We know, we know. Member handbooks, user guidelines, terms and conditions. They’re the worst. Well, not the worst. Health insurance is the real worst. But guidelines and fine print can be exhausting to navigate, too. So, we’re starting here with making your CrowdHealth Member experience refreshingly simplified, and different -- in a good way.
Here, you'll find what you need to know about being a Member of the CrowdHealth Community. We’ve condensed your Membership details from the typical 150 pages down to the straightforward, easy-to-navigate information below.
Finding and funding the health care you need shouldn’t feel isolating or overwhelming. So, together with our Members, CrowdHealth is changing that. We’re creating a revolutionary way to access and pay for your health care, without breaking the bank. It’s called health care crowdfunding.
You can think of CrowdHealth as your ally in the fight against a crazy healthcare system. We’re here to help you break free from the tyranny of insurance and experience true health care freedom as part of our Member Community.
As a CrowdHealth Member, you participate in the healthcare system as a self-pay patient, cutting out the health insurance middleman. While you maintain the ultimate responsibility for paying your own medical bills, you can expect to pay for the smaller expenses on your own and to submit your larger expenses to the Crowd for funding. In turn, you’ll be invited to help crowdfund other Members’ larger medical expenses, too.
At CrowdHealth, Members avoid outrageous health insurance premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket maximums, and you have access to lower medical care costs through the power of consumerism and self-pay. With CrowdHealth, you can save thousands of dollars every year while experiencing real health care freedom.
CrowdHealth builds a Community of people like you to support one another in consuming and paying for your health care. This Community includes CrowdHealth Care Advocates who provide Members with caring, personalized support throughout your health care journeys. Care Advocates help Members find fairly priced, high-quality practitioners while guiding you through the administration and logistics of the healthcare system, so every Member’s health care experience is a success.
At CrowdHealth, you’re not alone. We and the Crowd are on your side, always.
We know it can be hard to find a doctor you can trust, and even harder to see them when you’d like. CrowdHealth offers access to a robust virtual care platform, available 24/7 through the app, or your Care Advocate can help you find a provider to see in-person. If you’ve already got a favorite doc, that’s great! Keep seeing them. There are no doctor networks to limit you here. And, your Membership gets you access to discounted prescription pricing, all at your fingertips through the CrowdHealth mobile app.
CrowdHealth is committed to help you access to the care you need, when you need it.
Each month, Members pay a $30 subscription to be part of the Crowd and voluntarily make an affordable recommended contribution to a CrowdHealth Member account. As health expenses from Members arise, CrowdHealth communicates these needs among the Member Community. Then, CrowdHealth facilitates the crowdfunding of expenses by inviting Members to give -- from the voluntary contributions they've already put in their account -- to cover the bills of other Members.
The power of the CrowdHealth is our vibrant, health-conscious and generous Member Community, a.k.a. “The Crowd.” Together, we’re achieving something bigger, better, and altogether different than if we tackled the complexity and unaffordability of health care costs alone.
Our Members are savvy and generous, like-minded and health aware, responsible and accountable. If that’s you, you’re really going to like it here!
(On the flip side, if you’re looking for a way to “work the system” and mooch off others without being generous yourself… keep looking. You’ll feel out of place in the Crowd.)
In technical terms, the Crowd comprises Members ages newborn1 through 64 years old, who do not have a history of consistent smoking/tobacco use, and who are under the weight thresholds of 300 pounds for men and 270 pounds for women. The Crowd welcomes Members with varied health histories while giving transparent, specific terms for how care for preexisting conditions are funded. All these details are in place so Members can be confident about who and what your contributions are funding.
1Children conceived and born after a parent becomes an active CrowdHealth Member can become Members at their date of birth. Otherwise, a child must be at least six months old at signup to be eligible for Membership.
You’ve probably joined the Crowd because you’ve been failed by the legacy health insurance system and are tired of paying too much for your health care. As a savvy Member, you’re looking for the best service at a great price and are too smart to be fooled by healthcare players who don’t have your best interest in mind.
Through your generosity, you keep up with your monthly contributions to help fund health care for the Crowd. When you need help with your bills, your fellow generous Members will help fund your care, too.
The Crowd operates transparently through Generosity Scores based on your crowdfunding activity. Read more about how these are helping you and the Crowd find and fund your health care differently in “How CrowdHealth Works,” below.
CrowdHealth Members have like minds in seeking something trustworthy, simplified, and freeing -- a new solution that is changing the game and is bigger than fighting for healthcare freedom on your own.
And, by being health aware, you know that staying engaged with your own health helps not just you but the Crowd as a whole, too.
CrowdHealth Members are responsible and accountable to each other, which lets us care abundantly for each other. That’s good news for all of us.
To help the whole Crowd thrive, you and your fellow Members can count on one another to:
We’re so glad you’ve joined us. The Crowd is better with you in it!
CrowdHealth is founded and run by people who think and feel like you. We’ve been exhausted by our experiences with health insurers, so we set out together to create a new and better way. Health insurance is complex, expensive, and lonely, so we’ve reimagined a different solution with you in mind—health care crowdfunding that embraces the guiding principles of Simplicity, Affordability, Community, and Quality.
The fine print of insurance plans is confusing and frustrating. That’s why CrowdHealth is committed to Simplicity in each experience, for every Member, with:
When you start your health care journeys through the CrowdHealth app, you get the most from your Membership – the best value, the simplest payment process, and the support of your Care Advocate, who’s here to walk with you from scheduling to bill payment and everything in between.
Through CrowdHealth’s smooth digital process, crowdfunding by the Member Community happens fast, making things easier both for Members and for the clinicians who provide your care.
We submit qualified crowdfunding requests to the Crowd within 48 hours of receiving the appropriate service and cost information, give the Crowd 72 hours to approve or disapprove the request, then turn the funding around with 48 hours of crowdfunding approval. This means Members get money for bills quickly, and doctors get paid on time, too.
Health care can be incredibly expensive. Here, the Crowd is built on a commitment to Affordability and the belief that the best care doesn’t have to be the priciest. That means:
Members participate in the healthcare system as self-pay patients. This lets you access high-quality care for up to 60% less than the insurance sticker price.
We leverage relationships with providers to offer pre-negotiated and bundled pricing options for your scheduled care. And, when you face an unexpected health event and a big bill comes with it, we can step in on your behalf and negotiate it down to a fair price. We’re on your team and with you all the way.
CrowdHealth is built by people who care, for people who care. As a Member, you and the Crowd are:
You’re not here because you’re looking for a marginally better option than the health insurance you had before. You want to be part of a new solution that gives you and your family a totally different experience. With you and the Crowd, we’re building a better future and transforming health care as we grow.
The problems of the American healthcare system -- unfair pricing, hidden billing practices, mismatched incentives between patients and insurers -- are too big for any of us to take on alone. But with CrowdHealth, you’re joining forces with Members and a team who are taking on the broken system with you. There’s power in our numbers as we pursue health care freedom together!
Navigating your health shouldn’t leave you feeling like you don’t know who you can trust. With the Crowd, your health journeys happen within a transparent, trustworthy Community you can count on. CrowdHealth is committed to growing together as we care abundantly for each other.
Support isn’t a buzzword here, and you deserve the best. With personalized care navigation, we mean it when we say you’ll have a high-quality Member experience you love, through:
CrowdHealth does not limit your access to care through stifling provider networks. You can keep seeing your favorite doc, or talk to your Care Advocate if you need help finding a new high-quality doctor or facility.
CrowdHealth won’t get between you and your doctor concerning your care. Docs are free to provide you the best, and you’re free to get the care you need when you need it.
Health care freedom also means you aren’t locked into a job you hate just because your employer sponsors a pricey health insurance plan. With CrowdHealth, you can freely make the choices that are right for you.
We’re building the best app and resources to make your life easier, and it just keeps getting better.
One of the biggest questions we get is, “How is CrowdHealth so much cheaper than other health insurance?” And the answer is simple: CrowdHealth isn’t health insurance. It’s health care crowdfunding. This means your Membership is designed and funded differently than health insurance, and that CrowdHealth has different priorities (like putting you, our Member, first!).
Your CrowdHealth Membership provides you a platform, Community, and toolkit to help you find and fund your health care outside the insurance system, with personalized support along the way.
We have developed systems and processes that allow the Community to absorb very large medical expenses; however, your Membership is not insurance, and therefore CrowdHealth cannot guarantee that your medical bills will be paid. Ultimately, Members are responsible for your own medical bills.
Compared to painfully expensive insurance premiums, CrowdHealth Members pay a low monthly subscription and make a voluntary monthly contribution, which is used at the Member’s discretion to crowdfund others’ medical expenses. Subscription amounts are the same for everyone, and recommended monthly contributions are different based upon anticipated health care needs of certain age groups. Here’s how it breaks down:
The contribution amounts above are monthly maximums. If you and the Crowd spend less in a given month, your recommended monthly contribution can be lower than these numbers. When you make healthy and smart spending choices, you and the whole Member Community benefit together. Even when large expenses (>$10,000) are incurred, these bills are paid over time, helping keep monthly Member contributions low.
While you must pay your monthly subscription to keep your Membership active, your contributions to the Crowd are always voluntary. Most Members choose to automate their contributions and fully participate in each crowdfunding request, which keeps things simple and keeps your Generosity Score at 100%. (Read more on this below.) If instead, you want to automate only the payment of your monthly subscription and be manually asked each month to make your contributions, please let your Care Advocate know. An additional processing fee may apply for contributions made manually.
When you or someone in your family moves into a new category (like when your five-year-old turns six—they grow up so fast!), the new recommended contribution amount will take effect on your first billing date following the Member's birthday.
If you’re 64 years old, we’ll be in touch with you before your next birthday about transitioning out of CrowdHealth. Your Membership ends when you turn 65.
To encourage transparency and generosity among the Crowd, Members receive a Generosity Score based on participation in crowdfunding requests.
If you’ve kept your voluntary monthly contributions current, when you receive a crowdfunding request, you aren’t being asked for an additional contribution; rather, you're being asked to authorize the bank to deduct some of the funds already in your Member account and apply them toward the requesting Member’s bill. You may agree or decline to contribute from your accrued contributions by responding directly to the crowdfunding request. Non-responses to crowdfunding requests will be considered as authorizations.
If you agree to fund 100% of the crowdfunding requests you receive, you will maintain a 100% Generosity Score. If you choose not to participate in funding other Members’ bills, your Generosity Score will be affected by the proportion of what was requested of you versus what you gave.
Members who are asked to crowdfund your bills will be able to see your Generosity Score at the time of your request. Members will not be penalized for denying crowdfunding requests from Members with a Generosity Score below 90%.
Family Memberships are available for families with four or more Members. To be eligible for a Family Membership, you must meet at least one of these conditions:
For families of more than eight people, please contact us via chat or phone for more information on a Membership that can fit your family's needs.
The Crowd exists without the burden of an annual health insurance deductible.
Insurance deductibles can mean you pay $3,000, $5,000, or even $10,000+ in health expenses for your family, on top of those high monthly premiums, before your coverage kicks in at all. And after your deductible is met for the year, you continue to pay a percentage of the costs up to an out-of-pocket maximum that’s much higher than your deductible. Ouch! Adding insult to injury, at the start of the new year, all those deductibles and out-of-pocket amounts reset, starting the painful (and pricey) process all over again.
CrowdHealth is different. Your Membership means you commit to your fellow Crowd Members that you’ll pay the first $500 of each qualifying health event, then rely on the Crowd through crowdfunding for the rest. Your $500 per-event commitment doesn’t reset annually, so you pay it once per event, no matter how long a health event goes on. And, there is no maximum limit to the amount of bills you can submit for crowdfunding as a CrowdHealth Member.
A health event is any unique health scenario that comes up for a Member and includes all the expenses related to it. It could be something big, like a knee surgery (which might entail doctor's visits, the surgery itself including facility and anesthesia, physical therapy, and pain meds) or something minor, like one of your kids needing to see the pediatrician for a sore throat.
With each health event, Members commit to paying the first $500. For many health events, your bill(s) will total much less than $500 – for example, a standard doctor’s visit and prescription are likely to cost you less than $200 for an event. But, for larger events, like the knee surgery example above, your commitment is to pay the initial $500, and all expenses over $500 will be submitted to the Crowd for funding.
The Crowd waives the $500 Member Commitment for an annual wellness visit, including basic labs, per Member to help you access the preventative care you need.
All Member contributions and monthly subscriptions will be made monthly by ACH or credit card through industry-standard third-party payment platforms. See our Privacy Policy for more information on how your money and information are protected and handled.
If you signed up for your Membership using a promotional code, CrowdHealth is subsidizing your contributions during those months. All responsibilities as outlined in this Member Guide still apply. Only one promotional code may be used per Member.
Some of the main factors in rising health care costs are the mismatched incentives built into the system’s financial structure: health insurance companies profit off a percentage of customer premiums, so they can make more money by hiking up prices.
CrowdHealth is different. We have intentionally established revenue sources that align our incentives 100% with the goals of the Crowd, and we’re committed to being transparent about them. Here’s what you should know:
1. Our company expenses are covered by Members’ monthly subscription payments and the account closure fee that applies when a Membership is canceled.
Since CrowdHealth doesn’t make money as a percentage of your monthly contributions, we have no interest in raising your contribution amounts each month or denying the crowdfunding of Members’ bills to increase our own profits. We are here to help you and the Crowd save, always.
2. When you start your health journey through the platform, CrowdHealth can proactively get you a competitive price for the high-quality care you’re seeking.
For high-cost procedures, you may be eligible for an additional financial benefit if you save the Crowd money through a wise spending choice by using a high-quality, fairly priced clinician we help you find.
When you save on care through the discounts we negotiate for you, CrowdHealth also wins by earning a percentage (up to 20%) of what we helped you and the Crowd save on the procedure or treatment.
For your health care to be eligible for funding by the Crowd after your $500 Member Commitment is met, except for unscheduled urgent or emergency care, you must initiate your health journeys through the CrowdHealth mobile app or Member Portal. You do so by creating a health event that reflects the Member involved and the type of event (wellness, injury, illness, pregnancy, or other). Your Care Advocate will contact you to offer assistance and gather any additional information to help you through your health event.
We recommend you initiate all your planned care through the platform, regardless of whether it is expected to exceed your $500 initial Member Commitment. That way, for health events that escalate beyond your expectation, your care is eligible for crowdfunding, your bill payment process is kept simple, and your Care Advocate can support you along the way.
To help you utilize all the Membership resources available to you, please notify your Care Advocate before scheduling a visit, and/or log your visit in the app at least 48 hours ahead of time whenever possible. Even if you need care that isn’t eligible for crowdfunding (more on that here), we can still work to negotiate great savings on your behalf.
If multiple Members of your family are involved in the same health event, like both kids getting the flu the same week (hang in there!), you’ll need to log separate visits to open separate health events for each person, and each person’s care will be subject to a separate $500 Member Commitment.
Because CrowdHealth is different, we want to make sure Members understand the tools that help you navigate your health care without insurance. To help you get the most out of your Membership, CrowdHealth requires the account holder (Primary Member) to complete a five-minute New Member Orientation call with your Care Advocate before you can log into the Member Online Platform and Mobile App.
Prior to completing your orientation call, Members still have full access to all Membership services by calling or emailing your Care Advocate for support.
As soon as you sign up for your CrowdHealth Membership, you can download and log into the CrowdHealth app and will be able to access your Member Portal through the website. Because our app and portal contain information and tools that are reserved for active and oriented Members, you will not be able to utilize the full app functionality until your Membership start date and after the account holder (Primary Member) has completed New Member Orientation.
If you have any questions or issues with logging in or accessing your account, please contact us through the chat feature on the CrowdHealth homepage or by emailing hey@joincrowdhealth.com.
CrowdHealth isn’t insurance, so you do not have a card, ID number, or benefits group to submit on patient forms. At any medical visit, you’ll just indicate that you are an uninsured or "self-pay" patient.
Because the Community cares about your wellbeing and wants to encourage preventative health care, your telemedicine through the CrowdHealth platform is always eligible for crowdfunding.
The Community will also waive the $500 Member Commitment for one annual in-person wellness check per Member with a primary care provider or your child’s pediatrician, including a basic blood panel. That means bills for these visits can be submitted for crowdfunding without fulfilling your $500 initial commitment.
Please note that if during a well check, your doctor orders specialized diagnostics, imaging, or additional lab work related to your visit, that will initiate a new, separate health event and will be subject to the standard $500 Member Commitment.
Other preventative care/wellness checks, such as colonoscopies or annual gynecological exams and related tests, qualify as valid health events but are separate from the basic wellness visit described above. Expenses related to these wellness events can be submitted for crowdfunding when the initial $500 Member Commitment has been met.
For all non-emergency care, you'll log your visits through the mobile app or Member portal before you go, which lets your Care Advocate give you personalized care and support throughout the process.
For minor appointments, you will notify your doctor that you are a self-pay patient and pay the doctor at the time of your visit. For major non-emergency care, such as a scheduled surgery, CrowdHealth will negotiate the pricing and crowdfund your procedure ahead of time. As always, you have the freedom to see the doctor of your choice, whether it’s one you already love or a new, high-quality, fairly priced practitioner we help you find.
Each new illness or injury is considered one health event, so any subsequent care required for this illness – things like labs, radiology, follow-up visits, prescriptions, and referrals – are included as part of the event. You commit to paying the first $500 for each event, and any amount over $500 can be submitted to the Crowd for funding. It takes approximately a week for the Crowd to fund those bills, keeping the process quick and simple for you.
For all unplanned urgent or emergency care, inform your Care Advocate as soon as possible about the health event, so we can guide you through your health journey and offer you the best Member support possible.
When receiving urgent or emergency care, state that you are a self-pay patient and ask to be billed after your care. Some urgent care locations or emergency rooms may still require you to pay at the time of your visit. In either case, scan the bill (paid at visit, or unpaid and sent to you later) into the CrowdHealth app, and we will coordinate payment to your doctor and/or funding to you from the Crowd quickly and easily.
For your prescriptions to be eligible for crowdfunding (after meeting your $500 per-event Member Commitment, and up to 120-day supply per event), you must use CrowdHealth’s prescription discount partner when purchasing. You will show your prescription benefits card at the pharmacy to get the best price, pay at checkout, and submit the prescription receipt through the app for crowdfunding.
Similarly, for all children’s immunizations, you must use a Vaccines For Children (VFC) provider in order for any related expenses to be eligible.
For scheduled health journeys that you initiate in the CrowdHealth app, you will either receive a voucher to present in lieu of payment at your appointment, or you will pay out-of-pocket and quickly receive any eligible funding from the Crowd. If you do receive a bill after an appointment, whether for care that was scheduled or unscheduled, just scan it into the CrowdHealth app, and we’ll coordinate the rest from there.
The CrowdHealth platform is designed to maximize the probability that all Members’ eligible bills can be fully crowdfunded.
For big, planned bills (like expensive surgeries), CrowdHealth will negotiate the cost to a 30-60% discount before the procedure event happens. For big emergency bills, we’ll negotiate them after the fact and may set them up to be paid by the Crowd over 12, 24, or 36 months. So, a huge $500,000 bill after a cardiac arrest and hospital stay could come down to $240,000, divided by 24 months and 5000 Members, and amount to just $2 of funding from Member contributions per Member each month over the two-year payment period.
To help you get a clearer idea of the Member experience, below is an example to walk you through the process.
A family of two parents in their late thirties, a toddler, and a six-year-old child contributes $695 for a CrowdHealth Family Membership each month. They’re saving over $700 compared to the $1400 in health insurance premiums they were paying before (in addition to satisfying large deductibles before their coverage kicked in, plus ongoing copays and expensive coinsurance—yuck!).
Here’s what navigating a health event looks like for these Members:
The family ventures out for a hike one Saturday morning, and Dad takes a bad fall and hurts his knee. He’s in a good bit of pain, but it’s not an emergency, and it’s the weekend. Conveniently, he opens the CrowdHealth app, logs a new health event, and requests a telemedicine appointment. The virtual doctor is available fast and, between a video evaluation and listening to Dad describe his symptoms, diagnoses a sprain.
The doctor writes a prescription for pain medication, so Dad goes to his neighborhood pharmacy and uses the CrowdHealth prescription discount tool to get a great price. He shows his digital RX card and pays for the prescription at checkout. The virtual doc also recommends a follow-up appointment in person, so Dad contacts his Care Advocate, who helps him find a high-quality, fairly priced orthopedist in his area. When Dad arrives at his appointment, he lets them know he's a cash pay patient and pays for his visit at checkout.
Dad’s knee is starting to feel better as the swelling goes down, but the orthopedist says he’ll need a few sessions of physical therapy to be back to 100%. Dad asks his Care Advocate for help finding a high-quality, fairly priced PT, then schedules the appointments he needs.
Four weeks later, he’s done with PT, and his knee is feeling great. He has scanned in the receipts for his prescription, orthopedist visits, and physical therapy sessions in the CrowdHealth app. His bills totaled $725 for the health event, so $225 (the event-related expenses beyond his initial $500 Member Commitment) has been submitted for crowdfunding. Through the easy-to-use CrowdHealth platform, with support from his Care Advocate, and thanks to the generous Member Community, Dad got the quality care he needed right when he needed it.
When you join the Crowd, you’re there for your fellow Members in their time of need. And, when you make your contributions each month, you’re supporting the very people who will step up for you when you have your own health events. We call it caring abundantly, and we believe it’s a beautiful thing. When we each give a little, we find there’s plenty for all.
As a Member of CrowdHealth, you have access to the tools and support you need to lead the healthy, thriving lifestyle you desire. We are pro-wellness, pro-family, and pro-Community… Pro-you!
We want to see the Crowd flourishing, meaning you receive the care you need without fear of how you’ll pay for it. CrowdHealth takes the guesswork out of how health care gets funded, and our exceptional Care Advocates are here to help you every step of the way.
Member maternity care that is eligible for crowdfunding includes your whole pregnancy through your baby’s birth and beyond. The three phases of your pregnancy represent three separate health events, each with a $500 Member Commitment:
1) prenatal care,
2) labor and delivery, and
3) postpartum care.
Your child’s standard newborn wellness care (birth until six months old) is a separate health event from maternity and is included in the baby’s Membership when added as a new Member after birth.2 If your baby gets sick, as is the case for Members of any age, the illness or injury will be treated as a separate health event from this newborn wellness health event.
Please note that if you’re pregnant before you join as a Member, determined by your due date compared to your Membership activation date, your maternity care is not eligible for crowdfunding, and your baby’s health care will not be eligible either until six months after birth. If you are unsure whether you are already pregnant, please consider an alternative to CrowdHealth. We want to care well for you and your family, but the Crowd cannot fund maternity care for new Members who join knowing they are already pregnant with a plan to incur these significant medical costs soon after joining.
2For Members with a Membership start date before 2/1/2022, maternity benefits differ slightly. Please contact your Care Advocate for more information on your maternity Member Commitments and details.
For pregnancies conceived after a parent is an active Member of CrowdHealth, a new baby may be added to your Membership within 30 days of joining your family for his/her health expenses to be eligible for funding retroactively, starting at the date of birth.
For pregnancies conceived before a parent is an active Member of CrowdHealth, a baby may be added to your Membership at six months of age, effective at the start of the next billing cycle.
Please see “Maternity and Newborn Care” above for more on these health events.
You may add an adopted child to your Membership within 30 days of joining your family for health expenses to be eligible for funding retroactively, starting at the date the child joined your family.
The addition of family members (e.g. children over six months old, spouse, etc.) to a primary Member's account may be initiated at any time. These added Memberships will be active at the start of the next billing cycle.
For children conceived and born or added to a family by adoption after one or both parents join CrowdHealth, standard newborn wellness care (birth until six months old) is treated as one health event. Existing children in a CrowdHealth Member family are eligible for Membership after they turn six months old.
For all children ages 6-30 months, your child’s wellness checks are treated as a single health event with one $500 Member Commitment. After your child’s 2.5-year checkup, his or her annual visits will have the $500 Member Commitment waived as part of our ongoing initiative to encourage Member wellness. For Members of any age, all illnesses or injuries will be treated as separate health events from wellness visits.
Please note that you must utilize the Vaccines For Children (VFC) program in order for any expenses related to your child’s vaccinations to be eligible for crowdfunding. For more information on how to find a Vaccines for Children clinic in your area, contact your Care Advocate or visit this link.
The CrowdHealth Community is committed to crowdfunding the health care Members need without wasting contributions on unnecessary or unproven treatments. This means some things, which are outlined in the table below, are not eligible for crowdfunding. To consistently offer the best care and support possible to the Crowd, we will still work to negotiate fair medical costs for care that is outside the terms of your Membership when possible.
Beyond what is clearly outlined here, any disputes that arise related to the crowdfunding eligibility of treatments or procedures submitted by active Members will be determined by a vote from other Members. We believe you have each other’s best interest in mind, and we are grateful for the caring Crowd we’re building together.
The Crowd welcomes Members with varied health backgrounds. There are limitations on funding for long-term prescriptions and preexisting conditions.
A five-year timeline prior to the Membership start date applies to defining preexisting conditions, which include any medical condition that existed prior to joining CrowdHealth, including those that are diagnosed, symptomatic, suspected, or have required treatment.
Unless in the five years prior to initiating Membership, the conditions have not demonstrated any signs/symptoms, have required no treatment/medication, and have not been suspected of returning based on your medical practitioner's evaluation, medical expenses related to preexisting conditions are subject to the following limitations for funding by the Crowd: $0 in year 1, $25,000 in year 2, $50,000 in year 3, and $100,000 in years 4+.
Since we’re doing something different here, there are a few more things we want to make sure you know about your CrowdHealth Membership.
Your CrowdHealth Membership does not satisfy a federal or state individual Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) mandate.
If you live somewhere (e.g. California, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont) with a state-level individual MEC mandate, you are responsible for securing that coverage independently from your CrowdHealth Membership. Links to more information about these mandates are below.
If you have a MEC health plan, you are expected to utilize this coverage for all eligible care before submitting bills to CrowdHealth.
State Information about MEC Mandates:
California
Washington, DC
Massachusetts
New Jersey
Rhode Island
Vermont
Your monthly Member contribution is a voluntary contribution toward a Membership that facilitates the funding of fellow Members’ medical bills. It is not a health insurance premium, nor is it a contribution to a health care sharing ministry, so it is not subject to these tax breaks. Your monthly subscriptions and contributions are post-tax disbursements.
The ability to pursue fair health care costs on your behalf as a cash pay patient is an important part of how CrowdHealth operates and cares for the Crowd. In the case that a medical practitioner bills an unfair amount and is unwilling to negotiate with us, CrowdHealth requires Members to give us the right to pursue legal action against that provider on behalf of you and the CrowdHealth Member Community.
When you join CrowdHealth, you agree to give us access to your health records upon request.
In the instance of a telemedicine visit or a health event, CrowdHealth may receive information such as the following from your medical practitioner(s): patient name, date & time of appointment/call, outcome or diagnosis, prescriptions, etc.
We reserve the right to request medical records, which are used to assist with care navigation and to protect you and the Crowd by providing important context about your medical history and helping validate your bills. CrowdHealth’s requests for a Member’s approval will be submitted via a records request release form sent to the Member, which should be completed as soon as possible upon receipt. Failure to do so may delay or limit your care navigation and/or the crowdfunding of your health event.
CrowdHealth complies with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) standards to protect your personal health information. If you have questions about our HIPAA policies and procedures, please email privacy@joincrowdhealth.com.
When you become a CrowdHealth Member, your contact information may be used for a variety of communications from us via email, phone call, or SMS, including but not limited to: updates about your health events, personal contact by your Care Advocate, and other messages about your Membership. CrowdHealth will never sell your data to a third party. Read more about how we’re protecting Member info in our Privacy Policy.
Every month, the contribution you send in does not come to CrowdHealth. Instead, it goes to a secure, industry-standard third party, who maintains and disburses Member funds. See our Privacy Policy for more information on our trusted third-party partners.
The contributions you send will be used to fund medical bills for the Crowd. When you have a medical bill, you pay the first $500 as your initial Member Commitment for the event, and costs exceeding $500 are submitted to the Crowd for funding.
For your expenses to be eligible for crowdfunding, you must be an active Member both at the time the expense is incurred AND at the time the expense is sent to the Community for crowdfunding.
To maintain an active CrowdHealth Membership, Members must keep monthly subscription payments current. If you fail to pay your monthly subscription on time, you will be notified, and your Membership will become inactive as of the day of the failed payment. Any accounts with unpaid subscription balances after 31 days will be terminated and subject to terms of cancelation outlined below (“Canceling Your Membership”).
CrowdHealth Memberships represent voluntary participation in a Community that funds each other's health expenses each month. Subscription payments and contributions to the Crowd are made monthly. You may cancel your Membership at any time. Cancelations are effective at the end of your current billing cycle.
If you decide to leave and want to rejoin CrowdHealth later, there is a minimum waiting period of six months (180 days) between your cancelation and the start of your new Membership.
A maximum $250 account closure fee applies to any canceled or terminated Membership. Up to $250 will be drawn from the funds available in your Member account by CrowdHealth at the time of cancelation/termination. Any remaining funds in your Member account can be returned to you after 60 days.
Please remember: For your expenses to be eligible for crowdfunding, you must be an active Member both at the time the expense is incurred AND at the time the expense is sent to the Community for crowdfunding. If you choose to leave the Crowd after having a major health expense that is being paid over time, any unpaid balance of that bill is still your responsibility upon ending your Membership.
a. I understand that the ability to negotiate on my behalf as a self-pay patient is an important part of how CrowdHealth operates and cares for Members, so I agree to let my providers know I am a self-pay (uninsured) patient at each appointment.
b. I understand that I will get the most benefit from my CrowdHealth Membership when I see high-quality, fairly priced practitioners, but I reserve the right to see any doctor/clinician I want.
c. If a medical practitioner of my choice bills me an unfair amount and is unwilling to negotiate, I give CrowdHealth the right to pursue legal action against that provider on my behalf.
a. To care for myself and my Member Community, I commit to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including abstaining from any illegal drug use or activities.
b. To protect the integrity of our crowdfunding process, I commit to not knowingly or repeatedly visit a medical practitioner who is unreasonable or unfair in their billing rates and practices.
c. To avoid unfairly burdening the Crowd with unnecessary bills, I agree to pursue payment from any other liable sources (e.g. car insurance, MEC, etc.) for relevant health events before submitting my remaining medical expenses for crowdfunding.
a. I trust the Crowd to support me, but ultimately, I am responsible for my medical bills.
b. I understand that because CrowdHealth is not health insurance, there is no guarantee that my medical bills will be paid.
c. If I choose to leave the Crowd after having a major health expense that is paid for over multiple months, any unpaid balance of that bill will still be my responsibility upon leaving the CrowdHealth Community.
