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Because Liberty has no provider networks and does not guarantee payment to a particular provider, region isn't as an issue as with other insurers. If you've read this thread, you should know Liberty will negotiate with the provider. Some will accept their payment as full reimbursement, others won't.
Given the current ridiculous premiums and unaffordable deductibles, if I was under 65 I'd choose Liberty or a similar plan through a Health Ministry and take my chances. Premiums are very low and deductibles not a serious issue.
Do any of you mind telling me the cost you pay for Liberty, and what City you are from?
My wife and I (ages 64 & 60) have been members for four years. We initially paid $299 a month with a $1000 deductible. Last year the rate increased to $399 a month with a $1750 deductible. Still a bargain compared to unsubsidized ACA plans.
That said I admit we are a bit concerned about some of the recent complaints regarding delayed payments. Last year I had an incident while traveling and the bills were over $8000. Liberty did eventually negotiate and pay all except the deductible, but some bills took over 90 days to settle. One doctor refused to negotiate his ridiculous billing (equivalent to $5K/ hour) and balance billed me for the difference. That went round and round and Liberty finally paid the SOB, but he was black listed (he probably doesn’t care).
Still a no-brainer, imo. For profit insurers are 4-5x as expensive, much higher deductibles, and hardly hassle-free. Plus, their networks. 90 days for a doc to wait for payment isn't a biggee. I had a Medicare Advantage plan that didn't pay doc for a year. At least Liberty is persistent in working "for" you. Not true of other insurers whom you have to fight to get to pay. Our health insurance system is upside down.
Still a no-brainer, imo. For profit insurers are 4-5x as expensive, much higher deductibles, and hardly hassle-free. Plus, their networks. 90 days for a doc to wait for payment isn't a biggee. I had a Medicare Advantage plan that didn't pay doc for a year. At least Liberty is persistent in working "for" you. Not true of other insurers whom you have to fight to get to pay. Our health insurance system is upside down.
Yes, this is what got to me the most and ultimately what made me decide to sign up for LHS. The whole insurance system is a conflict of interest, as far as I'm concerned. They sell themselves as working for you, but must work against you in order to maximize their bottom line and satisfy their investors.
With Liberty, their overhead is paid from 10% of the shares income. The remaining 90% goes to paying members' bills. No profits to maximize or investors to satisfy by trying to deny members their benefits — just redistributing money from a pool of members to pay health professionals for their services at their self-pay rates.
Update: Despite earlier good comments on Liberty, it appears, based on countless complaints in December alone, that Liberty is no longer reliable. They blame their issues on too fast growth and change in software, but one comment on the BBB site states a company rep said claim would be paid when "they have the money" - i.e., this means cash flow problem. When I hear "cash flow problem," I think bankruptcy. For now, until we hear things have turned around, remove Liberty as a possible option to traditional health insurance.
It would appear because Liberty functioned so well for a few years, far too many have enrolled in the past two years and premiums have not been sufficient to meet claims. For at least the past six months, if not longer, they are processing virtually nothing and lying to claimants.
I have received two emails from Liberty in the past couple of weeks. It seems they have brought in some new people to address the issues they are having.
The sudden departure of CEO Larry Foster last October after barely a year on the job was indeed a bad sign, and I hope they can get things straightened out. My last share request/reimbursement was back in April 2018 and it took about 90 days to process. Oddly enough, they actually reimbursed me twice for the same bill and when I called about the extra check the phone rep told me to cash it! I had to argue with them to admit they had made a mistake.
When we started with Liberty they were sharing $1.4M per month, and the number today is over $30M. That kind of rapid growth is tough to manage and their bet on a technology solution did not pay off.
It’s a NYT article...with all the appropriate baggage. Factually correct but slanted, almost as though it was edited by insurance company lobbyists. Over the past 45 years I’ve had both traditional health insurance (personal and employer) and coverage through a health sharing ministry (Liberty). Under these various companies, bills being paid was never a certainty, and I’ve had situations where I found myself in the middle of a billing dispute. I’m under no illusion that the coverage offered by Liberty is “insurance” and has no limits.
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