How Membership Works For Healthcare Sharing Organizations

HOW MEMBERSHIP WORKS FOR HEALTHCARE SHARING ORGANIZATIONS

Do you find yourself overwhelmed when you start to look at all the various Healthcare Sharing Organizations? Let us break it down for you and take some of the pressure of.

In 1965, after 20 years of debate, President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted legislation that introduced Medicare and Medicaid into law as part of the Great Society Legislation.

Various legislations have been introduced since 1996, including the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that provide health insurance protection for some employees when they leave their jobs.

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which is often referred to as Obamacare, includes:

• The Affordable Health Care for America Act
• The Patient Protection Act
• The healthcare-related sections of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act and the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act

Since becoming law, additional rules and regulations have expanded upon the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care for America Act. The Affordable Care Act’s rules regarding HSCMs are outlined in Section 1501/5000A(d)(2)(B) of the ACA (starting on page 148).

Although HCSMs are not health insurance and do not count as minimum essential coverage under the ACA, the law exempted HCSM members from the ACA’s requirement that people maintain minimum basic coverage. Exemptions from the individual mandate penalty are no longer necessary because the ACA’s penalty for not having insurance coverage was reduced to $0 as of 2019.

Impact Health Sharing is a not-for-profit, not a big corporation, and that alone affects the way membership works for Healthcare Sharing. Healthcare Sharing organizations facilitate sharing of health care costs among individual members who have common ethical and religious beliefs. Our members are motivated by savings, not profit.

Impact saves you money because it is a community that leverages its buying power to lower costs for all members.

How does Impact Healthcare Sharing membership work for healthcare sharing when you go to the doctor?

An Impact membership saves you money by discounting your medical bills, and Impact processes bills in the order they are received. When you have a doctor’s appointment, present your Impact member card and ask the provider to bill Impact using the information on the back of your member card.

How does Healthcare Sharing membership work for healthcare sharing when you go to the doctor?

Virtual visits with doctors have a $0 provider fee with Impact membership, and they are available anytime and anywhere. No more late-night trips to urgent care or bringing your healthy kids to your unwell child’s doctor’s appointment. With Telehealth, you can speak to a doctor without leaving your home and have prescriptions called in quickly.

Visits for severe issues at an urgent care facility can cost about $130 or more on average, and the average emergency room visit costs at least $750. Telehealth can help you save on cash, especially if you haven’t met your deductible or annual shared amount.

Impact works hard for its members to ensure the highest level of care with cost savings. Here are a few recent examples in which Impact was able to use readily accessible data to manage costs.

• Hospital billed $1,299 (393% above Fair Market Price), and Impact repriced to $371.99 (113% above Fair Market Price), which the provider accepted.
• The provider billed $1,846 (423% above Fair Market Price), and Impact repriced to $610.48 (140% above Fair Market Price), which the provider accepted.
• The provider billed $4,000 (281% above Fair Market Price), and Impact repriced to $1,705.05(200% above Fair Market Price), which the provider accepted.

Ready to see how much you could be saving by switching to Healthcare Sharing? Get a free quote here anytime.