My Experience With Liberty HealthShare (and it’s not great)

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Health insurance is a rip-off. Plain and simple. Even if you get it “cheap” on the health exchange you still have a $5K to $6K deductible per person. The health sharing ministries have been another option that I have recommended. They are cheaper and cover most things. They are not perfect. Now there are other health sharing options (Sedera, etc.) out there that are not “ministries”.

In my last few years in practice, I personally used Liberty HealthShare. I never needed them until about a year ago. For over six years I have heard mostly good things about them. The problem was that they were erratic. For a year or so they would pay for a DPC membership. Then they stopped that. Then new “rules” started to appear and they needed codes and notes. That may have changed, too.

I had one patient have an MI with subsequent catheterization. They were supposed to cover it. They eventually did but not until he was in collections by the hospital.

My situation is very straightforward. I had a screening colonoscopy. I helped negotiate the price down. I paid cash and submitted the bill to Liberty HealthShare. It took 10.5 months to get my money back.

I had eye surgery. I helped negotiate the price to $5K. I paid cash for it. With the deductible, I was owed about $3600. This took 11.5 months to get my money back.

In summary, I did get my money back but not without tons of emails. The question for your patients is whether they can afford to wait almost a year to get their money back. Luckily I could. Unfortunately, many of your patients may not and if they did not pay upfront to the hospital then they would be put in collections like my patient was. That is not great for their credit.

Please share your experience with Liberty HealthShare in the comments. Maybe yours is better.

About Douglas Farrago, MD

Dr. Farrago is a retired family physician based in Forest, Virginia. Since 2021, he has run DPCnews.com, a leading resource for the Direct Primary Care (DPC) movement. He is the author of three best-selling books on Direct Primary Care: The Official Guide to Starting Your Own Direct Primary Care Practice The Direct Primary Care Doctor’s Daily Motivational Journal Slowing the Churn in Direct Primary Care (While Also Keeping Your Sanity) In 2016, Dr. Farrago conceived the idea for the Direct Primary Care Alliance and co-founded the organization alongside other pioneering DPC physicians. He is widely recognized as a leading expert in the DPC model and frequently lectures to medical students, residents, and practicing physicians on how to successfully start and run their own DPC practices.Dr. Farrago sold his Direct Primary Care practice in October 2020 but continues to receive care there as a patient.