Ahnung-quay
4th November 2014, 14:09
As a consequence of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), my health insurance is being dropped 12/31/14 due to the fact that it does not meet the ACA standards of coverage.
I was paying $359.00 per month for my policy which had a high deductible but it covered the routine yearly examination, colonoscopies, and women's annual health care (with age-related qualifiers).
I researched on the government health care marketplace web site and found that I do not qualify for tax credits toward insurance based upon my income. A single policy would cost me $600.00 plus per month which is about 13% of my income.
All that I really want is a catastrophic plan to cover needs in case of a serious illness/accident or hospitalization and that is what I had before the ACA. I'm basically a healthy person that lives a healthy lifestyle. I use alternative treatments for most illness such as herbals.
I also looked into health share plans. They are called health sharing ministries. There are four of them out there that legally exempt members from ACA related tax penalties for not having health insurance.
And the thing that is really illogical is that the tax fine for not having health insurance is $95.00 for 2014. In 2015 the fine being proposed is $695.00. Both fines are much less than the cost of having ACA approved health insurance. (But, of course the person without a way to pay for catastrophic care loses every asset they have under this corporate system).
The way the health sharing plans work is that a member pays a monthly amount directly to those who have a medical bill to resolve. There are $300.00-$500.00 self-pay per year requirements before your bills would be paid by others and there are caps per incident and lifetime caps depending upon which plan a person becomes a member of. Some of the plans negotiate discounts with providers for the member and some require the member to negotiate their own discount. The member is considered to be a self-pay individual.
A health share plan varies in cost by the level of benefit one wants to receive. The one that I'm looking at is Liberty Health Share and the highest level which is $199.00. With this company, there is a $125.00 annual fee. This company is the only one of the four that does not have a specifically Christian focus, ie. members don't have to belong to an evangelical church, attend services routinely, etc. The only requirement is that members believe that human rights are derived from Creator rather than government.
The main benefits of these plans that I can see are:
-no control by government or the insurance industry for health care decisions.
-helping other members directly.
-lower cost than insurance.
-administrative costs are about 13% versus approximately 25% for insurance plans.
I'm wondering if any PA members are members of a health sharing plan and what positive/negative experiences you have had with them? I would be interested in reading your comments!
I was paying $359.00 per month for my policy which had a high deductible but it covered the routine yearly examination, colonoscopies, and women's annual health care (with age-related qualifiers).
I researched on the government health care marketplace web site and found that I do not qualify for tax credits toward insurance based upon my income. A single policy would cost me $600.00 plus per month which is about 13% of my income.
All that I really want is a catastrophic plan to cover needs in case of a serious illness/accident or hospitalization and that is what I had before the ACA. I'm basically a healthy person that lives a healthy lifestyle. I use alternative treatments for most illness such as herbals.
I also looked into health share plans. They are called health sharing ministries. There are four of them out there that legally exempt members from ACA related tax penalties for not having health insurance.
And the thing that is really illogical is that the tax fine for not having health insurance is $95.00 for 2014. In 2015 the fine being proposed is $695.00. Both fines are much less than the cost of having ACA approved health insurance. (But, of course the person without a way to pay for catastrophic care loses every asset they have under this corporate system).
The way the health sharing plans work is that a member pays a monthly amount directly to those who have a medical bill to resolve. There are $300.00-$500.00 self-pay per year requirements before your bills would be paid by others and there are caps per incident and lifetime caps depending upon which plan a person becomes a member of. Some of the plans negotiate discounts with providers for the member and some require the member to negotiate their own discount. The member is considered to be a self-pay individual.
A health share plan varies in cost by the level of benefit one wants to receive. The one that I'm looking at is Liberty Health Share and the highest level which is $199.00. With this company, there is a $125.00 annual fee. This company is the only one of the four that does not have a specifically Christian focus, ie. members don't have to belong to an evangelical church, attend services routinely, etc. The only requirement is that members believe that human rights are derived from Creator rather than government.
The main benefits of these plans that I can see are:
-no control by government or the insurance industry for health care decisions.
-helping other members directly.
-lower cost than insurance.
-administrative costs are about 13% versus approximately 25% for insurance plans.
I'm wondering if any PA members are members of a health sharing plan and what positive/negative experiences you have had with them? I would be interested in reading your comments!