Health Insurance for the Self Employed
Health insurance for the self employed shouldn't
be a "luxury expense". Although your
costs may be higher, there are some advantages
to obtaining a self-employed health insurance
plan. We'll help you sort out your options.
Here are four common situations & solutions
for the self employed health
insurance :
Case: 1 - You're a one-man (or one-woman!) show,
and don't foresee your employee roster growing
in the near future. In this case, your best bet
is probably a standard individual or family
policy. You can choose from both indemnity and
managed care plans. You can join associations
like National Association for the self-employed
(NASE), National Federation for the Independent
Business (NFIB), American Association for the
Retired Professionals (AARP), National Small
Business Association (NSBA), Sam's Club,
American for Financial Security (AFS), Alliance
For Affordable Services, National Business
Association (NBA), Heart Land Association of
America (Farm and Ranch Health Care System /
United American ), and so many others. You need
to consider the size of the group, and also find
out the balance of power between the
associations and the insurance companies.
Case: 2 - If you're working on your own,
but see that changing in the near future
(whether you'll be hiring more help or expect to
be hired by a larger organization yourself), a
temporary policy might be an option. These plans
are fairly inexpensive, however they are not
guaranteed renewable after 6 months or a year.
If you get a bad disease, you can become
uninsurable and land up with no coverage after 6
months or so.
Case: 3 - Health insurance for the self
employed plus a few employees is a more
complicated matter. If you employ between 2 and
50 people, chances are you can get a group
health insurance plan. However, our experience
is that they do not underwrite you, hence they
start with a low rate, however once they figure
out you have a cancer or a stroke victim in the
group, the premium goes up significantly. In
this scenario, you do not get the benefit of
your good health, but gets penalized for hiring
sick employees.
Case: 4 - Finally, there's health
insurance for self employed individuals who fall
somewhere in between, (a business run by you and
your spouse, for example). These special
situations have to be evaluated on a case-by
case basis. Keep reading for more information on
how to choose a policy in these situations.
Self employed health
insurance costs and
benefits :
- Health care coverage isn't cheap. And
unfortunately, that can be especially true in
the case of insurance plans for the self
employed. Insurance is least expensive when
rates and care are pooled among a large group of
people. The larger the group, the more evenly
the risk is spread, and the lower the individual
premiums.
-
Health insurance for the self employed doesn't
fall into this category. Meaning that you can
expect the coverage to cost more, especially if
your business consists of just you or you plus a
couple of others. You can use the options of
joining an association health plan to be part of
a large group that bands across the 50 states of
the USA.
-
Also, the situation is improving. As of 2004,
self employed health insurance costs are now
100% tax deductible from your Federal income
tax. However, as a self-employed you also have
to pay another 15% self-employment and other
applicable state taxes, and deduction from
self-employment taxes is not automatic. You need
to qualify for the IRS code 105. If you do, then
all your health insurance deductibles,
co-insurance are also 100% deductible from your
income and self-employment taxes.
- Another recent improvement is the growing number
of health care options. Insurers are starting to
offer plans that combine elements of
fee-for-service plans, together with managed
policies, so that you (and your employees) won't
have to choose between good cost and good care.
What type of health
insurance should you get ?
- Whether you get regular or group coverage
depends largely on the type and size of your
business.
-
But the type of health plan you buy depends
mostly on you, and what you feel is most
important about coverage and cost. If you need a
lot of help with choosing a plan, start with the
information in this site where you'll find
answers to the most common questions about
health insurance.
-
Next, check out the guide to finding affordable
health insurance as well as our detailed look at
the many types of health plans available. There
is a lot to learn !
Get self employed health
insurance quotes or
more help !
The most important thing to keep in mind is
that, even for the self employed, health
insurance should not be an afterthought. Should
you fall ill, it will be too late to look for
coverage. Start now.
This site is the largest online health
insurance marketplace (so other people must like them
too). We offer all types of plans, which mean
that you can get individual quotes, group
quotes, and temporary quotes online offline from
most of the health insurance companies doing
business in your states.
No matter what your needs, we can most likely
help you. The application is fast and easy, and
you will have quotes within seconds.
|
