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Finding Your Own Health Insurance

12 points by theoneill 19y ago

johns 19y ago
The best insurance when you're self employed is your spouse's :-) I get medical + dental for $150/month directly from a major provider, which isn't unreasonable. It helps that I'm young and healthy though.
kingnothing 19y ago
I used ehealthinsurance.com to find a plan for myself when I got to college. I went with an HMO to keep costs down for myself, and really only bought it for "just in case" scenarios. On the other hand, most people don't seem to know that the vast majority of doctors are perfectly willing to negotiate rates with people who are uninsured. You're not going to get much of a break on your bill when you have a sore throat and need some antibiotics, but if you need an outpatient surgery, for example, you can expect steep reductions. I was in that situation and the surgeon cut his rate in half and charged me nothing for any follow up office visits, which went on for some two or three months. The hospital operating room charge was the most expensive part of the whole equation, but they still dropped about 30% off their rates if I paid in full up front, which wasn't a problem with a credit card that I keep paid off. All in all, it still cost me several grand to have the surgery done, which would have been the cost of several years worth of my current insurance payments. On the upside, I got to shop around for a doctor I was comfortable with and had faith in, as opposed to having a much smaller pool to choose from with an HMO. Something else you could look in to is a health savings account. Basically, it's a tax free savings account that can only be used to pay for medical expenses unless you want to be taxed on what you withdraw from it, kind of like an IRA. The idea is that you should put the same amount in that account as you would pay an insurance company, but it's still your money. If you don't end up having to spend it, it's still in your pocket as opposed to an insurance company's coffers. If you're diligent about making deposits to it, that's probably the best way to go if you don't have some sort of corporate or government health care to draw from.
- joshwa 19y ago
  It's important to distinguish between HSA's (good for some) and FSA's (use it or lose it), which are what most employers offer. Also, FSAs (and maybe some HSAs?) have no benefit if you're itemizing your deductions on your tax returns.
  - kingnothing 19y ago
    I believe HSAs give you similar tax benefits as IRAs once you hit retirement age, although I don't know anything about what happens before that.
izak30 19y ago
My advice: go to an insurance agent, they aren't just there to get paid, they (usually) know exactly what they're talking about. Also check out the Freelancers union, because they have group-health(ish) policies to check out.
Xichekolas 19y ago
An agent I know pointed me to http://www.onlineinsurancecorp.com http://www.onlineinsurancecorp.com where I got the following: $1000 Deductible 20%(me)/80%(them) split from $1000-$3000 100% coverage over $3000 $30 office visit copay For $55.28/mo. Of course, I'm 24 and got the 'healthy lifestyle bonus' ... whatever that means.
vlad 19y ago
Massachusetts has the Insurance Partnership program which reimburses a part of the insurance premium of your business and yourself. Additionally, there's another program called the Commonwealth Connector that gives anybody 26 and under the ability to purchase good health insurance from a major carrier for about $150/mo regardless of income. Finally, Commonwealth Care is a program that will pay between a portion to the full amount of the costs of one's health insurance of residents who make 30,000 dollars a year and less.

12 points by theoneill 19y ago

johns 19y ago

The best insurance when you're self employed is your spouse's :-) I get medical + dental for $150/month directly from a major provider, which isn't unreasonable. It helps that I'm young and healthy though.

kingnothing 19y ago

I used ehealthinsurance.com to find a plan for myself when I got to college. I went with an HMO to keep costs down for myself, and really only bought it for "just in case" scenarios. On the other hand, most people don't seem to know that the vast majority of doctors are perfectly willing to negotiate rates with people who are uninsured. You're not going to get much of a break on your bill when you have a sore throat and need some antibiotics, but if you need an outpatient surgery, for example, you can expect steep reductions. I was in that situation and the surgeon cut his rate in half and charged me nothing for any follow up office visits, which went on for some two or three months. The hospital operating room charge was the most expensive part of the whole equation, but they still dropped about 30% off their rates if I paid in full up front, which wasn't a problem with a credit card that I keep paid off. All in all, it still cost me several grand to have the surgery done, which would have been the cost of several years worth of my current insurance payments. On the upside, I got to shop around for a doctor I was comfortable with and had faith in, as opposed to having a much smaller pool to choose from with an HMO. Something else you could look in to is a health savings account. Basically, it's a tax free savings account that can only be used to pay for medical expenses unless you want to be taxed on what you withdraw from it, kind of like an IRA. The idea is that you should put the same amount in that account as you would pay an insurance company, but it's still your money. If you don't end up having to spend it, it's still in your pocket as opposed to an insurance company's coffers. If you're diligent about making deposits to it, that's probably the best way to go if you don't have some sort of corporate or government health care to draw from.

joshwa 19y ago
It's important to distinguish between HSA's (good for some) and FSA's (use it or lose it), which are what most employers offer. Also, FSAs (and maybe some HSAs?) have no benefit if you're itemizing your deductions on your tax returns.
- kingnothing 19y ago
  I believe HSAs give you similar tax benefits as IRAs once you hit retirement age, although I don't know anything about what happens before that.

izak30 19y ago

My advice: go to an insurance agent, they aren't just there to get paid, they (usually) know exactly what they're talking about. Also check out the Freelancers union, because they have group-health(ish) policies to check out.

Xichekolas 19y ago

An agent I know pointed me to http://www.onlineinsurancecorp.com http://www.onlineinsurancecorp.com where I got the following: $1000 Deductible 20%(me)/80%(them) split from $1000-$3000 100% coverage over $3000 $30 office visit copay For $55.28/mo. Of course, I'm 24 and got the 'healthy lifestyle bonus' ... whatever that means.

vlad 19y ago

Massachusetts has the Insurance Partnership program which reimburses a part of the insurance premium of your business and yourself. Additionally, there's another program called the Commonwealth Connector that gives anybody 26 and under the ability to purchase good health insurance from a major carrier for about $150/mo regardless of income. Finally, Commonwealth Care is a program that will pay between a portion to the full amount of the costs of one's health insurance of residents who make 30,000 dollars a year and less.