HealthShares can have strict membership requirements regarding who can and cannot join, which can depend on religious or ethical beliefs, or lifestyle choices.

Although there may be a health share for everyone, not every health share is for everyone. Health shares have membership requirements, which are rules and criteria members need to follow in order to join. These vary from religious requirements (some health shares require members to agree with their religious beliefs to join) to health and lifestyle requirements (health shares require members disclose any pre-existing conditions, as well as drug, tobacco, and alcohol use before they are considered for membership).

Health shares tobacco users can not join

Because of the health risks and potential medical expenses incurred by smokers, many health shares do not allow tobacco users to join.

These health shares featured on our site do not allow tobacco users to join:

  • Altrua HealthShare
  • Christian Healthcare Ministries
  • Liberty HealthShare
  • Medi-Share
  • Samaritan Ministries
  • United Refuah HealthShare

Health shares tobacco users may join, with conditions

Others, however, allow tobacco users to join conditionally.

These health shares featured on our site allow tobacco users to join:

  • OneShare Health
    • Conditions related to smoking are not shareable
  • Solidarity HealthShare
    • Members cannot abuse tobacco
  • Sedera
    • $75 additional contribution per month
    • $25,000 sharing limit for certain conditions (for tobacco users)
  • Zion HealthShare
    • $50 additional contribution per household, per month

What to expect from health shares that allow smokers to join

Of the four health shares featured on this site that do allow members to smoke, two of them, Sedera and Zion HealthShare, charge tobacco surcharges each month (per household):

  • Sedera charges an extra $75 per month per household for tobacco users
  • Zion HealthShare charges an extra $50 per month per household for tobacco users

Additionally, Sedera also places a $25,000 limit on sharing for the following conditions:

  • Cancer
  • Respiratory disease
  • Vascular disease including coronary disease and stroke
  • Oral and Esophageal disease
  • Gastric and Duodenal ulcers

Solidarity does not charge a monthly surcharge for tobacco users, but they do stipulate that members should abstain from the excessive use of tobacco, alcohol, and all illicit/illegal drugs. Since Solidarity does not specifically define tobacco abuse, we would encourage members who use tobacco and are interested in their health share to contact them and ask.

OneShare Health allows tobacco users to join, but does not share in conditions caused by or related to the use of tobacco.

Conclusion

Members who use tobacco should carefully research their health share’s guidelines regarding smoking. Lying about tobacco use could result in your membership being terminated. While the options of health share are more limited for tobacco users, they still have viable options for healthsharing communities.