A Christian Approach to Covering Healthcare

Insurance regulation is a joke

Regulated insurance companies fight every claim They charge premiums that are unaffordable. I beleive that this method of sharing risk is just as satisfactory (considering the poor job the regulated insurance companies are doing). I guess the 45 million spent on USHealthcare's CEO somehow payed a medical bill of a claiment or reduced a premium of an insured. Regulated insurance is no panacea.

Medi-Share and sharing programs work

My son has an auto-immune disease and after our $250 responsibility all the rest of our bills: dr's office visits, blood tests, Immune-Globulin, 2nd opinios through Children's Mercy, steroids, etc. have been taken care of by the other members of Medi-Share.

Mr. Rowden's bills were paid because there was an appeal process in place with Medi-Share even when he had his problem. The appeal process worked for him although it has been improved upon since his problem. He benefitted by getting not only his medical bills paid for but also getting a huge jury award. Meanwhile, Medi-Share is forced out of Montana and some of the hundreds of former members in Montana can't afford even the state subsidized insurance that they are left with.

Smells Like Insurance

The medical share companies might not technically be insurance, but the way in which they do business sure does smell like insurance and should therefore be regulated accordingly.

This is a variation on an old theme.

Organizations like Knights of Columbus, Lutheran Brotherhood and Mennonite Relief have combined "insurance" with church for a long time. By necessity, they're rather formal about it, too.

I would predict that, over time, the sharing groups also will be become more formal, more legalistic and more regulated. In the meantime, let's hope that not too many people get hurt when some of these get overwhelmed and sink in a bad storm. Avoiding that is what the regulators are supposed to be there for.

Just another exploitation

What a farce these "share" groups are!

They meet the traditional definition of insurance in every sense--they collect premiums and assume the risk on part of the people paying premiums.

The bigger farce, however, is the handful of states that refuse to regulate these insurance entities as insurance companies. These regulators are entrusted with ensuring that their populations are properly protected. When these insurers insist on selling insurance without a license, they should be sanctioned--just like a traditional insurer whose license has expired but who keeps selling more insurance.

When people have NO protection after their claims are denied, that is the tell-tale that they have been ripped off, which would not have happened if their regulatory authorities had been doing their jobs!