutual Aid Has Its Risks
Joining a health-care sharing ministry is not without its risks and downsides. HCSMs are not insurance and cannot guarantee payment; this might be too off-the-grid by itself for many people. Most HCSMs have far less comprehensive “coverage” than traditional health insurance. Some, like Medi-Share, require members to never use any tobacco products and can cancel membership if it’s discovered that a member has smoked even one cigarette.
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http://thefederalist.com/2019/07/15/use-of-this-health-insurance-alternative-has-increased-600-percent-since-obamacare/?utm_source=The+Federalist+List&;utm_campaign=9f5335681a-RSS_The_Federalist_Daily_Updates_w_Transom&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfcb868ceb-9f5335681a-84073723
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