Frequently Asked Questions

Step 1: Join - Members pay a low monthly Membership fee to be part of CrowdHealth.

Step 2: Go to the Doctor - You go to the doctor, ask for the cash price, and pay the bill.
**For emergency events, let us know before you pay your bill. We can facilitate negotiation on your behalf for emergency bills before you pay them.

**For planned labs, imaging, or procedures, let us know before you schedule. We can pre-negotiate fair rates for you and the Crowd ahead of time.

Step 3: Submit Your Bills - Submitting bills is super simple. Just snap a photo, upload to the mobile app, and hit Submit!

Step 4: CrowdFund - CrowdHealth facilitates Member funding requests, so bills are crowdfunded smoothly and quickly.

Advocacy Fee
All members pay a $55/month advocacy fee. This includes access to cash-pay tools and support from your Care Advocacy team to help navigate and manage your health events.

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‍Crowdfunding Contributions
Crowdfunding contributions are billed separately each month based on medical bills submitted by the Crowd. While amounts vary, the monthly maximums are:

• Ages 0–54: Up to $140 per member
• Ages 55–64: Up to $280 per member
• Families (4+ members): Up to $420 per family

This way, you can budget confidently knowing your contribution helps the community within predictable limits.

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Member Commitment
‍Members are responsible for the first $500 of eligible health events ($3,000 for eligible maternity events) before bills can be submitted for crowdfunding.

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Almost! The Crowd is not currently open to tobacco users (defined as daily use for a period of 3 or more months, past or present) or those who weigh over 220/260 pounds (female/male). We want the Crowd to be a place for anyone looking to improve their health and contribute generously through crowdfunding, so we hope to add options for more people with varied health histories soon.

For previously diagnosed or documented health conditions, no costs associated with the condition(s) are eligible for crowdfunding in the first or second year. Starting in the third year of Membership, up to $25K to bills per year related to previously diagnosed or documented health condition(s) may be submitted for crowdfunding.

The CrowdHealth platform is designed to maximize the probability that all Members’ eligible bills can be funded each month. For big, planned bills (like expensive surgeries), we’ll negotiate the cost to a 30-60% discount before the procedure event happens. For big emergency bills, we'll work with our partners to negotiate them after the fact. There is no maximum amount of health care costs you can share with the Community.

Examples of procedures and treatments that are not eligible for funding include (but are not limited to): cosmetic procedures, long-term prescriptions, and fertility/infertility treatments. Procedures and treatments tied to a pre-existing conditions are not eligible for funding in the first and second years of your Membership, and funding is limited in subsequent years. Read more under Caring Abundantly in the Member Guide.

When you go to the doctor for a standard appointment, ask for the cash price and pay the bill. For health events greater than $500, you commit to funding the first $500 and can submit a funding request to CrowdHealth for anything over that amount.

For scheduled services, like labs, imaging, or surgeries, let us know ahead of time. We can contact your doctor and help negotiate pricing before you go.

For emergencies, let us know before you pay your bill. Our partners can help you negotiate your emergency bill before it's paid.

Check out why CrowdHealth isn't insurance here.

CrowdHealth does not limit your access to care through stifling doctor networks. As a Member, you can keep seeing your favorite doc, or talk to your Care Advocate if you need help finding a new high-quality provider.

No, your CrowdHealth Membership does not satisfy a federal or state individual Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) mandate. If you live in a state (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.

One annual wellness event per Member per year, costing up to $300, is eligible for crowdfunding without the initial $500 Member Commitment. Eligible wellness events include:

• primary care wellness exam/physical, including naturopathy;
• pediatric well-child visits;
• direct primary care (DPC) membership fee;
• annual female gynecological exam and labs;
• dental exam, including cleaning and X-rays; or
• vision exam.

Member maternity care that is eligible for funding by the Crowd includes your whole pregnancy through your baby's birth and beyond. All three phases of pregnancy care (prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum) are represented in a single Global Pregnancy health event with a $3000 Member Commitment.

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Your child’s standard newborn care (first six months) is a separate health event from maternity with a $500 Member Commitment and is included in the baby’s Membership when added as a new Member after birth. If your baby gets sick or has complications at birth, the illness or injury will be treated as a separate health event from this newborn wellness health event.

Since CrowdHealth isn’t insurance, you cannot contribute to an HSA to fund your Membership. This may be an option in the future, in the meantime, and you can still expect to save hundreds to thousands of dollars a year on your health costs. If you have existing money in an HSA account, you could use that to pay for your medical bills that fall within the $500 Member Commitment (each Member pays up to $500 per unique health event before expenses are submitted for crowdfunding). However, existing HSA dollars could not be used to pay your monthly Membership fee or contributions to CrowdHealth.

Prescriptions related to a specific health event that occurs while you are a Member are eligible for funding by the Community for 120 days after that event. Prescriptions lasting longer than 120 days are not eligible for crowdfunding, but regardless of the timeline, you have access to our pharmacy discount partner, which can reduce your prescription costs by 50-60%.