HCSM Myth #5: Members shift costs

From the beginning of health care sharing ministries, objections to the system have been raised that do not accurately reflect reality. To help clear up these misunderstandings, we’re running a series of posts that dispel those myths.

Myth #5: Members of health care sharing ministries contribute to the rising cost of health care through cost shifting.

HCSM members share more than $100 million per year in health care costs among more than 120,000 individuals in all 50 states. While studies show that uninsured people are on average charged nearly three times what insurance companies pay for the same services, HCSM members’ bills are paid in a timely manner with shares that are lower than typical insurance premiums. Samaritan members help meet the health care needs of those financially less well off, as their members’ median income is significantly below that of the U.S. population, and do so without depending on funding or grants from government sources.

In addition, there are these facts from John Graham, director of health care studies at the Pacific Research Institute, cited by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (“Uninsured Subsidizing the Insured,” News of the Day, March 18, 2007):

• The uninsured consume far less care. In 2000, just half of the uninsured population had any medical expenses at all, while 80 percent of the insured incurred some medical costs.
• Most visitors to the emergency room are insured. Only 80,000 of the 1.9 million California children who visited ERs in 2003 lacked insurance.
• The uninsured pay about $60 billion in additional income taxes by forgoing the tax breaks for health insurance. This swamps the $29 billion in uncompensated services that the uninsured are said to consume.
• Insured persons used about twice as much medical services as uninsured persons. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), an obstetrician, estimates that one third of medical care is wasted because few have incentives to use it wisely.
• The concentration of health expenses is comparable in insured and uninsured: Just 5 percent of each group incurs half of the group’s expenses.
• A study showed a 10 percent decrease in first-time emergency room visits and a 25 percent decrease in repeat visits in patients with high-deductible health insurance plans. Hospitalizations also were less frequent and shorter for such patients (Medical News Today, March 14, 2007).