TEMPE, Ariz. — It seems like it would make sense: You pay into a faith-based non-profit organization that shares your religious views and values for health coverage. It’s an alternative to health insurance, you’re told. You make a payment every month to the non-profit, just like you would an insurance company. And they pay when you go for treatment.
Right?
But not for the hundred members of Tempe-based Solidarity HealthShare who have complained to the Better Business Bureau, and the dozen who told 12News’s I-Team that’s not how it worked at all.
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“We knew it wasn't traditional insurance, but we didn't realize that they can just decide not to pay anything,” said one member, Courtney Rietman of Ohio.
“They need to explain their exact process and how much they are planning on paying of that bill before the patient, like myself, goes under a knife and comes out with $144,000 bill,” said a former member from Washington who asked only to be identified by her first name, Kim, due to fear of retaliation.
The “alternative way to fund health care”
Melita Christian Fellowship Hospital Aid Plan, which does business as Solidarity HealthShare, is a non-profit corporation based in Tempe, Arizona.
Its mission, according to its latest tax filings, is to provide “an alternative way to fund health care costs while protecting and practicing our Catholic beliefs.”
In promotional videos on YouTube, co-founder and CEO Bradley Han says “Solidarity HealthShare is the solution to the healthcare crisis in this country.”
The commitment to Catholic principles and beliefs is attractive to many members. The idea of a health care sharing ministry, like Solidarity, is to share funds from like-minded people to cover one another’s medical costs, instead of using traditional insurance. The company also works with health providers to negotiate discounts.
“Solidarity is NOT insurance, so we do not collect and hold medical reserves in a centralized bank account,” the company wrote in a public comment posted to the Better Business Bureau in October.
That is not the only key difference between health sharing ministries and health insurance.
“The fundamental difference is there's no guarantee that they have to pay for anything. This is completely voluntary,” said JoAnn Volk, founder, and co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
“They have a lot of features that are very similar to insurance. There's tiers of coverage. There's a monthly amount that you pay, like a premium,” Volk said.
The health sharing ministry will point out, these monthly deposits are not, in fact, premiums.
The money contributes to the cost sharing, and it’s voluntary.
Spokespeople for Solidarity did not agree to the I-Team’s requests for interviews.
Instead, they provided a statement saying: “Solidarity HealthShare is proud to provide an affordable and comprehensive alternative to traditional health insurance that respects our Members’ consciences while advancing their health and wellbeing. Our ministry allows our Members to access the highest quality healthcare at a fair and reasonable cost and we are committed to transparency in all of our operations.”
The spokesperson also pointed the I-Team to their public information available on the Solidarity website, including the company’s legal notices.
One notice describes Solidarity’s role as enabling: “self-pay patients to help fellow Americans through voluntary financial gifts.”
Put more bluntly, Solidarity and its members “are not compelled by law to contribute toward your medical bills.”
That’s a detail many members told 12News was not obvious to them.
“I think it's ridiculous,” Reitman said. “If I wanted to make a $570 a month donation – I wouldn’t pay it to Solidarity.”
“If you actually need health care, you don't go to a health care sharing ministry.”
According to an October 2024 report from the Colorado Division of Insurance, 17 health share ministries nationwide report having 1.5 million Americans involved as members.
Solidarity HealthShare reported more than 19,000 members nationwide in 2023.
Solidarity also publishes reports that offer a limited understanding of their cost sharing, and show decreasing amounts of medical reimbursements year over year from 2021 to 2023.
In 2023, Solidarity reported its members shared nearly $24 million in medical expenses.
“Your decision to opt out of the immoral systems around us and support an integrated, Catholic approach to healthcare made it possible for us to serve our community and accomplish everything we did this year,” Solidarity posted on its 2023 Year in Review.
Solidarity added that it submitted $68,738,036 in total bill charges that were discounted “through our Reference Based Pricing method, for a total savings of $43,779,112.”
Again, Solidarity would not answer specific questions about their members or complaints. They did not answer how many bills were not discounted or have not yet been processed.
Online groups including a Facebook group called “Victims of Solidarity HealthShare” and complaints to the Better Business Bureau show growing frustration. The BBB shows Solidarity has a 1 star rating and 99 complaints were closed in the last 12 months.
“There's no guarantee you can get paid, and there's no way to, you know, appeal a decision or a denial, really,” Volk said, adding that more transparency could provide interested members information they need to make informed decisions.
The burden largely rests on consumers to research the reputation of health sharing ministries.
12News previously reported another health share came under scrutiny in 2022 when it had more than 100 complaints filed against it with the Better Business Bureau.
“Only Colorado requires people to report how many people are enrolled in their health care sharing ministries. We really don't have a national picture on who's in this arena of health care sharing ministries and how many people they count as members,” Volk said.
For Kim in Washington, the lack of transparency left her facing more than $144,000 in medical bills after cancer treatment in 2023. Since then, she has left Solidarity HealthShare, and said the hospital waived her debt as “uncompensated care,” under the hospital’s charitable services.
“I tell people to be very, very careful,” Kim said. “I will never forget not sleeping with a huge bill hanging over my head and not knowing how I was going to get through this.”
“I do believe that there are well intentioned healthcare sharing ministries that are trying to fill a particular need for some people,” Volk said. “But the complete lack of transparency and regulation means that the other types… that may not be well intentioned, can also operate. And I don't see how a consumer would know the difference. If you actually need healthcare, you don’t go to a health sharing ministry.”
Have a tip? For information on this or any other story, contact the 12News I-Team at connect@12news.com
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