This article contains a referral link. You will not be charged any additional cost for using our referral link, in fact you will receive a 3-month discount! Read our disclaimer for more information.
Are you looking for a health insurance alternative that will save you money and improve your health?
You’re in luck! (Yes, this actually exists.)
We are excited to introduce you to CrowdHealth!
About CrowdHealth
CrowdHealth is a crowd sharing program and an alternative to traditional health insurance. Their goal as a company is to transform the healthcare industry. They are accomplishing this by:
- offering an affordable alternative to health insurance
- expertly negotiating medical bills to help keep members out of debt
- providing a community for people focused on their health
Andy, the founder of CrowdHealth, experienced the flaws of traditional health insurance firsthand when a procedure for his daughter, what should have been a qualifying health event, was not covered by his health insurance. This left him with an $8,000 bill and the drive to create CrowdHealth.
From the Founder:
“Traditional health insurance is often impersonal and unreliable, with twisted incentives. At CrowdHealth, we’re changing the narrative. We treat our members like family, assisting them on their health journey, and managing their bills at an affordable cost. We’re creating a system where the focus is on keeping our members healthy, rather than profiting from their illnesses. Our goal is to redefine the meaning of ‘healthcare’ in our society.
The sad truth is, each year, 250,000 people with insurance declare bankruptcy due to medical bills. It’s a clear sign that the existing system isn’t working and serves to benefit the pockets of the medical industrial complex. Frustrated with the lack of justifiable reasons, I’ve stopped seeking answers and decided to build a better solution. And that’s what CrowdHealth is all about.”
What lead us to join CrowdHealth
Experiencing our own frustrations with health insurance, we were more than thrilled when we learned about CrowdHealth. Learning why Andy created this healthcare alternative was so relatable. Their mission as a whole resonates with our own values and understanding of the current medical system.
As entrepreneurs, we have often found ourselves without health insurance, but the real awakening was when we did have traditional coverage through an employer plan.
After a year of paying thousands of dollars to a health insurance company, we looked back to realize that we could have paid less money having no insurance and paying out of pocket for our medical needs. We had real medical expenses during that year, that simply were not covered by our insurance.
The kicker is that most doctors and hospitals charge different fees based on whether you have insurance or not. How insane is that?!
Imagine you went to a grocery store and they asked whether you had food stamps (government assisted food program) or were paying as a “cash basis” customer. If you paid with food stamps, that milk and eggs will cost you $20, but for the cash basis customer it only costs $10. It would be utterly ridiculous, and yet this is exactly what our current medical system is doing.
All people want is transparent, fair pricing. CrowdHealth is providing an alternative within our medical system that could force a real change in the right direction.
Our “healthcare” system should truly be called “deathcare”, because of the focus they put on reactive medical care (diagnosing and treating illness with expensive surgery and addictive pharmaceutical drugs, sometimes unnecessary). It is a cash-cow, run by greed. Instead of prioritizing the health of their patients as a whole (which is what holistic doctors are doing), they treat individual issues without considering the impact their treatment will have on the rest of the body.
As overall healthy people, who actively maintain a healthy lifestyle, CrowdHealth has been truly a Godsend. Not only do they focus on promoting health proactively, but they treat their members as family instead of profits.
Our Experience Using CrowdHealth
Our personal experience using CrowdHealth thus far has been really amazing. When an issue arises, we have access to a designated “Care Advocate” via text, phone call, or email (your preference). Since we have been using them, we have had a few different care advocates, and every one has been very helpful.
As one example, early on, we had an issue with how quickly they reimbursed a medical bill and the processing time as whole. Initially, they sent a check in the mail, after a long process of approving the bill. It was very frustrating! Then, they listened to my complaint (and likely others complaining in the crowd) and improved their process. Now you receive a reimbursement via direct deposit into your bank account about 2 days after the bill is approved. Plus, bills are approved within about a week.
This experience made us feel valued and listened to. They are constantly making improvements like this and asking for feedback. Not many companies, in our experience, care enough to actually make business changes/improvements based on customer feedback.
We’ve also been surprised with birthday gifts and random gifts sent directly to our house. They’ve made changes/exceptions to their rules for funding based on our unique circumstance. Ultimately, they really care about the member experience and making improvements to offer a better product that benefits the crowd as a whole.
Best of CrowdHealth
One thing that makes this the best crowd sharing plan is the people that make up the crowd. People are generous, health-conscious, and accountable. You can rely on your bills being funded by the crowd and reimbursed, because you also help fund the other members bills. It is a reliable system built on trust and mutual respect for one another.
When you choose not to fund another member’s medical bill, the crowd can see that when you make a request for a bill to be funded. Luckily, no one in the crowd has ever selected that option, which confirms the generosity and accountability of the people in the crowd.
Here are a few other great aspects of CrowdHealth:
- You have the freedom to choose any doctor or hospital without penalty. There is no “in network” vs. “out of network” care, like with traditional health insurance. This means that you can select the most affordable doctor who values health above profits, such as a holistic doctor or naturopath.
- Clear, up-front pricing model – There is a calculator on their homepage that will tell you what your maximum monthly cost will be. (That’s right, most months you will pay less than the maximum, regularly saving you money!)
- The crowd is made up of generally healthy people, which keeps costs low for the entire crowd. When there are fewer medical bills submitted in a month, the members of the crowd receive the benefit directly.
- Here’s how it works – you pay a set “advocacy fee” each month of $55 per member in your family, plus a maximum “crowdfunding ask” each month based on member bills submitted. We have only paid the maximum ask one or two months since joining in 2022.
- Additionally, you will be required to fund the first $500 of any health event, with the exception of their annual wellness event and pregnancies (see below).
- You receive up to $300 toward a “wellness event” each year, which is exempt from the $500 member commitment. (What a great way to promote proactive healthcare.) Options for this “annual wellness event” include –
- primary care wellness exam/physical, including naturopathy;
- pediatric well-child visits;
- direct primary care (DPC) membership fee;
- annual female gynecological exam and labs;
- dental exam, including cleaning and X-rays; or
- vision exam.
- Pregnancies are fully covered, with a member commitment of only $3,000 for the entire pregnancy (this includes all prenatal, labor/delivery, and postpartum care).
- This is a common medical debt creator for most people using traditional health insurance.
- The team at CrowdHealth are experts at negotiating lower bills with hospitals and doctors, saving the crowd thousands of dollars.They truly have an amazing team of employees working on behalf of the crowd.
- In case you were curious about what the “advocacy fee” is covering, this is a huge value to the crowd and one piece that monthly fee is helping pay for.
There are so many other great benefits of joining CrowdHealth, but you’ll just have to sign up and experience them for yourself. 😉
Improvements still to be made
Nothing is perfect. There are definitely flaws within CrowdHealth and here are a few:
- The Crowd is not currently open to tobacco users (defined as daily use for a period of 3 or more months, past or present) or those who weigh over 220/260 pounds (female/male).
- A message directly from CrowdHealth: “We want the Crowd to be a place for anyone looking to improve their health and contribute generously through crowdfunding, so we hope to add options for more people with varied health histories soon.”
- It’s worth noting that this really is an honesty policy. This requirement does make sense since the crowd is supposed to be a place for healthy folks to keep the costs down each month, saving members money.
- A message directly from CrowdHealth: “We want the Crowd to be a place for anyone looking to improve their health and contribute generously through crowdfunding, so we hope to add options for more people with varied health histories soon.”
- It does not satisfy any federal or state individual Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
- If you live in California, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, or Vermont, this could be a deterrent for you.
- Maybe it’s a sign for you to move out of that communist state.
- If you live in California, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, or Vermont, this could be a deterrent for you.
- There are several generally excluded or restricted procedures and treatments, including –
- Therapies and chiropractic care
- “Physical therapy and occupational therapy (if not ordered by a doctor as part of a valid health event), speech therapy, maintenance chiropractic care.”
- “Chiropractic care when being used to treat musculoskeletal injuries is eligible. Care from a chiropractor for medical issues outside of musculoskeletal injuries requires a Second Opinion Clinical Review to determine eligibility.”
- Cosmetic procedures
- Mental health
- Personally assumed risk
- Prescriptions
- Reproductive health
- Vision and dental (except as a qualifying annual wellness event, mentioned above)
- Durable medical equipment
- Other
- “Custodial (nurse or similar) care when not treating illness or injury, euthanasia, food or infant formula, healthcare charges incurred before you were a Member, international air ambulances/medical evacuations, late fees or billing irregularities due to patient negligence, over the counter medicines and personal comfort devices, subacute care or skilled nursing care, long term or hospice care beyond 30 days, exercise programs, colonics, massage therapy, medical marijuana/CBD, elective genetic screenings and testing, supplements, and any other non-medically necessary service or treatment or complications from ineligible treatments.”
- Therapies and chiropractic care
- There are limitations on funding health events related to conditions that have been Previously Documented, Diagnosed, or Symptomatic.
- This should be understandable.
To learn more about these hurdles of CrowdHealth, read their member guide. No system is perfect, but we believe it is 100% better than any mainstream service!
Although there are these few flaws, the team at CrowdHealth is continuously looking for ways to improve their service offerings. They may not have quick solutions for every problem, but you will feel heard and, in time, you might just receive the answer you were hoping for (or an even better answer you never expected). At least that has been our experience!
Ready to sign up?
Tired of the traditional healthcare system (expensive insurance that doesn’t cover much and limits your healthcare options)? Self-employed and looking for an affordable alternative? CrowdHealth is the BEST health insurance alternative out there! Hopefully, you agree after learning everything above.
We have been continuously and pleasantly surprised by the quality of both their customer service and the improvements made as the crowd has grown. We were early adopters and are witnesses of said improvements.
As previously mentioned, they have a great calculator tool on their homepage that shows you exactly what it would cost (the maximum). For reference, our family of 3 currently pays a maximum of $592 per month, but we rarely have to pay that full amount. Monthly costs are based on the expenses and need of the crowd, so when there are less expenses, the crowd benefits directly.
Schedule a call with a CrowdHealth specialist or review their website to learn more.
Please note that the links included are referral links, which awards you the following discount:
For the first 3 months of membership, you’ll pay the $55 monthly advocacy fee per member, but your maximum crowdfunding request will be reduced to $44. Essentially, you’ll only pay $99 (for one member) for the first 3 months.
For another way to receive this discount, here is our referral code: M2FTAM.
If you are unable to participate in this specific program, we recommend searching for other crowdfunding options with less barriers of entry.
Or, ditch your current money drain (health insurance), and instead put that money in a bank account that accrues monthly earnings (interest) to use when you have to. It’s basically a personal HSA with no restrictions. [This may not be a viable option for everybody, so proceed with caution. We are not doctors or financial advisors, so this is purely meant as informational and a suggestion, not advice.]
Don’t forget to account for all the headaches your current plan and providers cause you. What is that time worth to you?
Don’t hesitate. Change your life today.
We hope this message brings you peace of mind as you transform your health and get on the right track.
Stay blessed,
Be Slightly Better Team