‘It’s about time. For too long, America’s health care has been at the mercy of greedy insurers who rake in money while trying to limit the services they pay for as much as possible,’ said AHCSM Executive Director Katy Talento
WASHINGTON — America’s health insurance industry is under overdue federal scrutiny, thanks to the Trump Administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda.
“It’s about time. For too long, America’s health care has been at the mercy of greedy insurers who rake in money while trying to limit the services they pay for as much as possible,” said Katy Talento, executive director of the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries (AHCSM). “By contrast, Health Care Sharing Ministries look out for their members.”
The Department of Health and Human Services, under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and other federal agencies are reviewing the whole spectrum of America’s health care system, including how health insurance companies operate.
For example, the U.S. Justice Department is investigating UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest insurers, for alleged criminal Medicare Advantage fraud, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“The criminal probe adds to a list of government inquiries into the company, including investigations of potential antitrust violations and a civil investigation of its Medicare billing practices, including at its doctors offices, that The Wall Street Journal first reported in February,” the Journal said.
“The system in America is badly broken. Most advanced countries treat health insurance as a nonprofit. Unlike every other industry that profits when they provide the greatest value to customers, health insurers do best when they provide the least value to their customers,” Talento said.
“Insurers have a perverse, built-in incentive to collect money from insured people and pay out as little as possible. By contrast, Health Care Sharing Ministries (HCSMs) are non-profit charities, focused on meeting the needs of our members.”
A recent article in Health Care uncovered by TR Reid explains the problem.
“In all the other advanced democracies, basic health insurance is not for profit; the insurers are essentially charities. They exist not to pay large sums to executives and investors, but rather to keep the population healthy by assuring that everyone can get medical care when it’s needed,” Reid writes.
“America’s health insurance giants are profit-making businesses. Indeed, in the insurers’ quarterly earnings reports to investors, the standard industry term for any sums spent paying people’s medical bills is ‘medical loss.’ They view paying your doctor bill as a loss that subtracts from the dividends they owe their stockholders.
“U.S. insurance giants have devised ingenious methods for evading payment — schemes like high deductibles, narrow networks of approved doctors, limited lists of permitted drugs, and pre-authorization requirements, so that the insurance adjuster, not your doctor, determines what treatment you get.”
“Health Care Sharing Ministries don’t profit off our members’ medical bills; there are no ingenious methods for members, unlike insurers, to evade payment,” Talento said.
“HCSM members don’t have to deal with the numerous problems facing those with health insurance. HCSMs are geared toward allowing maximum choice in providers and treatments so members can choose what’s best for their families.
“But the success of HCSMs is not just due to their nonprofit designation. Some Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates are supposedly nonprofit. And many ‘nonprofit’ hospitals are actually giant corporate conglomerates engaging in predatory profiteering and financial abuse of patients and their surrounding communities. Being nonprofit needs to be more than just an IRS designation — it needs to reflect a beating heart at the center of the mission.
“Health Care Sharing Ministries allow faith-driven people to come together as a community to share each other’s medical expenses. It’s not only economically sound but spiritually uplifting. In fact, it could even serve as a model for the Make America Healthy Again campaign.”
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries is a 501(c)(6) trade organization representing the common interests of Health Care Sharing Ministries, which are facilitating the sharing of health care needs (financial, emotional and spiritual) by individuals and families, and their participants. The Alliance engages with federal and state regulators, members of the media, and the Christian community to provide accurate and timely information on health care sharing.
To learn more about the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, visit www.ahcsm.org or follow the ministry on Facebook or Twitter.
To interview a representative from The Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096 ext. 105, Dawn Foglein, ext. 100, or Richard Jefferson, rjefferson@hamiltonstrategies.com.