I’d like to share my experience and what works best for me and my family, after getting asked this often over the years. It will vary for everyone. Ever since I started NeuConcept in 1996, I thought the security I needed in the health world was what I’d always had and should continue with: insurance.
However, there are alternatives to health insurance. Many!
After years of paying sky-high premiums as a business owner, our family has discovered healthcare sharing ministries. Essentially this is a ministry that we donate to each month, and they help share our healthcare expenses when it falls within their guidelines. This gives us the freedom to choose whatever doctors we want as “self-pay” patients, while still having an organization to back us up in emergencies or other healthcare incidents, like having a baby.
And because I over-shop EVERYTHING, I made multiple scenarios as to what our family could need health insurance for. In each scenario, the healthcare sharing ministry won. In fact, after we switched from health insurance, our out-of-pocket costs remained essentially the same, while our monthly premiums went down hundreds of dollars a month.
Over the years, I’ve had health insurance brokers that could get better deals than I ever could. I appreciate these health insurance brokers because they know all the ins and outs of the industry with each of the policies, but for insurance only. Anthem, United, HMO, PPO, and on and on… Even when presenting some of the “Healthcare cost sharing ministries” to our broker (shopper of insurance), he confirmed that there were no other competitive options that compared.
However, if someone is dependent on a particular medication or prescription covered by their insurance policy, then sticking with that insurance company could be a better option. Prescriptions are often not covered by some of these ministries. We don’t have a lot of medication needs, and when we do, we use something like GoodRX or Costco Pharmacy to get a better deal.
I’m asked often how we run our business, and this is just one piece that I believe is important to maintain and have: Health insurance or some alternative. There are too many unknowns in life, and I appreciate being prepared. Peace of mind! 😉
In full transparency, the below links are provided for your convenience and as a referral benefit to us if someone signs up. No expectations or requests. Do what is best for you and feel free to use our ID if you decide to go this route:
- CHM Ministries – Christian Health Cost Sharing (referral link)
- Or call and mention our ID or name during the process: 306136
