Shield Against High Costs
With Start Shield, you get added financial protection from large or unexpected medical bills with expert advocacy and assistance to help reduce your financial burden.
Peace of Mind Protection
Shield is designed to give you peace of mind when medical bills become large or unexpected. It focuses on serious, high-impact situations and works on your behalf through expert advocacy to review and negotiate bills. Additional assistance may be provided to further lower your financial burden—protecting you from excessive or unreasonable charges.
Shield Up, Worries Down
Start Shield is designed to help when medical bills become large or unexpected, working to address the balance bill portion of high-dollar charges. For planned procedures, such as surgeries, a pre-bill must be submitted in advance and care must be received from our approved providers to qualify for financial assistance. Emergency care is not subject to these terms and is always considered for assistance.
Once a pre-bill is received, our team reviews the bill, advocates on your behalf, and works directly with providers to negotiate charges, often reducing what you owe. If a balance bill still remains after advocacy, additional assistance is provided to further lower or eliminate your financial burden.
Your Questions, Answered.
How does Start Shield work with my Start Health policy?
Start Shield works alongside your Start Health policy to provide additional support in the event that eligible medical expenses exceed your base policy benefits. When a large or unexpected balance bill arises, Start Shield steps in to review, advocate, and work to reduce those remaining charges—helping lower your overall financial burden.
Who is eligible to enroll in Start Shield?
All members who are actively enrolled in a Start Health base policy are eligible to enroll in Start Shield. You can add Start Shield either:
- At Initial Enrollment: when applying for a new Start Health Base Policy, or
- At Renewal: during your annual renewal window after completing a 12-month policy period.
You might consider canceling your current policy and re-enrolling with Start Shield coverage if you haven’t utilized your Start Health coverage and are therefore not close to meeting your deductible (as you would start over with a clean slate when re-enrolling).
To enroll, you must also accept the required monthly contribution for Start Shield coverage. Note that Start Shield cannot be added mid-year to an existing base policy.
How much will I pay for Start Shield?
Start Shield is an additional 40% of your Start Health base policy’s premiums.
How do I qualify for Start Shield assistance?
Start Shield is designed to provide added financial protection for eligible serious accidents, unexpected major illnesses, and catastrophic events when a provider’s charges exceed your Start Health benefits.
Your Start Health benefits are always applied first. If an eligible balance remains after your deductible is met and your Start Health benefits are paid, our team reviews the charges, works with the provider to help negotiate the remaining balance, and determines whether the expense qualifies for Start Shield.
For eligible events, you are responsible for up to a $5,000 Member Commitment toward remaining balance bills. If care is received at a preferred provider or facility, the $5,000 Member Commitment is waived and Start Shield can help cover the full eligible remaining balance, up to the applicable Shield limit of $150,000 per eligible accident, illness, or catastrophic event.
Start Shield is intended for unexpected and significant medical events, such as a heart attack, stroke, serious auto accident, emergency surgery, or major trauma. It is not intended to provide additional benefits for routine healthcare, preventive care, or scheduled or elective services.
You can view our preferred providers and facilities here or contact our Support Team at (800) 894-9454 or support@starthealth.com.
