At ShareWELL, we believe members should have the freedom to choose how they heal. Some members follow traditional medical paths, while others pursue integrative or alternative treatments that better align with their values and beliefs. Our role is to support both choices while protecting the financial integrity of the community that makes sharing possible.
The Balance of Choice and Stewardship
Every member contributes to a shared pool of funds built on trust. That trust allows members to seek the care that best fits their individual health journeys, whether through conventional hospital treatment, holistic providers, or clinics outside the United States.
Freedom must be balanced with responsibility. Without clear guidelines, community funds could be quickly depleted by overlapping or experimental care. ShareWELL’s model ensures that members have access to meaningful support when it is truly needed while maintaining fairness and sustainability for the entire community.
Alternative Medicine for Serious Conditions
Alternative medicine includes care provided by nontraditional or international providers such as naturopaths, integrative physicians, or clinics outside the United States. These services often offer innovative, less invasive, and cost-effective approaches for serious conditions, including cancer, autoimmune disease, or chronic illness.
ShareWELL recognizes that alternative treatments can be just as effective, and often less costly, than traditional Western care. For serious conditions, Sharing Requests are reviewed and shared on an equitable basis with what the community would share toward conventional treatment.
For example, a member who chooses to receive integrative cancer treatment at a clinic in Mexico or Europe instead of chemotherapy or radiation may be eligible for equitable sharing once their Unshared Amount (UA) has been met. This approach preserves freedom of choice while ensuring fair and responsible use of community funds.
Requests for alternative treatment should include:
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Medical notes from a licensed prescribing provider
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Estimated costs or available upfront payment discounts
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An explanation of why the alternative treatment was selected instead of the traditional option
Alternative Testing and Nontraditional Treatments
ShareWELL also supports members exploring non-life-threatening conditions through functional or alternative approaches once they have met their Unshared Amount.
Members in their second year of membership may be eligible for:
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Up to $2,000 toward alternative testing used to determine a diagnosis, such as gut health analysis, celiac or hormone testing, skin condition assessments, fatigue evaluations, or Lyme disease testing.
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Up to $2,500 toward treatment of these conditions when there is no established traditional medical equivalent.
These allowances ensure members receive meaningful support for conditions that may not fit neatly into conventional care pathways while keeping the community’s sharing fiscally sustainable.
Recovery Therapies: Often Misunderstood
Many people associate alternative care with services like chiropractic or acupuncture. However, at ShareWELL, these therapies are typically considered part of Recovery Therapies and Treatments, not alternative medicine.
When prescribed for recovery from an acute injury or illness, chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage therapy, and physical therapy are eligible for up to $3,500 per Sharing Request once the Unshared Amount has been met. These therapies are considered standard components of recovery and generally do not require the documentation required for alternative medicine.
Holistic Maternity and Family Care
ShareWELL’s philosophy of freedom and stewardship also extends to maternity care. Members can choose natural and family-centered birth experiences that reflect their beliefs. Under the Prenatal and Postnatal Sharing Allowance, eligible services include midwives, doulas, home birth care, pelvic floor therapy, prenatal vitamins, lactation consultation, and postpartum counseling, with sharing up to $6,000 per maternity request. This reflects our broader view that holistic care can be embraced responsibly within a structured, community-based model.
Healing Together
At ShareWELL, we know healing is personal, but sharing is collective. Our guidelines for alternative and recovery care honor both individuality and stewardship.
By balancing compassion with accountability, we protect members’ freedom to choose traditional, alternative, or integrative care while ensuring that community resources remain strong for everyone.
Freedom in care works best when it is guided by fairness. That is how we share well and heal well together.