The published an article about health care sharing last week that focused primarily upon reports about Aliera, a for profit company that sells health care sharing memberships but is not itself a health care sharing ministry, and that has been under investigation in several states. Unfortunately, bad actors (or even allegedly bad actors) in any sector create confusion in the sector. As one of the nation’s leading non-profit Health Care Sharing ministries, Medi-Share, we often find ourselves grouped into conversations like this one.
So, it’s important we set the record straight. First of all, unlike the stories described in the article, the great majority of our Medi-Share members report very positive experiences. Medi-Share is proud of the high customer satisfaction marks we receive from our members (98% customer satisfaction score). Medi-Share also enjoys an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau. These marks are a reflection of faithfully sharing ($50M+ per month) among our 400,000 members countrywide for 26+ years.
And even when there are some challenges, we can typically get situations reasonably resolved. In fact, the one Medi-Share member mentioned in the article ultimately had their issue resolved through our member appeal process, and their bill shared. He continues to be a Medi-Share member today.
The other element of the stories shared in the article implied that agents might have misled their customers. We work hard to avoid that as we know health care can be confusing. We at Medi-Share ensure that our internal and external new member representatives are trained, certified and audited to ensure our members understand what Medi-Share is and isn’t and how it works. We also have an extensive team of representatives to answer our members’ questions and we encourage them to contact us by phone, email or chat.
The health care sharing model is different, yes, but for many folks, it is a health care solution that can work and often works very well.
Scott Reddig is the chief executive officer of Christian Care Ministry, a non-profit ministry which operates Medi-Share, one of the leading health care sharing ministries in the United States,