Medical Bill Sharing Exemption

[Crabcake Johnny]

Great, now I have an angle to avoid paying that fine:

Medical bill-sharing: An alternative to health insurance - Wire - Lifestyle - bellinghamherald.com

"Medi-Share members are encouraged to seek treatment among the more than 600,000 physicians and tens of thousands of hospitals that are a part of the network to take advantage of prenegotiated discounts, Baldwin said.

All the local hospitals are on the network, Rooker said, so she hasn't worried about out-of-network expenses.
Members must sign a statement of faith professing faith in Jesus Christ and agree not to engage in sex outside of traditional Christian marriage, use tobacco or illegal drugs or abuse legal drugs or alcohol."


Read more: Medical bill-sharing: An alternative to health insurance - Wire - Lifestyle - bellinghamherald.com

 

[somarco]

We had one (or more) threads on this a few weeks ago. Some pinhead that was pushing Medi-Share (or a similar plan) got his head handed to him on a platter.

He was just too screwed up to realize it.

These plans have merit but are not sound enough to be an absolute substitute for real insurance.

One of the challenges (in addition to the things they won't cover) is major elective procedures. Since there is no guarantor, it may be difficult to find a doc & hospital willing to schedule your treatment without some major cash up front.

http://medi-share.org/Default.aspx?ref=G2-christian_brotherhood

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I'm much more interested in the fact that apparently this qualifies as an exemption.

 

[somarco]

Healthcare Bill Exemption

And this . . .

http://www.nahu.org/legislative/resources/Individual Mandate and Related.pdf

from pg 7

Certain categories of individuals will be exempt from the individual mandate, including those
with qualifying religious exemptions,15 those in a health care sharing ministry,16 individuals not
lawfully present in the United States, and incarcerated individuals.17 No penalty will be imposed
on those without coverage for less than three months (with only one period of three months
allowed in a year) or members of Indian tribes.18 Qualifying individuals who would otherwise be
subject to the mandate, but who are residing outside of the United States, as well as bona fide
residents of any possession of the United States will be considered to have minimum essential
coverage and therefore not be subject to the penalty.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

So this entire health care law is going to be paid for basically by taxes on Cadillac plans and those earning over 400% of FPL. Can't wait.

 

[somarco]

And . . .

taxes on medical equipment manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, higher Medicare taxes (even though those funds are supposed to be used exclusively for Medicare), reduced deductions for HSA/FSA/HRA which translates into higher taxes for those folks, taxes on those who do not have the right kind of health insurance and the Boehner tax on those who use tanning salons.

 

[thall]

Can I ask a question? I've signed the pre nup no outside sex, no abuse alcohol or drugs no tobacco. Backslide, get dui with a group of hookers in the car, two weeks later have to have major heart by-pass, where would I stand in this type of situation.

 

[HealthGuy]

So essentially, the way I read the bill above, those who enroll in these health care sharing ministries are exempt from the bill. So in essence, the bill encourages people to opt out from the mandate this way, ducking the tax seizure by the IRS for going without an approved exchange plan - and encouraging enrollment in a quazi - feel good plan that really isn't full insurance. How in the hell did this BS get in the bill. WTF? By the way I personally know several families that are involved in this type of "coverage"...Nice people but I truly hope they never get very sick. Ministry is ministry, its not freakin' insurance. I would like to see Medishare pay for say 5 years of chemo treatment at say $100,000 cost per year. Yea, somebody show me the claims they have paid like this.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I can tell you I'll have some very tough choices to make come 2014 if I can't get my family covered at a reasonable rate.

Insurance is simple; it's the premium vs. risk. Would I pay $800/mo. for car insurance? No. The risk doesn't justify the premium - I'd come up with a plan B.

Same with health. Would I pay $1,500/mo for coverage? I would not. I would be looking for alternatives - which I'm quite sure the industry will provide.

So when everyone under 400% of FPL is subsidized and people over 400% FLP would rather find alternatives and pay the fine, it's a matter of time before it implodes.

 

[HealthGuy]

Those under the 400% FPL and those above 400% FPL is going to become the tale of two Americas. The freeloaders and the workers. Obama's socialist utopia accomplished through Obamination health bill.