What factors should I consider when finding a self-employed health insurance plan to cover for my healthcare needs?
Once you become self-employed, and you continue with COBRA insurance, you will have to pay the full cost of the coverage. This amount is higher than what you usually pay for when you were still an employee. Usually, employees pay only 28% of the total cost of the health insurance plan. Once you are self-employed, however, you will now be paying the share of the company in your COBRA insurance. If you are self-employed, it might be best if your spouse has a full-time job. With this arrangement, you are assured of being a dependent of your spouse in his/her employer-sponsored health insurance plan. This arrangement is perhaps the cheapest way of getting a health insurance plan. Research is still the best thing for you to do. Find out the websites that offer health insurance options which fit your self-employment status. It might be best if you find one that is within your area so that you can easily talk to an agent face-to-face. You can find out more about their self-employed health insurance plan options. Learn about their plans’ provisions for pre-existing conditions or chronic health problems. Better yet, find an insurance agent whom you can trust. Do your research by interviewing people or interviewing insurance agents themselves. Compare the rates and provisions of their health plan options for the self-employed. But before you buy one, or even make the first premium payment, check if that particular insurance company has complaints filed against them, their agents, or their representative insurers. In doing your research of self-employed health insurance plan options, you might also consider the amount of deductibles. Usually, plans with high deductibles and combined with health savings account (HSAs) that deposit tax-free money is a good option for you. You can use the money saved in the HSA to pay for the medical bills that are not covered by your existing health policy. If your business expands, and you have more employees coming in, you can save money by getting the self-employed health insurance plans offered by professional employers associations. Such associations provide health insurance plans and other healthcare services to small businesses like your own. You can seek their assistance in finding the self-employed health insurance plan that is most affordable to you. Answer by WebTekGuy — June 16, 2009 @ 3:07 pm 1 CommentLeave a comment |
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A self-employed health insurance plan is an option for persons who are running their own business or about to start a new one. If you want to find the best self-employed health insurance plan, you need to keep your current COBRA insurance, ideally with the same health coverage provisions that you have before. Usually, you can keep your COBRA insurance for 18 months at the same rate when you got it while you were still working. This policy is possible if your previous company is still in business and still employing 20 or more people. Also, this policy applies if you were not fired from your previous company.
OK, that made a lot of sense!! Or not.
Let’s simplify this. First, determine what type of coverage you are eligible for. If you have employees that you also want to provide with insurance, you need to look at group health plans. Or, if you have a business partner that is also seeking insurance, you might still qualify as a group. Some states even offer group health insurance to groups of one.
If this does not apply to you, then any individual health plan will provide insurance for the self-employed as long as you are in good health and pass underwriting guidelines.
Comment by Moderator — June 24, 2009 @ 2:20 pm