Coming down to the point that I believe the wife will no longer be able to keep her job.

So now we are in the market for health insurance.

Anyone have Medi-share? Does it work as advertised?

Really looking for catastrophic coverage. Currently have crap insurance through her employer but it’s something. We have an HSA account in conjunction.

Any other private health insurance suggestions?

We had it but it's been a few years since we qualified for Medicare. At the time, they had a $1200 deductible. Until you'd paid that out of pocket, they paid nothing. My wife was on it for about 5 years and during that time she never had any big expenses to find out how well they paid. For the small amounts that they did pay, they were prompt and accurate.

Read the fine print very carefully.

I've heard not many docs will take it. I'm interested, cause I might need some insurance soon.

Ditto to read the fine print and press for answers. Medi-Share has been a great help to two families I know, but the devil is in the details: very difficult for one of the families to get any money from Medi-Share for serious medical expenses.

My personal Medi-Share experience was ten years ago. It looked like the best of its kind and I was on the verge of signing but pressed the gal on the phone about what they would pay. They knew about my past Graves/thyroid disease and my tiny daily dose of thyroid med, and had approved me anyway. I pressed the gal about what counted as prior conditions for which they would not pay. She admitted that they counted any thyroid disease as potentially effecting everything in the body, and that therefore they would not pay for any sickness I got. “So you will take my money but never pay out?” I asked.

She was embarrassed but admitted that’s what they would do. I could pay but never receive.

This is an interesting thread.

Like Rock Chuck, I had medi-share for several years before qualifying for Medicare. Initially dubious of the whole concept ("too good to be true"), my anxieties were ultimately assuaged when I actually used medi-share for several doctor visits. Although none of my doctors had any inkling of what medi-share was (I suspect things may have changed in that regard), I simply paid their bill(s) out of my own pocket and submitted the receipts to medi-share, which promptly reimbursed me. No fuss, no muss. I was actually amazed at how easy the entire process was. Very few of the doctors I went to while on medi-share agreed to bill medi-share directly because they'd either never heard of medi-share or, if they had, were extremely skeptical. Hence, I simply paid them myself and sought reimbursement from medi-share, which was always forthcoming.

Mind you, I'm in good health (until I drop dead, anyway), so my doctor visits while on medi-share were sporadic and for only minor things. Accordingly, I can't speak to how well medi-share works with regard to massive medical expenses, prolonged hospital stays, etc. That said, my medi-share experience was uniformly positive. So positive, in fact, that I've recommended it to others, whose subsequent experiences mirror my own.

With respect to the "fine print," the only restriction I can immediately recall is that I had to be a non-smoker. Since I've never smoked in my life, that was a non-issue. If there were additional restrictions in order to qualify for medi-share, I no longer recall them. Like Raeford said, just read the application, which is straightforward.

Although several medi-share organizations exist, I think they all pretty much work the same way. I think the outfit I used was called "Liberty Healthshare," out of Ohio.

In summary, medi-share worked for me and I'm glad such organizations exist.

I had it for a couple of years before Medicare kicked in. Wife is on it currently. We've not had any major health issues so haven't really put Medi-share to the test. There are several different deductibles available. It is somewhat of a hassle with the doctor's offices, as few of them are familiar and know how to deal with it. We go through the self-pay process which means we get a significant discount on services from the health care providers, which helps defrays our "share cost".

Bendover assurance group, local agent in your area would be Phil Macrakin.

These are Religious Christian based organizations so they are going to expect you not to drink, smoke, chew, or go with those that do, eat reasonably healthy, not screw around and catch crotch crickets or aids, or have babies out of wedlock. They won't pay for transgender surgery, any ills related to sodomy, abortions, etc. Cosmetic surgery is out. Some even loosely require church attendance.

So yeah, read the "fine print" to see if whatever conditions are agreeable to you.

I use Liberty Healthshare but I suppose they are all very similar. I got started with them to get out from under Obamacare which was fixing to break me. I've never needed them and they have saved me a lot of money.