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Comment by loeg | Hacker News Reader

You’re probably thinking of “healthcare ministries,” which are not insurance (they’re scams).

Scams? They paid for my $6000 colonoscopy which caught early cancer, my daughters stitches, my wife's allergy specialist, my son's rocky mountain spotted fever, etc. etc. $500/mo for our family of 5 and we've been on it for nearly 10 years. But yes, please tell me more how this service that is way cheaper than insurance, is a community of people helping each other, and covers way more than insurance, is a scam.

> $6000 colonoscopy

Six grand to shove a camera up your butt? That's the real scam!

Can I ask what service you use? I'd be interested in checking it out.

Sure, I use Samaritan Ministries. I've tried other health sharing groups but Samaritan has been the best experience. They also have the best tech platform with the best user experience that I've seen. Samaritan is for christians but there are other health sharing groups that don't have that requirement.

No, this technique works with plain old insurance companies too. It's just that no one does it because they mistakenly give the hospital their insurance info - because, guess why? They ASK.

Also, healthcare sharing ministries are not scams. However they are simply not guaranteeing payment. It sounds like the truth of it is that the "guarantee" of payment is what makes traditional insurance expensive. Is that worth it? I think that's up to each individual.

I personally know several families that are a part of these co-ops and they have had incredibly expensive things fully paid for. What makes you call them a scam?

Can you elaborate on this? My gut agrees with you 100%, but I can't puzzle it out.

> (they’re scams).

citation or story?

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lauraturner/christian-h...

They're not inherently scams, but a major reason that the "premiums" are lower is that they have hardly any legal mandate to actually provide anything, which comes as a surprise to some members who are denied reimbursement. Their authority to deny "coverage" (scare quotes because that's not, technically, what they provide) is huge. In particular, HCSMs frequently deny reimbursement on the basis of conservative religious morality. Got an STD while unmarried, or cheating on your spouse, or just in an open marriage? You can't ask your good Christian neighbors to pay for that. Drug addiction or mental illness? The cure is more Jesus. Abortion? Not even to save your life. You get the idea.

If you agree to a contract and then break the terms of the contract why would you be surprised when things aren't covered? It's the same thing with insurance companies. Also, many of these examples are broad generalizations that may apply to some but not all of the health sharing groups out there.

Here's a good start.

https://openargs.com/oa497-christian-health-sharing-is-a-sca...

I think instead of using a blanket statement and calling them all scams, the OP should have said that some are scams. That goes for pretty much any service out there. Here's a site with over 900 reviews of different health sharing communities. Some there are clearly scams by the terrible reviews.

https://healthsharingreviews.com/

> some [healthcare ministries] are scams. That goes for pretty much any service out there.

Not really? Which of the highly regulated healthcare insurers do you feel are scams?

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