Our healthsharing members are committed to stewarding not only their health, but also the health of their sharing community. Members do this through voluntary giving, committed participation in the healthsharing process, and active management of their shared resources.
As a member of the Liberty HealthShare community, it’s essential that you take the proper actions before receiving care. Communicating with your provider, having your provider submit bills to Liberty HealthShare electronically, and researching providers who utilize fair and reasonable pricing can reduce the possibility of your provider balance billing you.
However, if you receive a balance bill from your provider, you need to know what a balance bill is and how to handle it.
Balance bills are medical charges that exceed a fair and reasonable amount for a medical service. Healthsharing members agree to share discounted, fairly-priced medical expenses. After an eligible medical expense has been submitted to your sharing community, it is either applied to your Annual Unshared Amount (AUA) or it is shared by other members. After receiving payment some providers send a request for the remaining balance of the expense.
Be sure to follow these steps when you have a medical need:
• Research medical services and compare costs using HST Connect.
• Discuss healthsharing with your provider.
• Request that your provider send electronic bills to Liberty HealthShare directly.
How will you know if you have been balanced billed?
If you have been balanced billed by a provider or hospital, you will receive a bill requesting an additional amount for a medical expense after the fair and reasonable portion of an eligible expense was previously shared by members.
While balance bills are not eligible for sharing, Liberty HealthShare, through our partnership with HST Connect, provides access to the Patient Advocacy Center, or PAC, to assist members with balance bills. The PAC's goal is to arrive at reasonable pricing that is affordable for the member and the provider.
Upon receipt of a balance bill, Liberty HealthShare members should not pay the balance bill right away, but should upload the balance bill to the PAC through HST Connect.
Once received, the PAC will negotiate the bill on behalf of the member. It is important to note that if a member has already paid a balance bill, the PAC is unable to provide assistance to that member.
While balance bills with a service date prior to May 1, 2022 remain eligible for sharing, Liberty HealthShare members can still contact the PAC for these bills as well if they have not been paid.
It is every member’s responsibility to seek fair prices for medical services, as it is essential to remember that we are a community-focused, healthsharing ministry.