McPherson (Kan.) Hospital will no longer accept health-sharing plans, the McPherson Sentinel reported Nov. 3.
Health-sharing plans, also referred to as health sharing ministries, are cooperatives in which members pay monthly fees that go into a financing pool that is used to pay healthcare costs for those in the plan. A health-sharing plan is not the same as health insurance, and its billing rules are different.
The Kansas hospital said it would no longer file documentation or claims for individuals with health-sharing plans. Instead, patients with these plans will be considered uninsured and will be expected to pay at the time services are provided.
A hospital spokesperson told the McPherson Sentinel that affected patients can still file their own documentation with their health-sharing plan for reimbursement. Cash discounts are also available for many of the services rendered by the hospital.
McPherson said the decision not to accept and bill the health-sharing plans is based on the variety of options and "the fluid nature of these types of programs that create challenges in processing and documentation-tracking."
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