After the sharing of two large hospital bills for his sons, Adam Barber, a Medi-Share member from Maine, recently commented, “I am truly grateful to have this exceptional, Biblical alternative to the mainstream insurance market.”
The Barber family joined the Medi-Share community in 2010. Though Adam enjoyed decent coverage with the traditional insurance he had through his employer, he was discouraged that his insurance costs were going up quite a bit. He heard about medical bill sharing via word of mouth and decided to do a little more research.
When he realized that his family could save a significant amount of money with Medi-Share, Adam was quick to opt out of his employer’s insurance provider and sign up for our sharing program. “Thankfully, my family's medical expenses are relatively small,” he says, so medical bill sharing seemed like a great alternative to traditional insurance for them. His employer also offered a stipend for their health care, which made the decision even easier.
He goes on to relate that all four of his sons were born a bit early. The older two were born while the Barbers were under traditional insurance, but the younger two, Noah and Joel, were born after the family joined Medi-Share.
Both Noah and Joel arrived early enough for doctors to be quite concerned. Noah’s birth was rather difficult, which caused issues with his breathing. Two years later, Joel arrived several weeks premature. As a result, both babies needed to stay in the NICU for over a week each.
For both pregnancies, the Barbers understood and were satisfied with the maternity and related bill sharing procedures. But hearing that their children would need additional, unexpected hospital care made them wonder how things would work out.
“It was a little bit of an uncertainty,” Adam says, “knowing the costs that go into something like that. We didn’t have any real reason to doubt, but not having gone through it before, there’s always a question mark.”
However, following both deliveries, the Barbers found there was no need for distress over medical bills. Medi-Share members shared the entire cost of Noah’s and Joel’s NICU stays.
“We were blessed to tears to read the list of members who contributed to a $30,000+ bill, twice over two years,” Adam says. "My wife still has the email that we received from Joel’s bills, saying it was all shared.”
In addition, the Barbers felt at ease with the process, thanks to the help of Medi-Share staff. “With regular insurance, I don’t even remember talking with anyone directly,” Adam says. “But talking to someone [from Medi-Share] who obviously cares about your situation and offers to pray for you feels like you can’t go wrong. To have a staff member pray over me and my family is definitely a unique experience in the realm of customer service.”
Adam adds that the biblical basis of Medi-Share continues to be very important to him and his family. “In not paying extra money to an insurance company, we’re also not paying for expenses we don’t believe in.” He values the fact that Medi-Share doesn’t share in things that he considers to be morally wrong.
We at Medi-Share appreciate the Barber family’s 13-year partnership within our community, and we rejoice over their continued good health!
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