What is a Health Care Sharing Ministry?

Organizations that facilitate sharing of health care costs among individual Members who have common ethical or religious beliefs. Organizations must be a 501(c)(3) Not for Profit.

Members of Health Care Sharing Ministries are exempt from the individual mandate requirement of the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The individual shared responsibility provision was repealed in December 2017, effective in 2019.

This means Members of Health Care Sharing Ministries are not required to have insurance as outlined in the individual mandate.

The Market Landscape

With over 70% of the U.S. population as Christian and 30.1M U.S. population under 65 without health insurance, Health Care Sharing Ministries (HCSMs) only account for over 1.2M Members nationwide!

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, AAPS, which opposes the Affordable Care Act, pitched HCSMs in a proposal to repeal and replace the ACA.

So, why are Health Care Sharing Ministries growing so fast?

Affordability - Religious Beliefs

US Census 2017
National health insurance interview survey 2018

White paper on Repeal/Replacement of Affordable Care Act January 6, 2017 Pew Research Center 2019

“Carry the burdens of others and care for them as one would itself.” Galatians 6:2