United Refuah HealthShare
Jewish health-care sharing ministry. Claims succession from Maysville Fellowship Medical Aid Plan. Not insurance.
- Editorial score
- 71
- Methodology
- 2026.2
- Reviewed
- 2026-09-01
Health sharing is not insurance. Programs are not legally required to pay medical expenses and do not have to provide Affordable Care Act protections. NAIC consumer guidance.
Identity and structure
We separate the consumer brand from the organization that actually administers sharing, so two white labels of one program cannot look like two independent choices.
- Consumer brand
- United Refuah
- Underlying sharing organization
- United Refuah HealthShare (successor to Maysville Fellowship Medical Aid Plan)
- Program administrator
- United Refuah HealthShare
- Underlying program group
- united-refuah-core
- Membership standard
- Jewish / shared-beliefs standard
- Sharing model
- Health-care sharing ministry
- Directory status
- Enrolling
- State exclusions (verified)
- No verified exclusion list
- Operating since
- 2018
- CMS-named HCSM
- Yes — named among the large federal HCSMs
Best for
- Jewish households looking for a faith-aligned share
Not ideal for
- Anyone needing guaranteed payment
- Readers treating it as a generic secular share
Program facts
- Monthly share
- Single / couple / family monthly contributions are printed in the August 16, 2024 guidelines. We do not republish those dollars as a quote — confirm the current schedule.
- Member responsibility (IUA)
- Annual PreShare ($500 single / $1,000 couple / $1,500 family in the 2024 book) then 20% CoShare to a household cap. Pregnancy responsibility applies on Single and Couple memberships.
- Household pricing
- Single, couple, family (up to six, then a published add-on). Changing size can reset PreShare/CoShare.
- State availability
- Confirm current geographic rules. New enrollment generally under age 64.
- Pre-existing conditions
- 36-month lookback. Year one ineligible; $25,000 in years two and three; year four may lift the limit. High-dollar drug sharing stays ineligible for the life of the membership. Undisclosed conditions can be waived or terminated.
- Waiting / phase-in
- First 60 days: acute illness/accident/injury only, $25,000 per member. That cap can follow the incident for the life of the membership.
- Maternity
- Eligible pregnancies must be prenotified. Single and Couple memberships carry an extra pregnancy responsibility; Family does not.
- Preventive
- Preferred primary / urgent / telemedicine visits are described as not subject to PreShare and CoShare. Not an ACA mandate.
- Prescriptions
- High-dollar drugs tied to a pre-existing condition are lifetime-ineligible.
- Virtual care
- Named as a preferred-visit channel. Confirm current partners.
- Provider access
- Typically any provider. Allowed amount capped at 150% of Medicare in the 2024 book. Prenotify hospital and maternity admissions within 48 hours.
- Limits
- $1,000,000 per incident over the membership lifetime.
- Membership requirements
- Jewish by Halachic law, shared Jewish beliefs, and a Jewish lifestyle. Healthy-lifestyle attestation.
- Cancellation
- Ministry membership rules. Reapplication restarts new-member limits.
How this score was built
| Dimension | Weight | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Sharing scope and material limitations Halachic Jewish membership. $1,000,000 per incident lifetime. First 60 days limited to acute needs at $25,000. Pre-existing: 36-month lookback, year-one ineligible, $25,000 in years two and three, then year four. | 20 | 70 |
| Cost and member responsibility Published Annual PreShare and 20% CoShare caps by household size, plus a pregnancy responsibility on Single and Couple memberships. Monthly contribution figures in the PDF are not a quote. | 20 | 72 |
| Transparency and guideline clarity August 16, 2024 guidelines are public and detailed, including waivers and Medicare-secondary rules at 65. | 20 | 74 |
| Member support and advocacy Documented reimbursement and prenotification (440-772-0700). Smaller public footprint than the Alliance majors. | 15 | 68 |
| Provider access and included services Typically any provider, subject to prenotification and a 150% of Medicare allowed-amount cap. | 10 | 70 |
| Administration and operating history CMS-named. Claims succession from Maysville Fellowship Medical Aid Plan. 501(c)(3). | 10 | 76 |
| Evidence freshness and completeness Reviewed the August 16, 2024 guidelines on 2026-09-01. A 2025/2026 revision was not found. | 5 | 68 |
Known limitations
- Jewish-by-Halacha membership is a hard filter, not a scoring penalty.
- Guideline PDF includes monthly contribution figures; this catalog does not republish them as a quote.
- SourceUnited Refuah Sharing Guidelines (August 16, 2024)Effective 2026-09-01Reviewed 2026-09-01
- SourceUnited Refuah — how reimbursement worksEffective 2026-09-01Reviewed 2026-09-01