With the average cost increase for health insurance looking higher than usual for 2025, Americans may be seeking alternative healthcare coverage options. Solidarity HealthShare President and Co-Founder Chris Faddis joins Bob Sansevere of The BS Show to talk about this important topic.

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, we had an election last week and I got to ask you, what does it mean having Donald Trump becoming President for Healthcare in America, and is it a good thing for organizations like Solidarity HealthShare? Because I know you were on Capitol Hill a lot when he was president last time, and it seemed like inroads were made, but where is it now with him becoming president?

Chris Faddis (00:36):

Yeah, I mean, I think at the end of the day, the reality is that the Republican Party has been much more mindful of freedom in healthcare and personalized medicine and all the things that we stand for, and so obviously, yeah, I think it’s very good. I think the administration has not laid out a plan for healthcare per se, but I think that they’re very amenable and favorable to a lot of the policies that we’ve recommended, including price transparency policies like we’ve talked about,

(01:05):

As well as things that will help strengthen healthcare sharing. For instance, we’ve talked before about the two 13 D exemptions, being able to write off your expenses towards healthcare sharing and the like. So those are all things that we’re hopeful for. I think we’re planning to, we expect to see a lot of movement on that front for healthcare sharing members to be able to deduct their expenses, people that buy insurance can do is a good thing, I think, for the marketplace and good for members like you and I, but also with this whole move of Make America Healthy Again, I think is their slogan that they’re talking about lots of things. A lot of that has to do with the FDA and the CDC, but there’s still some other conversations around allowing more freedom in healthcare, allowing people to make their own decisions. Those are all really good things and we’re excited to see what comes.

Bob Sansevere (01:59):

Have you heard from any of the people you speak with in Washington, whether it be lobbyists or be people on different staffs or congressmen or senators themselves? Is there any sort of talk of, he tried to eliminate Obamacare the last time he was in, but he got stonewalled by John McCain. I think he was the deciding vote. Is there any talk of him trying to eliminate it again or if anything, it’ll be to streamlined other parts of healthcare?

Chris Faddis (02:29):

Yeah, I think they’ve lost the stomach for repeal and replace. They got lambasted. I think a lot of people think if they want to repeal and replace, that means they want to get rid of preexisting condition coverage, which is not really what they’re talking about. I think there’s actually bipartisan support for continuing making sure that people with preexisting conditions have some sort

Bob Sansevere (02:51):

Of, and it should be

Chris Faddis (02:52):

Way to pay, right? So yeah, so that’s not the issue, but it seems that conversations on the Hill over the last year, now, I don’t know mean we have a new Congress coming in too, right? So we’ll see if they have more stomach now that they have more of a majority, who knows what’s going to happen, but there hasn’t been much talk about it. I think it’s more talk around different changes around healthcare that would help to improve it. But it is one thing, Bob, we’ve talked about this before. I mean, even Elizabeth Warren has realized how bad this thing was and somebody who was far in support of Obamacare. So I think we’re coming to that point in time when people start to say, wait a minute, this thing is costing more and more. It’s not getting better. What do we do? So it’ll be interesting to see as things progress, I don’t see it happening in the next year, but maybe over the next couple of years there’ll be more of a movement towards we’ve got to rebuild this thing.

Bob Sansevere (03:48):

Is there any sort of a movement, healthcare premium costs or soaring for both employers and the employee? Can anything be done to stop something that when you add it to the average cost of family coverage is reaching roughly $25,500 for the employers and the workers that’s impacting so many things, including people are probably giving less raises and it just has a ripple effect? Absolutely. And can anything be done? Can Congress do anything or the president do anything about that or really it’s the free marketplace and these insurance companies can do whatever they want?

Chris Faddis (04:30):

Yeah, I mean, I think for one, they need to take off any handcuffs of the free market solutions out there. But definitely I think one of the big things they could do, and I think they should do, is a enforce the No Surprises Act, which they put into law at the end of 2020 actually start. The HHS can actually start enforcing that, actually start making hospitals adhere to publishing their pricing, but I also think they could strengthen it. Right now, it’s limited to only certain, they only have to publish so many things and all of that. So strengthen the price transparency rules out there and make sure that these hospital systems and these organizations are actually telling people what it’s going to cost and let people have that free market ability to say, I don’t think I need to spend a hundred thousand on this hip replacement when I can get it for 18,000 over here.

(05:22):

And I think that’s a big deal that will make a huge difference. Now, of course, the other side of that is there has to be enforcement provisions because the hospital systems and the big payers have proven that they won’t do it. The other thing I think, Bob, is we’ve got to, one of the biggest key issues with Obamacare was this idea of subsidies is if insurance costs goes up, the government just continues to increase the subsidy that they pay towards an individual’s insurance on the exchange plans, and that’s just allowed basically free raises for the insurance companies year after year. And the public doesn’t really feel it because the government’s picking that up and that money could be spent so much more wisely. And I think we need to end that. I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens under this new administration in Congress. They did it before, and that’ll, again bring back more competition to the marketplace.

Bob Sansevere (06:14):

Well, and there’s a stat out there that most people spend an average 45 minutes to pick their health insurance when they get a job or when they have a job. I don’t believe it’s that high because a lot of people, they go to the person next to ’em, ‘Hey, Bill, which one did you take?’ Or they ask some friends that already have the job, what did you take? And what do you think of it? Oh, it’s all right. We really can’t force people to look deeper into their options. So I don’t think that’s ever going to change. And again, I’m surprised it’s 45 minutes that they take that long.

Chris Faddis (06:46):

 And your point about the costs, we’ve talked about what the costs are going to be over the next year, but I have a friend who just called me the day said, I’m getting a 40% increase in my insurance costs for my family with his employer. It’s like over $3,000 a year. I mean, that’s an impact on his, and he hasn’t had a raise in 10 years. So that massively impacts us. And a lot of people don’t even have that choice with their employer, one plan, one option, and we have a lot of folks who actually opt out of their employer plan because it’s just so expensive, and they like the values of Solidarity. So they’ll actually opt out and just pay for health sharing themselves. It’s actually less expensive for ’em.

Bob Sansevere (07:26):

Well, it sounds –

Chris Faddis (07:27):

Like there’s a lot of options out there.

Bob Sansevere (07:29):

Sounds like you picked up another member with that phone call from your friend.

Chris Faddis (07:32):

Yeah, well, that’s what I said. I said, I’m not going to keep taking your call complaining about this if you’re not going to join Solidarity.

Bob Sansevere (07:38):

Well, okay, unless he’s calling to join, why else would he call to complain?

Chris Faddis (07:44):

He’s trying to get advice, but yeah, he’s like, I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m like, come on, man. You got to make the jump. I mean, $3,000 is a big deal.

Bob Sansevere (07:50):

So yeah, I mean 40%.

Chris Faddis (07:52):

I think people also see the other side of that equation. If their employer’s not paying for their health insurance, they’re essentially losing some income. And we do have a way for employers to pay for you. So you can convince if you’re at a small company and you convince your boss to pay for health sharing instead, there’s a way to do that and save that cost, but also make sure the employer helps to pay for it. That is an option, but it’s not easy, especially if you’re in a big company.

Bob Sansevere (08:17):

And that’s something you’ve offered from the beginning or pretty much from the beginning where you’ve had programs where employers, I mean, you’re not talking about if you have 10,000 employees, but many would a small business and middle-level businesses. You can help them out. I’m sure you

Chris Faddis (08:33):

Yeah, we can help ’em. It gives them an option. They can still have a health plan available to their employees if they want, but then also make healthcare sharing available. And a lot of folks will opt for that, and that’ll actually save the employer money, like we’ve talked about, puts the employee back in the driver’s seat of (what they’re doing) healthcare. And it’s an important thing, Bob, I think, again, like you said, people don’t even spend 45 minutes on their health insurance choice, but the reality is that is part of the cure to this problem is people paying attention to their healthcare. And it’s a hard fought battle to get people to recognize that and do it. But the reality is that’s going to help us get out of this mess that we’re in with healthcare.

Bob Sansevere (09:13):

Well, I want to just remind people, and I try to do it every time we speak, that if you have traditional healthcare and you want a great alternative, check out Solidarity HealthShare at solidarityhealthshare.org. It is a great alternative to traditional healthcare and it won’t be as expensive, and you need to just pick up the phone and spend some time talking to one of your representatives, which is what I did many years ago, and it convinced me that was absolutely the way to go. Alright, Chris Faddis President and co-founder of Solidarity HealthShare. Thank you so much. We’ll take a quick break.

Chris Faddis (09:48):

Great talking to you.

Bob Sansevere (09:48):

Thank you. The BS Show’ll be right back.

Join The Movement

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.

At the heart of our ministry’s mission to restore and rebuild an authentically faith-based healthcare culture in America is the recognition that every single person has inherent human dignity. We seek to promote healthcare that honors the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.

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