A quick GOOGLE indicates the CHM requires participants 65 and older to Carry Medicare A & B, which would largely address my concerns about any possible upwards drift in the average age of participants - it would appear that for these members CHM is in effect similar to Medicare supplemental plans.
_____________________
CHM’s financials are available “on request”, but apparently are not routinely published on-line - and this would be the place to start in understanding the economics of the program.
_____________________
In the case of health care coverage, “The Devil is in the details”, for example it appears that coverage for birth defects and congenital conditions is limited to $25,000, and these are potentially some of the most expensive conditions to treat. Nothing wrong with this exclusion - as long as members are aware of it - but it is an example of an important type of coverage limitation allowed because this is not “insurance”.
____________________
I wasn’t suggesting that any particular Insurance Plan would encourage members to choose palliative care over heroic EOL measures, rather that the the membership of *any* such mutual aid society might be more likely to “be on the same page” (whatever page that is) than a similar group of insured drawn from the public at large.
M. Dodge Thomas thanks for you comments and research. As far as age drift of participants, I personally do not know anyone who is Medicare A & B eligible who carries normal health insurance.
We have the “Gold Plan” plus “Brother’s Keeper” which has a $500 yearly deductible and unlimited financial assistance for all eligible medical bills. None of the “ineligible” conditions have any effect on us. It costs us $150 a piece per month and the Brother’s Keeper catastrophic expense coverage is $40 a piece per year has a quarterly expense that varies a bit but is usually around $25 a piece.
I would point out that young people paying for huge amounts of coverage for congenital conditions and birth defects has never made much sense. No babies are denied necessary medical treatment in this country regardless of their parents ability to pay. In general most young people do not have a large amount of assets that would be at risk if they gave birth to a baby needing very expensive medical treatment. In the past charities such as St. Judes, the Shriners and others have been of great assistance to young families in this situation. It is not a valid reason for government regulated health care insurance.