Issue Toolkit
Health Care Sharing Ministries
Background
What are health care sharing ministries?
Health care sharing ministries are tax-exempt organizations in which members are supposed to follow a common set of religious or ethical beliefs and pay, or contribute a share, to cover qualifying medical expenses for themselves and other members. Unlike insurers, these organizations are not required to comply with consumer protections or cover essential health benefits. Ministries are primarily religiously affiliated, but people of all faiths and none unknowingly enroll in health care sharing ministries when they believe they’ve actually purchased an insurance product due to plans’ deceptive practices.
Health care sharing ministries are poor alternatives to health insurance.
Health care sharing ministries pose a consumer risk and lack regulatory oversight and coverage guarantees, leading some members to get stuck with significant medical debt after receiving necessary treatment.
Health care sharing ministries rely on deceptive practices to target consumers.
These ministries are not insurance, but are marketed like insurance. Members will often miss out on the fine print and risk of health care sharing ministries due to how they are presented.
Health care sharing ministries are under regulated.
States are responsible for the oversight of health care sharing ministries; with basic regulation, states can easily protect consumers from harm.
Read our full background one-pager and talking points in our PDF toolkit here.
Templates for Action
Please note: The linked documents below are templates. Be sure to edit to fit the needs of your state.
Action Alert
Action alerts allow organizations to empower individuals to easily send messages to those in power to make our voices heard regarding relevant legislation.
Our HCSM toolkit includes:
Message to elected officials: Simply fill in relevant bill numbers, cosponsors, and your state info to encourage your elected officials to take action against Health Care Sharing Ministries.
Action alert emails: Messages to send to your supporters, urging them to fill out the message to elected officials above.
Customize an action alert for your community in our PDF toolkit here.
Sign On Letter
Sign on letters can allow coalitions of organizations to combine their collective voice in calling for action on the local, state, or national level. Our HCSM sign on letter contains all of the pre-written, cited information you need to express the danger of Health Care Sharing Ministries to your local officials. Simply fill in your state government address info, date, relevant bill number, legislation info, and co-signed organizations.
Customize your sign on letter in our PDF toolkit here.
Testimony
Written testimony is a powerful tool in getting information on the dangers of Health Care Sharing Ministries into the public records of your state governments. Our testimony template contains cited information on ministries' deceptive practices and need for regulation. Simply fill in your state house, bill number, date, and sponsor of relevant legislation.
