Liberty HealthShare Ministry Grows Membership, Expands Plan Options
Healthcare sharing ministry touts 80% member satisfaction, plus ‘rigorous quality control and audit processes.’
An estimated 1.5 million Americans choose to enroll in health sharing ministries for their healthcare coverage. Members join the ministry along with like-minded religious individuals, and agree to share certain medical expenses.
Photo via Facebook @Liberty HealthShare HCSM
For more than 30 years, Liberty HealthShare has been providing this option to American families and individuals. It began with five families in 1995 as the Gospel Light Mennonite Church Medical Aid Plan.
After the Affordable Care Plan Act (ACA) passed in 2010, it expanded to serve more American families. So in 2014, the government recognized it as an eligible healthcare sharing ministry — allowing its members to be exempt from ACA mandates — and changed its name to Liberty HealthShare.
Many original members remain in the program, a testament to the ministry’s appeal and member trust, it says.
Since 2014, Liberty HealthShare has facilitated the sharing of nearly $5 billion in eligible, repriced medical expenses for its members, its spokesperson Keith Price told MinistryWatch.
Liberty offers a variety of programs to meet the needs of American families. Recently, it added programs designed for young people and senior citizens on Medicare, Price said. It also added dental and vision options for its members.
Healthcare sharing ministries have come under some scrutiny and Liberty has not been exempt. In 2023, ProPublica published a lengthy article claiming Liberty left its members’ claims unpaid while one of the men who helped build it benefitted to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
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“We believe that the articles were highly inaccurate and biased regarding Liberty HealthShare,” Price said, adding that he can confirm “that none of the people highlighted in the stories currently have any role with Liberty HealthShare. And, we are no longer doing business with any of the vendors mentioned in those articles.”
While he said that no specific changes were made in response to the article, Price said Liberty HealthShare began making operational changes two years before the article’s publication.
Dorsey Morrow joined the ministry in 2021 as CEO, assessed the situation, and began mapping options for improvement, Price noted. This included making changes to the leadership team, adjusting monthly share amounts, developing new sharing programs, improving communication with members, enhancing the workplace culture, implementing quality control and auditing practices, changing vendors and bringing key activities in-house, and focusing on addressing member medical bills that had not yet been shared.
He added that Liberty has “rigorous quality control and audit processes along with enhanced communication programs, comprehensive project management and streamlined administrative processes.”
“We have been very open and transparent with members about the sharing of their medical bills,” Price said. “Today, eligible medical expenses are shared in an average of 30-45 days, which is among the best for healthsharing ministries.”
He said the ministry also publicly posts its IRS Form 990 and annual audits, along with statistics about the various share programs it offers.
Before members join, they can see the ministry’s sharing guidelines on its website, which Price said “clearly spell out what medical expenses are eligible for sharing and what ones are not.”
Nearly 80% of its members said in a recent survey that they “are very satisfied or satisfied with their Liberty HealthShare membership,” Price said.
Recently, Liberty HealthShare added two new members to its board of directors: Patrick Gregory and Lovel Mejia. Gregory brings marketing experience with a Christian university that the ministry says will be valuable, and Mejia has experience in education and ministry and a connection to the younger generation.
More important than their experience and qualifications was that the candidates “clearly exhibited a strong obedience to Christ and a passion to serve others,” Price said.
The two additions increase the board size from five to seven members, which is allowed by the ministry’s bylaws.
“We want to ensure we have a strong board with experience in multiple areas and the ability to weather any board member departures or unavailabilities,” Price said. “We consider this prudent planning.”
Liberty has not joined the Healthcare Sharing Accreditation Board, “an independent organization dedicated to establishing and maintaining standards for healthcare sharing ministries.”
Price said Liberty is a strong supporter of accreditation, but has not yet pursued it due to both cost and value to the ministry. Liberty is considering the various accreditation options that exist.
Liberty’s revenue grew dramatically from about $56 million in 2020 to about $373 million in 2021. Price said the revenue increase was directly attributable to an accounting change.
Since then, the ministry’s revenue has been tapering off with about $163 million in revenue in 2024. According to Price, that is a result of ACA premium tax credits put in place in 2021.
Price acknowledged that Liberty has seen some membership declines, but said it saw 14 straight months of enrollment growth and expects further growth in 2026.
In the MinistryWatch database, Liberty HealthShare has a 5-star efficiency rating, a C Transparency Grade, and a Donor Confidence Score of 78 out of 100, meaning donors can give with confidence. It is one of the most highly rated healthcare sharing ministries in the database.
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