If you’re already a Member of Altrua HealthShare or if you’re considering joining the membership to be part of a like-minded community that shares in one another’s eligible medical needs, you may wonder how Altrua HealthShare works with your medical provider. One of Altrua HealthShare’s mainstays to its Members is affordability. And another important value is flexibility and customization of your healthcare. So is convenience. How is it possible to provide Members with affordable yet flexible healthcare, while also wanting to help make it as streamlined as possible?
Members on the GEMs and MyShare memberships will find there is a new feature rolling out, one that can make working with your provider all the easier. Altrua HealthShare has launched their partnership with First Health HealthShare Network. First Health HealthShare Network is a premiere national network, with over 5,800 hospitals, 152,000 ancillary facilities and over a million professional providers. The network is NCQA (National Committee for Quality Assurance) accredited and offers a wide range of high-quality inpatient and outpatient service providers across the country.
This means that GEMs and MyShare Members will be able to access the network and find providers in their area who are already educated and who embrace the health share model. This will make the process at the front desk all the easier and more convenient, as these providers will already understand how health shares works, will be experienced in submitting medical needs to Altrua HealthShare and will be better educated in how to best serve the Member.
Altrua HealthShare is willing to work with any provider. A health share is a community of members who share in each other’s eligible medical needs, centered around a shared set of standards. Altrua HealthShare has been sharing in eligible medical needs for its Members for over 27 years, making it one of the country’s most experienced and long-running health shares. During that time, Altrua HealthShare has shared in millions of dollars in medical costs. While health shares in the United States serve almost 2 million people, there are those providers who are only familiar with the traditional insurance model, who haven’t stayed up to date on other options like health shares. When Members go to these providers, they may find that they need to approach their visit as a self-pay visit and then submit their medical need for reimbursement by the membership. When Members visit providers through the First Health HealthShare Network, that issue is removed.
“Our Altrua HealthShare Members can see any provider they like,” says Robert Brown of Altrua HealthShare. “However, there are those provider staff who haven’t educated themselves on health shares and it can make the process a bit more layered until those admin staff are up-to-speed. The First Health HealthShare Network will help our GEMs and MyShare Members easily and conveniently locate providers near them who already work with and understand Altrua HealthShare. While we always work with any provider, it’s a great feature for our Members to know that when they walk in the door of their doctor’s office, their status as an Altrua HealthShare Member is appreciated and understood.”
This update in Altrua HealthShare’s partnerships is yet another example of the commitment to innovation and upgrades. Randy Sluder, founder and CEO of Altrua HealthShare explains it this way: ““At Altrua HealthShare, we’re always looking for ways to help make our Members’ experiences the most affordable and convenient. With First Health HealthShare Network, we are excited that our Members will have an even more streamlined, flexible, and easy-to-use membership experience. It’s innovations like this that continue to make Altrua HealthShare such a popular option over expensive, complicated traditional health insurance.”
At this time, the First Health HealthShare Network is available to Members on the GEMs (Diamond, Emerald, Sapphire, and Ruby) memberships and the MyShare membership. If you have questions about using the network, or if your level of membership includes access to the network, you can contact your Member Services Representative. Or, if you’re considering becoming a Member of Altrua HealthShare and would like more information, you can contact Altrua HealthShare at 1-888-244-3839.
The First Health HealthShare Network for Altrua HealthShare celebrates its launch this month. As a GEMs or MyShare member, you can access the network through your HealthWallet app or through the Altrua HealthShare website. If you’re considering becoming an Altrua HealthShare Member during open enrollment, be sure to include this feature as part of your decision-making process for healthcare that is affordable, convenient, and built for you.