Healthcare Cost Sharing Option

[Gumption]

I've been with Anthem. for 2018, they are jacking up premium to $1500/mo. Ugh.
My insurance agent mentioned Aliera Healthcare who's premium would be $700/mo for the family.

The general coverage seems better. National network. We would be able to see all our same docs.

 Because its outside of the ACA, they don't have the requirement to have no ceiling on max coverage. Aliera caps theirs at $1M. Also, Aliera utilizes a "telemedicine" model, which, as far as I can tell, is an attempt to get you not to go into a doctor if you don't need to. You call their 24/7 support and they might try and deal with your illness over the phone, but if that doesn't work, you can go see your doc. That part seems a bit sketchy, but in some ways, could be efficient.

Any thoughts? It would save me over $8k year and I would still be getting the same coverage. If we got into really bad straits healthwise where we would be going over the $1M cost, then I could switch over the Anthem when the next open enrollment comes up.

Part of me says that it doesn't quite feel right. Part of me says $8,000/year is a lot of moolah.

Oh, also you have to state that you believe in "a God" before you sign up. Weird.

[Altons Bobs]

Did your agent fail to mention to you you're not buying "coverage"? There is no coverage with health share because it's not insurance. They only promise to take your donation, but they do not promise to pay, there is no coverage. They do want you to call the concierge service first otherwise if you just walk into a doctor's office, they pay $0. You are not buying coverage, you are buying into a health share with your monthly donation. You open yourself to unlimited liability if they don't pay any at all since they don't have an obligation to pay for anything.

[Gumption]

Appreciate the feedback. Yes, he did mention that they cannot say they are "Health Insurance," nor can they use terms like "deductibles. etc." It's probably not going to be something I trust with my family, but it seems like a popular product.