At a time when healthcare costs continue to rise across the country, Liberty HealthShare is enhancing its sharing programs for its members for the third consecutive year.
Effective with medical services received on or after Jan. 1, 2027, Liberty HealthShare will reduce the Co-Share amounts for its Liberty Connect medical cost-sharing program from 10% to 5% and from 20% to 10% for Liberty Essential.
The changes cut the Co-Share in half for members of both programs and could reduce members’ unshared amounts by thousands – and potentially tens of thousands – of dollars when they have eligible medical expenses resulting from significant healthcare needs.
“Healthcare affordability is about more than what someone pays each month,” said Liberty HealthShare Chief Executive Officer Dorsey Morrow. “Families also need to know they can afford healthcare when they actually need it. By cutting these Co-Shares in half, we’re providing the opportunity for additional sharing for our members’ medical bills.”
The reductions continue Liberty HealthShare’s commitment to lowering costs for its members. In recent years, the ministry has reduced Monthly Share Amounts, lowered Co-Shares for Liberty Connect and Liberty Essential, and reduced the Annual Unshared Amount for Liberty Assist to $0.
The changes come amid rising healthcare costs nationwide. Employers are projecting an 8.2% increase in healthcare costs for 2027, the largest increase in more than two decades, while insurers participating in Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces have proposed premium increases averaging 15% nationally.
Those pressures can affect consumers in two ways: through higher monthly costs and through increased out-of-pocket expenses they may face when needing healthcare services.
“We’ve heard the frustration of people who say they can manage their monthly healthcare costs but worry about what will happen if they face a major medical need,” Morrow said. “Our goal is to make healthcare costs more affordable and more predictable for our members.”
The impact of the lower Co-Shares can be substantial for members navigating major medical expenses. For example, a Liberty Essential member having a 20% Co-Share and $100,000 in eligible expenses, after meeting the applicable Annual Unshared Amount (AUA), would have to pay $20,000 after receiving member sharing toward medical bills. With the new 10% Co-Share, that amount would be reduced to $10,000 given available SharePower. Similarly, for Liberty Connect members, reducing the Co-Share from 10% to 5% would mean a difference of receiving $5,000 of potential additional member sharing on $100,000 of eligible medical expenses.*
Liberty HealthShare’s ability to make the changes reflects both its continued effective management of healthcare costs and the responsible stewardship of its member community.
“Every member has a role in healthcare sharing,” Morrow said. “When our members make wise healthcare decisions and we successfully manage and negotiate medical costs, our entire sharing community benefits. For the third year in a row, we’re able to turn that stewardship into lower costs for our members, even as healthcare costs continue to rise across the country.”
* Examples are illustrative and assume expenses are eligible for sharing and subject to the applicable Co-Share under Liberty HealthShare’s Sharing Guidelines. Actual amounts members must pay without the opportunity for member sharing depends on program guidelines and the circumstances of an individual medical need.