Solidarity President and Co-Founder Chris Faddis joins The BS Show to discuss a new trend in Americans seeking healthcare abroad as well as what the future of healthcare may look like in regard to healthshare organizations.

Bob Sansevere (00:00):

We are joined by Christopher Faddis, Co-Founder and President of the nonprofit Healthcare Sharing Ministry Solidarity HealthShare, which is an ethical, affordable alternative to traditional health insurance and is faithful to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church. Chris, a Washington Post came out with a story about people who have left the United States well to find healthcare elsewhere. They’ve gone to different countries and first of all, a couple of things they should have done. They should have looked at Solidarity HealthShare at solidarityhealthshare.org because they’d still be here in America. I have a hard time believing that people are leaving just over healthcare. That one really baffles me, and I know medical debt is the reason they’re giving and the lack of coverage, but to me, insanity is too strong a word, but people leave for political reasons to leave over medical debt. Again, there’s alternatives, and I wasn’t being facetious. Solidarity is an alternative for these people and apparently they didn’t look at every option before they probably wanted to leave anyway.

Chris Faddis (01:03):

Well, I think there’s definitely an element of folks in our country who want to just be taken care of. They don’t want to have to worry about paying for college. They don’t have to worry about paying for medical expenses, all those kinds of things. And that’s a reality I think for some that I know. I mean, I certainly know some expats who have left for different reasons, most of ’em honestly, because they want to live in the old world, not for this reason, but I think a lot of times you hear people say, well, yeah, it’s at least here. I won’t have to pay for it. But the reality is that we have a pretty large network of Europeans that we work with, and most of them, I think all of the ones I know actually hold some sort of private insurance because the socialized healthcare in their country is not enough.

Chris Faddis (01:46):

It’s not adequate. Either they can’t get appointments or it’s difficult to get in for surgery or they’re not really that satisfied by the doctors in the public system. And so most of those countries have some sort of private option with these private clinics and things, and they pay for some sort of extra coverage or they just pay out of pocket. So it is an interesting thing. I think maybe people going that route might have their goggles are colored a different color as they’re looking overseas. We have people in Europe asking us all the time, can you please give us an option like yours? Because they need something that’s more efficient and effective than what they have. And to your point, I mean, I think the reality is that there are options, right? Healthcare sharing has proven itself as a great option and it gives you more control over your healthcare. You can choose your surgeons and your doctors. You don’t have to wait for the public benefits to kick in and you get to share what you believe in. You get to share your medical needs with other folks, and I think it’s such a beautiful option that people are missing out on.

Bob Sansevere (02:51):

Well, and the other thing, I mean, I’ve heard stories we all have about Canada. Oh, you need an MRI, we’ll see you a year, 11 months from now. No, we can squeeze you in. I mean, it’s ridiculous the time. I’ll tell you what these people should do, and I am being somewhat facetious now. They went to these other countries, denounce your American citizenship, then come back and it’s an illegal and you get it all for free.

Chris Faddis (03:13):

Right, and to be fair, the one thing I think is helpful that I’ve heard, and I’ve heard this story multiple times for an emergency, depending where you are, as long as it’s good medicine, good hospital, but for an emergency, people that are over there, it’s hit or miss sometimes. I’ve heard people had to pay, sometimes I’ve heard they didn’t have to pay depending on what country and generally speaking, they can help you with an emergency. The problem is all the follow up care.

Chris Faddis (03:40):

So, who’s going to be the cardiologist that’s going to help you after your heart attack and those kinds of things. So, that’s the issue is that shortage of doctors is not just an American problem, and when you have a government system owning all the doctors, that makes it even worse. So there’s a lot of reasons why folks should reconsider this. One thing I will tell you, Bob, is when you are an American citizen over and you’re a member of Solidarity Health Share and you’re overseas, we will share into those medical expenses that you bring back with you. It’s a little bit of a different process, obviously, so you’ve got to translate the bill and the currency and all of that, but we will reimburse you for medical expenses while you’re overseas, which is something I know a lot of our members appreciate.

Bob Sansevere (04:22):

Well, now I want to basically take that into this next conversation about health insurance. Prices expected to rise next year, and that’s what the brokers and experts are saying, and the Associated Press had a story about that. Now, Solidarity, you’ve been able to keep your pricing reasonable, very reasonable compared to what health insurance is. And have you noticed an uptick? I mean, each year you’re certainly getting more people, but as people hear about insurance prices going up, are you getting a lot more people coming or has it been a steady switch or changeover of people coming? Some people are just, they’re afraid of change. I mean, I did it because I didn’t have, I basically stopped working and Solidarity was a great alternative for my family. Are you finding people are, they’re maybe hesitant to pull the trigger, not what they’re used to?

Chris Faddis (05:15):

Well, yeah, it’s definitely been a slower uptick over the last couple of years, but a lot of that has to do with these expanded subsidies that a lot of folks who could regularly afford insurance were getting subsidies through the COVID Act and

Chris Faddis (05:29):

The COVID bills, and so that’s part of what has kept people off the market. Yeah, if they were trying to buy a normal plan, it would be expensive, but if the government’s saying, well, it’s only going to cost $40, we’re going to cover that cost, then a lot of people are like, well, shoot, I am going to take that. The problem is that costs us over 6 million a year for those subsidies to be expanded, and those are expiring this year. So we’re actually a massive uptick right now in people looking back at the market to say, what’s out there? In fact, our leads, just the metrics of how many people are reaching out to us, it quadrupled in the last week. I think that’s a result of what’s happening in the market and people realizing, yeah, the reality is a lot of these insurance plans, even outside of the Affordable Care Act, are continuing to rise in price.

Chris Faddis (06:21):

Some of that due to hospital continued inflation and overcharging some of that due to other factors, but those prices outside of the subsidy, those prices are going up, and yet we’ve actually been able to maintain our price for the last couple of years. We have very small renewal increases starting that have happened over time, but very minimal changes. And actually, Bob, we’re about to launch two new value priced programs for folks who need even lower costs because we see there are ways for us to manage that cost in a way that gives people good access to care.

Bob Sansevere (06:56):

Well, and all you have to do is just pick up the phone or go to solidarityhealthshare.org and the information’s there, and the good thing I like from the very beginning, you don’t get a labyrinth of different, well, you got to go hit two for this, hit three for that. You get to a person pretty quick, and

Chris Faddis (07:12):

Yeah, you do 80% of calls or answer within 20 seconds or less. That’s pretty good numbers.

Bob Sansevere (07:18):

Yeah. I have a friend who’s got a business and he was all excited. They have ai, and I will say this, he said, call it and challenge it. It’s the best AI I’ve dealt with because it puts you to a person immediately. I just asked for give me, Jim went right to the person I wanted because apparently there’s only one Jim. But great, if you’re going to use AI as a company, don’t make it one. I’ve had other ones, these big, big companies, well, I can help you. Well, I don’t want you to help me. Give me a human being and you wind up.

Bob Sansevere (07:48):

I got to go find blood pressure meds when I’m done with that call. It’s just maddening. But I mean, you guys do a great job with it and it’s terrific, and I’ve been with Solidarity HealthShare for about a decade, and it’s been a really good experience for myself and my family. Now, I wanted to just touch on this 21 hospitals and honestly the number, I didn’t realize there were even that many doing it, but they’ve ended a restricted transcare for minors, and that’s since January. So they’ve temporarily or indefinitely rolled back gender transitions for minors, and if you’re transgender that you have a right to be that. I have issues with the sports part of it with biological males playing in girl sports. I also think minors should not be, and parents too, let your kid decide when they’re 18 or even older if they want to make a transition. And that’s not, I mean, actually this type of thing is not really, is it transgender? Is it transsexual changing if you’re, I mean, we’re talking about puberty blockers and some people want to have the surgeries that’s beyond, I think transgender. I think that’s actually where you get to becoming a transsexual, and minors should not be making these decisions and their parents should say, let’s just take a break until you’re 18, at least.

Chris Faddis (09:08):

Yeah. I think the studies are out there, and that data’s out there that shows that this is incredibly dangerous, what’s happening, and these children, most of them are actually just dealing with different mental health issues and feelings of being lonely, not knowing who they are, kind of disassociation all kinds of other issues, and they’re sort of being led down this path as half of the problem and sometimes being led to gender drugs before they’ve even really figured this out. Then on top of that, you have the fact that these are life altering and changing during a period of time. I don’t know if you remember what it was like, Bob being between 12 to 18. I think at one point I was going to be the president of the United States. The other point I was going to be an NFL player, a doctor, a lawyer, a chef.

Chris Faddis (10:02):

I don’t want to minimize these things. These are bigger than that, but you’re constantly going through these changes of who you are, what you want to be. I listened to rap music for three years. Then I listen to country music. I mean, you’re all over the place, and the reality is that the studies are showing that this is highly ineffective. It’s actually not decreasing suicidal ideation or depression in these minors, and in fact is likely increasing it and just leading to a lot of other problems. Plus, these are life altering. You can’t go back. It’s not like you can swap on a different skin over and over again, and you see so many of these stories of people who went down this path and now they regret it and they can’t turn it around.

Bob Sansevere (10:44):

Well, I mean, it is, but there’s 21 hospitals that are now buying into the fact that let’s not help bring this along. So I don’t see that as a bad thing. All right. Chris Faddis, thank you, Co-Founder.

Chris Faddis (10:55):

Thanks, boss

Bob Sansevere (10:55): And president. Thank you of Solidarity HealthShare, solidarityhealthshare.org. Take a quick break. The BS Show’ll be right back.

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Solidarity HealthShare is a non-profit healthcare sharing ministry rooted in the teachings of the Catholic Church. Established in 2016, we operate on the Catholic principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, in accordance with the Church’s commitment to promoting life-affirming, faith-based healthcare.

We strive to provide an ethical, community-driven alternative to traditional health insurance. Through direct Member-to-Member sharing, Members are able to access quality healthcare services while preserving their family’s financial, physical, and spiritual health, all at once. Members never need to worry about their healthcare dollars funding immoral medical procedures. We promote a holistic approach to healthcare, emphasizing the importance of physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

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