By Wire Reports
About 10,000 families have ended up
with more than $50 million in unpaid medical bills after their health sharing
ministry shut down.
Sharity Ministries, formerly known as
Trinity HealthShare, filed for bankruptcy in late 2021 and began the
liquidation process. With so many outstanding claims against the ministry, it
is unlikely that its members will receive the reimbursements they are owed.
Sharity Ministries operated as a
nonprofit that offered an alternative to traditional health insurance. As a
health care sharing ministry, members pay premiums and voluntarily agree to
share their medical expenses in accordance with their Christian beliefs,
according to the company's previous website.
Fifteen states and the District of
Columbia have taken actions against Sharity.
In October 2019, the New Hampshire
Insurance Department ordered Sharity, along with the Aliera Companies, which
had administered and marketed the health coverage, to stop issuing new plans or
renewing coverage in the state after receiving dozens of complaints.
Meanwhile, in January, California
Attorney General Rob Bonta filed suit against Sharity, alleging that the
ministry illegally denied benefits to its members while pocketing up to 84% of
their payments.
California said Aliera is a
for-profit corporation that collected hundreds of millions of dollars in
premiums from thousands of Californians and others around the U.S. through
unauthorized health plans and insurance sold through Sharity/Trinity.
Instead of paying members' health
care costs, the state alleges the company routinely denied claims and spent
just 16 cents of every dollar in premiums on health care expenses.
Health care sharing ministries arose
after passage of the Affordable Care Act and were promoted as an alternative to
ACA-compliant coverage. Health care sharing ministries were permitted to let
consumers pool their money with others who share their religious beliefs, with
the goal of assisting each other through medical emergencies.
They were exempted from many of the
ACA’s coverage requirements, and some companies began marketing the sharing
plans as a cheaper alternative to ACA-compliant plans.
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