Liberty HealthShare Official Blog

At Liberty HealthShare, we are taking the essential steps to help us avoid any potential disruptions or inconveniences the coronavirus may cause in servicing our members.

As the Managing Editor here in Liberty HealthShare's Communications department, I spend my days writing blog posts, compiling our monthly newsletter, composing posts for our social media accounts, and editing written content. Throughout my professional life, I've dreamed of writing for a living, so this job is a lot of fun for me. As with all jobs, there is some stress associated with my work, but I manage just fine. I've learned that not all stress is a bad thing, especially if you're able to handle it and allow it to motivate you. Once in a while, though, the balance tips too far, and it's usually then that I get sick. In early March, I got married. The stress of wedding planning would have been manageable on its own, but with the added strain of a move and beginning a new job here at Liberty, I was pretty depleted. Add to that the fact that I am a stress eater who prefers cheese and coffee to salads and water, and I created the perfect storm for illness to take me down.

A few weeks ago, we sent an action update to our membership, inviting you to contact your congressmen concerning the language in the proposed American HealthCare Act. If you took the time to call or e-mail your Representative, we want to thank you.

If you are an active or pending Liberty HealthShare member who has opted to receive our occasional e-mails, you should have received a message from us regarding the following: This Thursday, the House of Representatives will vote on the American Health Care Act. We need your help. We are asking you to take a few minutes to call your Congressional Representative and urge him or her to advocate for language that supports healthcare sharing ministries in the bill.

Liberty HealthShare Executive Director Dale Bellis recently took the main stage at CPAC 2017 in Washington, DC, bringing a message about patient rights and freedom to a live audience of several thousand, and to countless online and television viewers.

Every year during open enrollment, Liberty HealthShare experiences even greater and faster growth than normal. Although we are not bound by this enrollment season, many Americans choose to join us at that time. This year was no exception to the rule, so we know a good number of you are new or relatively new members. If you are just joining us, no doubt you have some questions about the way membership works, how sharing is accomplished, and other concepts related to Liberty HealthShare.

After Liberty HealthShare Executive Director Dale Bellis' delivered a rousing speech at CPAC, he served as a panelist in a session entitled "Recovering from Obama Flu: What is the Prescription for Healthcare?" Dale's professional background made him an excellent addition to the panel, and his fellow panelists also contributed an impressive list of healthcare credentials with regard to both policy and administration. As the title suggests, this panel was focused on the healthcare legacy of President Obama; otherwise known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Dale and the other panelists had in common a focus on returning healthcare freedom to individuals as the best remedy for our current, broken system - an approach with which Liberty HealthShare members can wholeheartedly agree.

Liberty HealthShare is always looking for opportunities to stay informed about national developments and movements that impact us as a sharing community. One of the ways we accomplish this is by strategically choosing and attending conferences that touch on healthcare, policy, and faith. These events offer us a chance to gather important information and pass it along to our members, to interact with and educate change-makers in various arenas, and to meet and hear from people just like you who are also in attendance.

Most people know Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, but chocolate hearts aren’t the only ones occupying the spotlight this time of year. February also marks American Heart Month, which is a great time to commit (or recommit!) yourself to making choices that will positively impact your cardiovascular health.

The exponential increase we have seen in enrollments tells us we have clearly tapped into a nationwide hunger for healthcare freedom. With your continued engagement as cost-conscious consumers of healthcare, we hope to serve you and many others for years to come.

Welcome! After the holidays and year-end commitments, we're back with the last portion of our cold-weather series on maintaining and increasing health. We started with ideas for staying fit both outdoors and indoors, then shared recipes for winter squash, cruciferous vegetables, baked goods, soups and stews, and roasted foods. Today we continue this series with ideas to protect and improve your mental and emotional health despite the cold and limited daylight. Stay tuned for more. Well, you made it through the busyness of the holidays. Now a good portion of the country faces the long stretch of winter, featuring dull, gray days, long nights, and very little in the way of holidays or time away from work to look forward to. If you fall into this category, the uphill climb to springtime and sunshine can be a rough one, but it doesn't have to be unbearable.

Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe the holidays are already in the rearview mirror, isn’t it? I hope you were able to spend some of that time making memories with your loved ones and getting some rest. I hope you were also able to prioritize your health in the midst of all the parties, food, and social engagements. If not, don’t give up. There’s no time like the present to hit the “reset button”, from diet to fitness, from rest to stress management. You might not realize that there is a widely available product that can positively impact multiple facets of your health. It’s not a fad or a gimmick. As a matter of fact, it’s ancient and usually quite affordable. It’s tea. January is hot tea month, so let’s learn a little more about this common beverage.

Last month, we sent an e-mail to our membership in celebration of the fact that Liberty HealthShare had just achieved a milestone. In mid-December, our membership surpassed 100,000 people. It’s hard to believe that since then, we’ve added over 10,000 more individuals to our community!

Throughout the course of your enrollment and membership in Liberty HealthShare, you have likely noticed that we use terminology that is specific to our organization and work. There are several reasons we choose to communicate in the way we do.

What Liberty HealthShare Members Need To Know Claiming your exemption as a member of a healthcare sharing ministry is a relatively simple process.

Hi there! Thanks for joining us. We’ve spent the last few weeks exploring ways you can pursue and increase your health as temperatures drop, and we’re continuing that blog series today. So far, we have touched on ways you can stay active outdoors and indoors. We have also shared recipes for winter squash, cruciferous vegetables, grains and baked goods, and soups and stews. We’re wrapping up the seasonal eating portion of this series today, but stay tuned as we’ll move on to discuss maintaining mental and emotional health as temperatures drop and days get shorter. We love summer for so many reasons, not least of which is the fact that cooking operations can be moved outside. You can’t beat that grilled flavor, plus it’s always nice to be able to avoid heating up the kitchen by using a range or oven. But it’s fall now, and apart from some brave souls, most people move meal prep back indoors. Fortunately, oven-roasting achieves similar results, yielding foods that are low in calories and big on flavor.

One of the most rewarding parts of my work here at Liberty HealthShare is getting to see members graduate from our HealthTrac program. If you aren’t familiar with HealthTrac, it is a program for those sharing members who enroll in Liberty HealthShare with certain pre-existing conditions that can be improved with lifestyle change. These chronic conditions include diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity, and tobacco use. At the added cost of $80 per month, and provided these members are willing to make the changes necessary to achieve a healthier lifestyle, they are then matched up with a health coach who will work with them, setting realistic, tailored objectives that work for their unique situation.

The holidays can be hectic. Between parties, hosting family and friends, shopping, cooking, and trying to actually enjoy this time, you’ve got more than enough on your plate. So when you or your child come down with the flu or badly burn a finger trying to make your grandmother’s candy recipe, it can feel like the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Hi there! If you are just joining us, we are midway through a blog series on health during colder weather. We’ve already talked about pursuing fitness through outdoor and indoor activities, and we’ve also covered ideas for eating seasonally with winter squash, cruciferous vegetables, and baked goods. Keep checking back here for more recipes and tips for protecting and increasing your mental and emotional health as the days grow shorter and colder. Healthy eating influencers often tout the benefits of eating seasonally. By thi,s they mean eating those things that are in season in your part of the world; those fruits and vegetables that can reasonably be considered fresh. But if you live in a part of the country where temperatures are on a downward trend right now, the list of things that are “in season” is shrinking by the day.

Thanks for joining us! We’re about halfway through a blog series on ways to prioritize your health during the fall and winter. So far we’ve detailed some ideas for both indoor and outdoor exercise as well as seasonal eating tips using winter squash and cruciferous vegetables. Keep checking back for more recipes and additional tips on keeping yourself mentally and emotionally healthy throughout the autumn months. During the autumn, bread and pastries infused with cinnamon, caramel, and pumpkin (just to name a few flavors) are on display at every bakery, coffee shop, and café. At home, Thanksgiving tables groan under bread and pies, and we start baking cookies because after all, this is the time of year for it. There’s no denying these baked goods are a delicious way to celebrate the season, but indulging has its consequences.

In this short video, Liberty HealthShare Executive Director Dale Bellis re-establishes our mission and commitment looking ahead.

Welcome! If you’re just joining us, you have arrived in the middle of a blog series on improving and maintaining your health during the fall and winter. We’ve already covered some ideas for staying active in colder weather, both indoors and outdoors, as well as recipes for winter squash. Stay tuned for more delicious seasonal recipes and ways to protect your mental and emotional health as the days get shorter. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and everywhere you look, comfort foods will start to threaten your best intentions. Before you give up on being able to have the things you love, we’d like to suggest redefining comfort food to mean flavorful and satisfying, rather than fattening.

Over the next several months, we're covering a variety of ways to maintain your health during the colder months. We've already looked at some fun ways you and your family can keep moving both outdoors and indoors. Looking ahead, keep an eye out for seasonal recipes and tips for supporting your emotional and mental health as temperatures drop. You’re trying to get or stay on-track during the fall. Does that mean the delicious flavors of the season are off-limits? Not at all! A surefire way to keep sugar and fat consumption under control is to simply plan ahead.

Welcome! We’re in the middle of a series on fall and winter wellness. Check back here for ideas for managing your diet, staying active, and reducing stress as the holidays approach. In our last post, we covered some ways we can prioritize fitness by fighting the urge to hibernate and instead enjoying autumn’s many opportunities for physical activity. Now that the days are getting shorter and temperatures continue to drop, it’s even more important that we find ways to keep moving indoors as well.

Last year, Liberty HealthShare member Christine Lloyd visited her doctor when she became unwell. What she thought was a simple cold was actually the beginning of a health spiral that left her in the ICU, fighting for her life. Watch Christine's husband Norman share their story.

If you love someone who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, you might already know that November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. Raising awareness about this devastating disease is a mission I personally care deeply about because it is what took my grandfather’s life. Throughout the course of his illness, I watched as this once-loving man slowly became withdrawn and angry, ultimately unable to care for himself. The effects of his disease threatened to tear my family apart.

If you have been a Liberty HealthShare member for a while, you might already know how to submit a bill or receipt through your online ShareBox. You also may or may not have encountered an issue with what's known as "balance billing." For those of you who are new to Liberty, or if you simply are not familiar with these two topics, here’s a quick refresher:

Members of healthcare sharing ministries are a unique breed. We are determined to protect our individual liberties, and yet we have committed ourselves to sharing with this community. These two behaviors may seem incongruous to some, but we believe they go hand in hand. For many of us, it is our individual freedom that compels us to share with others as they share with us. We want others to remain free as well. Participating in elections is one of the main ways we preserve and protect our unalienable rights.