Sharing memberships
Zion and Phoenix, compared
CoreMed offers two sharing communities for the big medical needs your clinic membership does not handle. Neither is insurance. They look alike in the one number everybody compares, and they differ in the places that decide whether a bill actually gets shared.
What each one is
Zion HealthShare
The sharing community behind CoreMed Catastrophic and Comprehensive since the beginning, and what most of our members are on today. A nonprofit sharing community, not an insurer. You pay a set amount per medical need, and the community shares what is eligible above it. Preventive sharing, a pharmacy discount and virtual care are optional add-ons rather than built in.
Zion’s board has approved updated guidelines that take effect on 1 January 2027, along with a contribution increase.
Read the rules: how sharing works · what you pay per need · conditions you had before joining · maternity · what is not shared · submitting a request
- Three amounts per medical need: $1,250, $2,500 or $5,000
- Preventive sharing available as an add-on
- Pharmacy discount and virtual care as add-ons
- A home birth route from 1 January 2027
- Physical therapy capped from 1 January 2027
Phoenix HealthShare
The newer option, administered by Planstin, available on CoreMed memberships alongside Zion. Also a sharing community and also not insurance. The same three amounts per medical need, and a Care Coordination discount that lowers what you pay when you let them arrange the care.
The base membership does not share routine preventive care, mental health, retail prescriptions, vision or hearing aids. Most of that your CoreMed Primary membership already handles at your clinic, which is worth knowing before the list worries you.
Read the rules: what Phoenix is · the sharing rules in detail · the preventive add-on · the Rx add-on
- The same three amounts per medical need
- Care Coordination lowers what you pay per need
- Eight months to submit, rather than six
- No routine preventive care on the base membership, sold as a paid add-on
- No mental health, vision or hearing aids. Retail prescriptions only as a paid add-on
Which one fits your household?
Seven questions, about a minute. It gives you a straight answer and tells you what it is basing that on.
Where they differ
Each side read from its own published guidelines. Where we have not seen the governing document, it says so rather than guessing.
| Zion | Phoenix | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Zion HealthShare, a nonprofit sharing community. | Phoenix HealthShare, administered by Planstin. |
| Conditions you had before joining | Nothing in year one. Up to $25,000 a request in year two, $50,000 in year three, $125,000 in year four, then $125,000 per 12 months. | Nothing for the first 12 months. Up to $50,000 across all of them in months 13 to 24. Normal sharing from month 25. |
| Deadline to submit | Six months from the date of service. | Eight months from the date of service. |
| Before maternity is eligible | Conception after six months of continuous membership. Memberships through an employer skip the wait. | The delivery itself has to be at least 12 months after your membership starts. |
| Home birth or birthing center | From 1 January 2027, uses your household amount rather than the maternity one, with sharing capped at $9,000. | No equivalent in the Phoenix guidelines. |
| Physical therapy, chiropractic, massage | From 1 January 2027, capped at $7,500 or 35 treatments per medical need. | Physical therapy tied to an eligible medical need is shared. No separate cap in the guidelines. |
| A discount for coordinating care | None that we have found in the guidelines. | Using Care Coordination lowers what you pay per need to $750, $1,500 or $3,500. Skipping it on non-emergency hospital care can add $500. |
| Routine preventive care | A paid add-on. $175 on the annual provider visit, $600 on a mammogram from 40, $5,000 on a colonoscopy every ten years from 45, youth immunizations at CDC rates to age 18. | A paid add-on. $250 on the annual visit, $600 on a mammogram from 40, Cologuard or a Care Coordinated colonoscopy from 45, routine immunizations for adults and children. |
| Everyday prescriptions | A paid add-on (RxShare). | A paid add-on. Five tiers, from $5 generics to variable pricing on specialty, then a sharing credit of up to $350 a month at retail or $750 per 90-day mail order. |
| Mental health | Not on Zion's list of exclusions. Ask us before you rely on it. | Not shared on the base membership. |
| Tobacco or cannabis | Adds $50 per household membership. | Adds $75 a month. |
| What it costs | See the quote calculator. 2027 contributions rise on 1 January. | Runs lower than Zion. See the quote calculator. |
Where they are identical
This is the part that catches people out. A lower monthly amount on terms that look the same is not the same as a better deal, because the rules around these numbers are where the two actually part company.
| Zion | Phoenix | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay per medical need | $1,250 / $2,500 / $5,000 | $1,250 / $2,500 / $5,000 |
| Most of those in a rolling 12 months | Three | Three |
| Maternity amount | $2,500 / $2,500 / $5,000 | $2,500 / $2,500 / $5,000 |
| Look-back on your history | 24 months | 24 months |
| Washington residents | Not eligible | Not eligible |
| Is it insurance | No | No |
Two things neither table can tell you
Switching restarts the clock. Neither community credits time you have already served on the other. If you move, every waiting period starts again from your new start date, including the one on anything in your medical history. For a member several years into a membership, that is usually the whole decision.
What it costs you specifically. Contributions depend on ages, household size and the amount you choose, so there is no useful single number. The quote calculator is the honest answer, and it carries both.
Still not sure?
Message us and a person in Montana will go through it with you. If you are already a member, your own plan and price are in your portal.
See what each one costs Log in to the member portal