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There is a serious problem with health insurance in America.
Over 200,000 Americans each year are driven into bankruptcy after a medical event, even though many of them had health insurance. On average, about 20% of claims are denied altogether, leaving families stranded. And that’s before factoring in the out-of-pocket costs people face after paying thousands of dollars every year in premiums and deductibles.
But what if there were a better option?
Amid all of this, a new model has emerged that is resulting in nearly 100% of medical bills being funded, often at a fraction of the cost.
It’s called CrowdHealth.
With more than 28,000 members helped, a 99.9% funding success rate, and over $56 million in medical bills saved, this alternative approach to health care is gaining momentum across the country. And more people need to know this option exists for them and their families.
Andy Schoonover joins us now to discuss.
Andy began the conversation by sharing the moment that completely changed how he saw the healthcare system—and ultimately led him to start CrowdHealth.
At the time, he was paying about $1,100 to $1,200 a month for health insurance and believed his family was protected if anything serious happened. But that confidence vanished when his infant daughter developed severe pain from fluid buildup that ruptured her eardrum.
He did exactly what people are told to do. He followed the rules, used an in-network doctor, and followed through with the procedure the specialist recommended.
Then the bill arrived.
$8,000 for a 15-minute procedure.
That number alone was shocking. But the real blow came weeks later when his family’s plan refused to cover it, claiming the procedure was “medically unnecessary.”
Schoonover said the experience was almost impossible to process. His daughter had been “screaming bloody murder” before the procedure and was sleeping peacefully afterward. Still, the bureaucracy rejected the bill.
After two appeals went nowhere, the message became clear. The system wasn’t going to help.
So he wrote the check. And that moment became the breaking point.
“I was pretty ticked… so I went to my health insurance plan. I was like, I quit.”
From there, the conversation turned to what Andy believes is the real reason models like CrowdHealth face such fierce resistance.
He pointed to what he calls the “medical industrial complex,” a powerful network of insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms, hospital systems, and pharmacy benefit managers that largely control how healthcare functions today.
According to Andy, the current arrangement works extremely well for the organizations inside it. Over the past fifteen years, many of those companies have seen their stock prices surge even as costs for patients keep climbing.
So when a model appears that changes the way healthcare gets paid for, he says the reaction is almost automatic.
The scrutiny starts right away.
Andy explained that regulators have repeatedly accused CrowdHealth of operating as insurance, triggering investigations and audits that can cost between $50,000 and $100,000 each time. Despite that pressure, the company has passed every audit so far.
But he says the pushback shouldn’t surprise anyone when the system being challenged is worth trillions.
As he put it, “Any kind of disruption to the status quo they clearly don’t like… when somebody comes in and tries to disrupt what you’ve been doing, you kick and scream to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
He then broke down what he sees as the core problem built into the traditional system.
The business model, he explained, is surprisingly simple: companies collect money and then subtract whatever is sent out to pay medical bills. That setup creates a powerful incentive to raise premiums while reducing how many bills actually get paid.
“That incentivizes them to see premiums go up and the number of bills they pay go down,” he said.
Andy contrasted that approach with how CrowdHealth works. Instead of one centralized pool controlled by a company, the model separates the service component from the community funding component.
Members pay a $60 monthly membership that includes a personal care advocate and a negotiation team that works to reduce hospital bills. Then a second monthly contribution, up to $140, goes directly toward helping another member fund a medical bill.
For him, the most compelling part is the transparency. Rather than money disappearing into a massive bureaucracy, members can see exactly where it’s going.
“It’s really kind of cool because now I know where my money is going… it’s going directly to Mary who’s pregnant in Iowa.”
Maria wrapped up the interview with a story that captures exactly what the CrowdHealth model looks like when everything suddenly goes wrong.
Michael Eberhardt had planned nothing more than a peaceful fishing trip with his wife, Sam. They were visiting a quiet river near Lincoln, Montana, a place they had returned to for years. This trip felt even more special because Sam was pregnant with their first child.
Then, in an instant, everything changed.
Michael’s revolver slipped from its holster, struck a rock, and discharged. The bullet tore through his body, leaving six separate wounds as he collapsed into the river.
Within minutes, Michael was airlifted to a trauma center. What followed were weeks of surgeries, blood transfusions, and a brutal battle with sepsis that nearly claimed his life a second time.
By the time he stabilized, he had been treated at three different hospitals and spent weeks recovering.
And then came the part that haunts so many families after a medical emergency.
The bills.
A helicopter evacuation. Trauma care. Specialists. Extended hospital stays.
Michael estimated the total could reach somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million.
“At that point,” he said, “all I could think about was how much this was going to cost.”
But instead of facing that burden alone, he started uploading the bills into the CrowdHealth app. The team negotiated the charges down while members of the community stepped in to fund them.
Today he says he’s back to hiking, fishing, lifting weights, and preparing for life with his son.
Looking back, the experience reshaped how he sees everything.
“The model works,” he said. “We have power together.”
If there’s one undeniable lesson from America’s healthcare system, it’s this:
You can pay into it for years… and still be left on your own when something goes wrong.
Every year, more than 200,000 American families go bankrupt after a medical event—even though many of them were paying for traditional health insurance coverage.
And the reason is simple: the incentives are backwards.
In the traditional model, companies collect money every month and profit when fewer medical bills get paid. That means the system works best for them when your costs go up and their payouts go down.
That’s why so many families discover the truth about the system at the worst possible moment.
But a different model has quietly been growing across the country.
It’s called CrowdHealth.
Instead of sending money into a massive bureaucracy, CrowdHealth connects members in a community that helps fund each other’s medical bills directly.
When a medical event happens, members upload their bills through the app.
From there, a negotiation team works to reduce the charges—often by 70–80 percent—before the community steps in to fund the remaining amount.
Members also get a personal care advocate who helps navigate the process and fights on their behalf when hospitals try to inflate costs.
The results speak for themselves.
Since launching in 2021, CrowdHealth has helped tens of thousands of members, funded more than 35,000 medical bills, and saved members tens of millions of dollars in medical costs.
And right now, Daily Pulse viewers can get started in just minutes.
Visit joincrowdhealth.com/pulse and use code PULSE to receive a discounted membership for your first three months.
You may never need it.
But if something unexpected ever happens… you’ll be glad there’s a community standing behind you.
DISCLOSURE: This ad was paid for by CrowdHealth. Thank you for supporting our sponsors.
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