Healthshares in Utah — Why Cost-Conscious Utah Families Are Choosing a Different Path
Utah has some of the largest families in the country. It also has a deep cultural familiarity with community-based support models. If you’re a healthy Utah family paying $1,500 or more per month for marketplace health insurance you rarely use beyond annual checkups and well-child visits, there’s an alternative that’s been around for over 40 years. We explain the full model in our companion video.
Utah Has No Individual Mandate
Utah does not penalize residents for not carrying traditional health insurance. There’s no state-level individual mandate. The federal penalty was eliminated in 2019. Utah residents are free to explore healthcare alternatives without any tax penalty risk.
What Is a Healthshare?
A healthshare is a community of members who contribute monthly to share each other’s medical expenses. It is not insurance. It’s not regulated like insurance. Members make contributions instead of paying premiums, submit sharing requests instead of claims, and have an Initial Unshareable Amount (IUA) instead of a deductible.
The healthshare model has existed since the early 1980s, when a congregation in Ohio pooled money to cover a pastor’s medical bills after a car accident. The concept grew from there. Today there are multiple healthshare organizations across the country. Zion HealthShare, the one we’re affiliated with, is based right here in Utah. It’s been operating since 2019. It’s a nonprofit, not faith-based, and open to everyone.
Why Healthshares Fit Utah
Utah has the highest birth rate in the nation. Large families mean large healthcare costs. A family of five or six on an unsubsidized marketplace plan can easily pay $1,500 to $2,500 per month in premiums alone — before copays, deductibles, or prescriptions. For healthy families who rarely use the system beyond routine care, that’s a staggering amount of money for something you hope you never need.
Zion HealthShare family memberships start around $295 per month. The savings for a large, healthy Utah family can exceed $10,000 annually. That’s money that goes back into your household instead of into premiums you never use.
Utah also has a large self-employed and small business population. From Salt Lake City’s tech corridor to St. George’s growing entrepreneurial scene, people are buying health insurance on their own and paying full price. A healthshare gives them a structured way to handle major medical costs at a fraction of the marketplace price.
Zion HealthShare also offers maternity sharing. For Utah families planning to grow, maternity expenses can be shared through the community with a standard maternity IUA. That’s a meaningful benefit in a state where family planning is a real financial consideration.
And Utah residents are already familiar with community-based models. The concept of pooling resources to help each other isn’t foreign here. A healthshare fits naturally into how many Utah families already think about mutual support.
How It Works
You choose your IUA: $1,250, $2,500, or $5,000. When you have a medical need, you pay your IUA. The community then shares 100% of remaining eligible expenses based on the member guidelines. There is no annual or lifetime maximum sharing limit built into the program guidelines. No household pays more than three IUAs in any rolling 12-month period.
Preventive services like annual provider visits are eligible for sharing without meeting your IUA first, subject to the member guidelines. Unlimited virtual primary care visits are included. There are no network restrictions — you can see any provider in Utah or anywhere else. Some providers may ask you to pay upfront since a healthshare isn’t insurance. You then submit expenses for sharing afterward.
What It Doesn’t Cover
Mental health treatment and medications are not eligible for sharing. Members may access acute counseling through Primestin Care, an additional virtual service.
Pre-membership medical conditions have a phase-in period. Year one is a waiting period. Year two allows up to $25,000 per sharing request. Year three, $50,000. Year four and beyond, $125,000. The maximum resets each membership year.
A healthshare is not insurance. There is no guarantee of sharing. It’s a voluntary arrangement based on member guidelines and community funds. If you have serious ongoing medical needs, traditional health insurance is likely the better path. Review the member guidelines carefully before enrolling.
See the Numbers
If you want to see what your monthly contribution would look like, visit our Zion HealthShare page. It takes about 30 seconds to plug in your household information. Zion also has a live chat on their site for specific questions.
And if you’re the kind of person exploring a healthshare, make sure the rest of your financial protection is solid too. We serve homeowners, landlords, and business owners across Utah. Learn more about our Utah insurance services, or check out our Google reviews to see what our clients say. We also have videos on umbrella insurance and entities and insurance on our channel.
