A magazine, not a brochure
Health Share Journal exists because the health-sharing conversation is still written like marketing. This is the first letter: what we will print, what we will not, and why a sister comparison site exists at all.
Also in this issue
What is health sharing? A plain-language explainer
How medical cost sharing works, the vocabulary that matters, what regulators say about it, and the questions to ask before joining.
What regulators actually say about health shares
NAIC consumer guidance in plain English, what “not insurance” means for a bill, and why state notices exist.
Start here
Chosen by the editors, in this order. Not a ranking, and not a measure of what other readers clicked.
Health sharing vs traditional insurance: an honest comparison
A structural comparison of sharing programs and ACA-compliant insurance — obligations, protections, cost shape, and the households each favors.
How to read a sharing guideline without being sold
A field guide to guideline PDFs: eligibility, IUA, waiting periods, pre-existing rules, and what “unshareable” actually means.
What health sharing does not share
The exclusion categories common to sharing programs, why "unshareable" is not the same as "denied," and how to verify a specific expense before you need it.
Who should not choose health sharing
If you need a legal duty to pay, ACA protections, immediate coverage of a known condition, or subsidy eligibility, a health share is not a substitute.
Who this is for
Explainers
How sharing actually works, in language a guideline document would recognize.
The Decoder
Sharing vocabulary borrows the shape of insurance words without the obligations. Here is each one, next to the term it is not.
Health sharing
A membership in which participants agree to share eligible medical expenses according to published guidelines. No participant is legally required to pay your bill.
health insurance, which is a regulated contract with a legal duty to pay covered claims
Monthly share
The amount a member contributes each month to the sharing community. Also called a membership contribution.
a premium — a premium buys a policy, a share funds a voluntary community
Member responsibility
The portion of an eligible medical need the member pays before the community shares anything.
a deductible, which is annual and defined by an insurance contract
Initial unshareable amount (IUA)
The specific dollar amount of member responsibility that applies per medical need. Because it resets per need rather than per year, two incidents in one year can each carry their own IUA.
a deductible or an out-of-pocket maximum
Eligible for sharing
A medical need that meets the program guidelines and is therefore submitted for sharing. Eligibility is a guideline determination, not a guarantee of payment.
covered, which implies a contractual obligation
Medical need
The medical event or bill presented to the community for sharing.
a claim, which is filed against an insurance policy
A letter from the desks, not a funnel.
Guideline revisions with the paragraph that changed. Regulator language quoted rather than paraphrased. Corrections, including ours. Nothing else.
What your state says
25 states write the disclosure into statute. The rest leave the wording to the program.
Every state notice →Notice: The organization facilitating the sharing of medical expenses is not an insurance company, and neither its guidelines nor plan of operation is an insurance policy. Whether anyone chooses to assist you with your medical bills will be totally voluntary because no other participant will be compelled by law to contribute toward your medical bills. As such, participation in the organization or a subscription to any of its documents should never be considered to be insurance. Regardless of whether you receive any payment for medical expenses or whether this organization continues to operate, you are always personally responsible for the payment of your own medical bills.
Across the desks
COBRA vs health sharing after you leave a job
Health sharing vs a high-deductible health plan
Health sharing and taxes: what is deductible and what is not
Health sharing with children: what to check first
Bridging the gap to Medicare at 62 to 65
Health coverage options when you are self-employed
Health sharing is not insurance. Programs are not legally required to pay medical expenses and do not have to provide Affordable Care Act protections. NAIC consumer guidance.
ARYX builds health plan administration software — enrollment, premium billing, member lifecycle, and advisor commissions — for TPAs, FMOs, carriers, and health shares.
ARYX LLC publishes this site. ARYX sells software to health plans and is not a health share, an insurer, or an agency — nothing here is a plan you can enroll in.