California orders religious-based health care sharing ministry to stop selling member plans [The Sacramento Bee]

Sacramento Bee (CA)

The Department of Insurance Monday ordered a health care company to stop selling membership plans in California saying it was not licensed to do so.

Jericho Share operates as a health care sharing ministry, meaning it is made up of a group of people with common religious, or other, beliefs who decide to split medical expenses among members.

Joining one of those organizations can exempt residents from the state’s individual health insurance mandate. Jericho Share, however, is not eligible for the tax break, according to the department.

Several Californians who became members in 2021 and 2022 told the agency they had problems with their coverage and canceling their membership, the department’s cease and desist order said.

Jericho Share was not licensed to sell insurance in the state. Yet the company marketed services that are similar to traditional insurance coverage regulated by the agency, according to the order.

Company representatives did not respond to emails requesting comment. Efforts to reach them by phone were unsuccessful.

At the bottom of its website, Jericho Share says it is not an insurance company.

“I believe every member has a fundamental and religious right to worship God in their own way,” begins its mission statement. “I believe it is my religious and ethical obligation to share in the burden of others when they need assistance according to my current resources and opportunities.”

Along with not selling memberships, the department ordered the company to stop advertising and collecting money associated with its plans.

Jericho Share has seven days to ask for a hearing on the matter, the order said.

An unidentified department spokesperson declined to answer emailed questions about the company’s response, the allegations and the number of residents who are members, because it was “an ongoing legal matter.”

The agency official would only say the order “was issued to stop the unlicensed transaction of insurance.”

Jericho Share has drawn the ire of at least one other state regulator.

Last year, the North Dakota attorney general ordered the company to pay restitution to 75 people following an investigation.

Residents in the state had accused the business of making false promises about its coverage of medical conditions and expenses. The attorney general said the company had created a false impression that it was selling health insurance.