Seems like the hot topic of the week is the impending loss / replacement of the ACA. It is understandably a fear for those already enjoying FIRE or were anticipating FIRE with help from the ACA. Out of curiousity, I started researching what the requirements were for a health care sharing ministry and I found it a rather interesting thought experiment to wonder if a group like those who post here and/or subscribe to the MMM "way of living" could pull off a small cost sharing ministry.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_sharing_ministryWe could be a group that "shares common ethical beliefs" as desribed in the link above. I am rather new to this forum, so I'm sure some of the veterans could come up with a better ethical code of members but it could be things such as living a healthy lifestyle, excercising requirements, drug/alcohol/tobacco limitations, environmental care / concern, etc. Being a group who is generally concerned about each other, I am sure there would be many supplemental donations made throughout the year for those who have had major medical issues which is often what makes a cost sharing ministry successful.
I would like this thread to be a "think tank" for this concept. At what size of a group does this make sense? What would be the hurdles? Do we actually share a common ethical belief? Are we a healthy enough of a group to make this feasible? Would it take a huge up front investment? Would we have to turn away some due to pre existing conditions?