About Jeff Gary
Jeff Gary serves as the CEO of OneShare Health. With more than 25 years of experience in the health care industry, he has served in a variety of health care capacities such as CEO and founder of The JMG Group and growth officer for OneShare Health. Jeff earned his B.A. in Economics from Vanderbilt University and his impressive career highlights to date include generating more than $130 million in new business revenue, increasing profitability by more than $440 million for his clients. Jeff has been instrumental in working with the C-level suite at various healthcare entities to develop and execute go-to-market strategies, executive mentorship, sales leadership, innovative product development guidance, and creative pricing models. Throughout his career, Jeff has represented companies such as WellPoint (Anthem), United Health Group, Teladoc Health (Pre IPO), and numerous start-up organizations. As the newly appointed CEO of OneShare Health, his goal is to build an organization that puts members first.
About OneShare Health
OneShare Health is an ACA-exempt, nonprofit, Christian Health Care Sharing Ministry (HCSM) based in Irving, Texas, that facilitates the sharing of medical expenses among individuals and families who are united by a set of shared religious beliefs. Health care sharing ministries are not traditional health insurance and do not accept risk or make guarantees regarding payment of bills submitted by members. Visit onesharehealth.com/en/.
Medical Travel & Digital Health News (MTDHN): How did you get into faith-based healthcare programs which is so interesting and compelling in the marketplace.
Jeff Gary (JG): I’ve been very blessed professionally and have reached a point in life where I want to spend my time and energy to help build a world-class service organization rooted in the belief in helping and caring for others.
When the opportunity to lead OneShare presented itself, and after meeting one-on-one with board members, it was clear that our philosophies were aligned. We are blessed to work with and serve like-minded people who share a common set of beliefs and commit to treating their bodies according to their faith and embracing a healthy lifestyle.
Medical Travel & Digital Health News (MTDHN): How does OneShare differ from other faith-based ministries?
JG: There are several differentiators:
Our Community, our Faith, and our Ministry are what truly makes us unique. OneShare Health is always searching for ways to give back to our faith-based Community. I would say we offer three compelling differentiators in the HCSM marketplace.
1) HCSM Leadership: We are a proud member of the Alliance of Health Care Sharing Ministries, an advocacy group of select ministries who develop sharing guidelines, which codify a mutually agreed-upon framework where Members understand what types of medical expenses are shareable, how the process works, understanding the obligations of Membership and what Members can expect when they need their bills shared by the Community.
2) Program Offerings & Cost: We offer a wide array of Programs to fit the needs of many Americans. We believe we offer the most comprehensive healthcare Programs available in our industry. In addition, we are affordably priced while offering popular services such as preventive services, telehealth, and behavioral health resources.
3) Technology: We are building the most advanced and scalable technology platform in the HCSM space. We are committed to improving the Member experience with all initiatives focused on our ‘better together’ mantra.
MTDHN: Tell us the process — how it works.
JG: We created an informative video explain how the process which can be found here.
MTDHN: Typically, what are the ranges of these monthly contributions?
JG: Our most popular programs range from $115 per month for individuals to $500 per month for families.
MTDHN: With your participating network, can people go in and out of network? How did you select your network providers? Are they credentialed?
JG: This is a great question. Given my consulting background for both large health insurance and start-up healthcare companies, I understand that a Provider Network is not a “one size fits all” proposition. We do offer a national NCQA-accredited network as well as a solution for those Members who choose the services of a non-participating provider. We will be building upon our provider access strategy to include the many innovative provider-centric solutions available in the market today.
MTDHN: So the members choose where they want to go, and they understand upfront when there are going to be out-of-pocket expenses?
JG: Absolutely. Our Programs clearly define all out-of-pocket expenses. In addition, each Member receives a detailed Member Guidebook outlining the specifics of each Program.
MTDHN: It sounds like you have a big staff.
JG: The OneShare Health family currently represents over 200 employees.
MTDHN: How many members do you currently have in the Program?
JG: We currently serve over 60,000 Members.
MTDHN: How do people learn about your ministry? Word of mouth?
JG: We have partnered with an external Producer community. As a result, many Producers from around the country have produced business for us. We are also expanding our internal development department to market our ministry to those states that do not allow for our external Producer channel. In addition, we recently launched our strategic development unit. This department is responsible for attracting various non-profit entities and strategic partnerships.
MTDHN: How do you address regulatory/compliance issues?
JG: We are governed by a strong regulatory and legal framework enacted by state & federal law applying to non-profit, tax-exempt charities, which are enforced by state Attorneys General, state tax authorities, and the IRS. The religious exercise of HCSMs and their Members is also robustly protected by the courts through religious liberty jurisprudence and state and federal Religious Freedom Restoration Acts.
MTDHN: Beyond the medical travel piece, tell us a little bit more about what you foresee regarding the role of telemedicine, digital solutions, remote patient monitoring, and other innovations that may be attractive to your members.
JG: These are very, very important components of our Program now and in the future. As mentioned, we currently offer telehealth services, and our Members are quite pleased with the convenience and the results. We continue to look for and are open to innovative consumer-facing solutions that will better our Members’ lives.
MTDHN: Is your business model focused solely on the United States or members, or is this available to people who live outside the country?
JG: OneShare Health is currently available in the U.S. We are looking to expand our offering to include people who live outside the country. This would consist of directly contracting with health care providers in other countries.
MTDHN: Is there an accreditation for this model?
JG: Interesting that you would mention this. We, along with other leading HCSMs, are currently leading an initiative to identify an independent accreditation entity for HCSMs to create industry standards and protocols.
MTDHN: Are there any specific groups that would find this opportunity attractive?
JG: I would start by saying our Programs are geared for those that are void of major Pre-Existing Conditions. We offer a unique alternative to the costly health insurance plans available in the market today. We are an ideal option for part-time employees, small business owners and their employees, independent contractors, freelancers, and college students.
MTDHN: What are your goals going forward?
JG: Simply put, to become a world-class service organization and serve our communities in providing a quality product at an advantageous price point. I look forward to enhancing the culture of the organization. We have implemented several new and exciting employee recognition programs, and we begin every leadership meeting with prayer.
We conduct monthly virtual town halls where we share with our employees the state of affairs, company initiatives, project status updates, departmental spotlights, celebrate wins, and announce and congratulate individual award winners.
Our goal is to continually improve the Member experience at every touchpoint. In my mind, when Members or Producers call into our Contact Center, they are not interested in who the leadership team is at OneShare; instead, they want their questions answered in a professional, knowledgeable, straightforward forward, and pleasant manner.