It's no secret
that America's health
insurance system is broken.
If you think about
it too hard, you'll
give yourself a panic attack
that feels like a heart attack,
lined up in the ER with a bill
that gives you a real heart
attack, get a bigger bill,
decide to fake your death,
escape out the window,
accidentally fall
into the hospital brambles,
and get a whole other bill
to pay for new brambles.
Even with insurance, medicine
things sure are expensive.
There's got to be another way!
It's a little known
loophole in the law
that authorized Obamacare.
No health insurance
but you don't
want to pay the IRS penalty for
not buying health insurance?
No problem-- if
you're a Christian,
and you join a health
care sharing ministry.
Every month, people put money
into a communal medical fund
instead of towards
traditional insurance.
We're about 80,000
believers in Christ
spread across the
country that simply
share in each other's
medical bills every month.
OK, but what do you do if one
month god blows all the money
on a wicked new jet ski?
Why walk on water, when
you can shred on it?
In a health care
sharing ministry,
members pay a set
amount every month--
usually far less than regular
insurance, with the expectation
that the ministry will
cover their medical bills
when they need it.
But the problem
is they're totally
unregulated, and under no
legal obligation to pay.
It's really up to the
whims of the person
reviewing your claims.
And you don't know
if you're going
to get a good Christian,
a bad Christian,
or a Sister Christian.
Worthless if you're sick,
but sick as hell at karaoke.
Unfortunately, members are
finding out the hard way
their care isn't covered.
KIRO 7 has since talked with
a half dozen people, who all
thought they were signing up for
health insurance with Aliera,
only to have their
claims denied.
Denied, denied, denied.
10-year-old Lola Gray
Seegers is healthy, just four
months after brain surgery.
Doctors removed a
softball-sized brain tumor.
But last week came the
bill from their health
plan, Aliera companies.
$325,624.
We had a life
threatening emergency.
The Seegers say
Aliera even rejected
Lola Gray's emergency
room bill, saying
headaches aren't an emergency.
Oh, [BLEEP] off.
Calling a brain
tumor a headache?
I'm glad you believe
in hell, because you
are definitely going there.
[APPLAUSE]
Members of health
sharing ministries
often have to sign a
Christian lifestyle agreement.
For example, Altrua
members must agree
to not smoke, do drugs,
get drunk, or have
sex outside of marriage.
Basically, you need to have
a pre-existing condition
called being a nerd.
Though for an extra premium,
they do offer an option
that allows butt stuff.
Since the Affordable
Care Act passed,
Christian health
sharing ministries
have blown up, enrolling an
estimated million plus people.
But many of them
don't realize it's
not actual insurance,
because it's
often marketed like insurance.
They even mimic real plan tiers,
like gold, silver, and bronze,
with names like
diamond, emerald,
and sapphire--
though they really
should be called dog shit.
It's so confusing.
Even health care
ministry employees aren't
clear on what they're selling.
Through a public
disclosure request,
we got a hold of this training
video, where even the speaker
calls their service health
insurance before quickly
correcting himself.
We're finally
applying health insu--
health care in a market--
That was their video!
If someone in a Burger
King training film
dropped all the Whoppers, Burger
King would not leave that in!
We already know we're
eating floor Whoppers.
We don't need them to say it.
Some ministries prey
on members' generosity
by sharing personal stories
from the people who will
receive their contribution.
Who wouldn't rather send their
payment to a real person?
Real insurance companies
should do that.
If Geico sent a bill that
said my payment would pay
for that gecko to
get braces, it would
be a pleasure to pay
that bill and fix
his jacked little teeth.
But it's not entirely clear how
members' money is being used.
In one case, regulators found
that only 20% of contributions
went toward members'
medical bills.
Not only did some
ministries pay commissions
to third party brokers, they
also make some banger ads.
I'm getting jerked
around up here, trying
to sign up for health care.
Have you looked at the
Liberty Health Share?
They have programs
starting at $199.
No, I haven't.
Didn't think so.
Hope you're all right.
No, Chad, he's dead.
The man is dead, and
you're just standing there.
Ministry members get none
of the protections mandated
by the Affordable
Care Act, including
coverage for mental
health, birth control,
or pre-existing conditions.
And their concept of
pre-existing conditions
is pretty extreme.
When one couple adopted
their first child,
they were shocked to discover
that Samaritan, the sharing
ministry they paid
into for years,
would not cover any
condition an adopted child
has prior to being adopted--
making adoption a
pre-existing condition.
Yeah, I think it's
time we started
blaming the kids for taking
so long to be adopted.
Drop those maps, kids.
Go find a home.
All health care ministries
are risky for their members.
But one-- Aliera--
seems to be an actual scam.
A lawsuit filed last month
by the Texas AG on behalf
of the Texas
Department of Insurance
claims Aliera did not
qualify as a health care
sharing ministry in the state.
The lawsuit alleges the company
is operating as an insurance
company without the right to.
What we saw and what
we're aware of at this time,
it's clearly a scam.
Let me repeat that--
Aliera didn't even qualify as
a health care sharing ministry.
Even when they were full of
shit, they were full of shit
about the shit
they were full of.
It's full of shit inception.
We spoke with Sheri Lewis,
a dance teacher in Seattle
who signed up for Aliera after
her previous insurance dropped
her.
When I had signed on, I'd
already had one hip replacement
two years before
from a car accident,
and I was having
problems with my hip.
I was having a lot of pain.
So I went to the surgeon.
They said you
absolutely need surgery.
And we scheduled it.
And then they came back
and said we won't cover
it because it's pre-existing.
The cost to have it out of
pocket in the United States
was going to be like
$80,000 out of pocket.
The only reason someone should
spend $80,000 on hip surgery
is if they're getting a surgical
transplant of Shakira's hips.
Not plastic surgery,
her actual hips.
While some states have
taken action against Aliera
for particularly
deceptive practices,
they can't regulate other
ministries because they're
not real health insurance.
It's both a catch-22, and
also the worst catfish
since that time I thought I
was in an online relationship
with Mark Paul Geissler,
but it turned out
I was chatting with
Dustin Diamond,
and it was after he
stabbed that guy.
The philosophy behind
health sharing ministries
is a nice one.
We should all want
to share resources
and help carry each
other's burdens.
It's certainly the
Christian thing to do.
And also, for the record, the
democratic socialist thing to
do.
If Jesus were around
today, he'd probably
be a hot boy for Bernie.
[CHEERING]
Health care ministries take
advantage of the people
who are desperate for help.
They're a scammy offshoot
of a larger problem.
Everyone deserves
access to health care,
regardless of income.
It's what this hot
boy would have wanted.
