Not everyone necessarily wants to wait until they’re 65 years old to retire. Many Americans have dreams of doing other things with their time in the years leading up to retirement. The thing is, leaving work often means leaving behind the benefits that come with it, including health care coverage.
One of the biggest challenges among those who are planning to retire early is finding affordable health insurance that will fill the void between ending employment and getting covered by Medicare. But health insurance has proven to be far more expensive than many Americans can handle easily.
In 2020, the average monthly cost for a health insurance plan premium was $456 for individuals and $1,152 for families. The average annual deductible for individual coverage is $4,364 and $8,439 for families.
That’s a hefty price to pay. And some plans may be even more expensive than these averages, as individual insurance plan premiums and deductibles vary significantly.
The expense of health insurance has prompted many Americans contemplating early retirement to look outside the box in terms of health care coverage, and health care sharing ministries provide a viable option.
Health Sharing Ministries Offer a More Affordable and Flexible Option For Early Retirees
Health care sharing ministries are ideal for Americans in various categories, including those who wish to retire a few years early. They’re an ideal option to bridge the gap between employment and Medicare, mainly because of the affordability that these programs offer.
While health sharing programs are designed to help members financially when a medical expense arises, they are not health insurance. Health sharing ministries are not bound to ACA mandates, which means they do not have to accept every American. This means that health sharing ministries tend to have a pool of members that are more like-minded and share similar lifestyles. This reduces the level of risk for the membership at large, which means that the health sharing ministry is able to keep costs down.
Because health sharing ministries have more control over financial risks, the cost of membership is typically much more affordable than the cost of an insurance plan, both private and ACA-compliant. In fact, members of health care sharing programs can save as much as 30% to 40% compared to traditional health insurance. Members can choose from several different price tiers to better suit their budget. At USHealthShare, we can help early retirees learn about and find a program that best suits their specific needs and financial profiles. To find out more about how USHealthShare can help you, get in touch with a representative from USHealthShare today and learn how to share the health.
