| Self employed insurance needs. |
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KELLY22
New Member
Cash: $ 1.50
Posts: 6
Joined: 04 Sep 2007
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| Self employed insurance needs. |
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Any self employed people here? How do you handle your health insurance? From what Ive seen it looks very expensive to handle it on your own. Am i missing something? Can you get affordable rates and still work as a independent or self employed?
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Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:38 pm |
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Ultimate Cheapskate
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Cash: $ 3.65
Posts: 18
Joined: 27 Oct 2005
Location: Washington, DC area
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It all depends on your personal situation, but, yes, it can be very expensive and complicated to secure health insurance when you're self-employed. A lot of folks who are covered under their employers plans have no idea how much the employer is paying every month on their behalf. Maybe the boss wasn't such a skinflint after all!
If you're self employed but have a spouse/partner who can get you coverage through their job, that's usually the best way to go, since it typically costs less to add another person onto an exisiting policy.
If that's not the situation you're in, if you're in good health you might consider - as I do - getting a very basic policy with a very high annual deductible. This means you're paying most medical expenses out of your own pocket until you reach the annual deductible limit (say $10,000), BUT if you have a major medical expense or accident, then you'll be covered for amounts beyond the $10K, thus preventing your finanical ruin.
Paying the first $10K out of your own pocket sounds excessive, but if you're in good health there's probably little chance you'll rack up those kinds of expenses in a year. Also, a basic policy might cost as little as $100-$200 a month, while a delux policy with no or little deductible can easily be $750-$1,000 a month, so when you do the math you can see that in some situations (again, if you're in generally good health) it pays to "bet on yourself" and go with the basic policy and a high deductible.
Good luck, and stay both healthy and Cheap!
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Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:31 pm |
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California Health
Member
Cash: $ 2.40
Posts: 12
Joined: 12 Sep 2007
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
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Look into a HSA "Health Savings Account" with a qualified HSA medical plan.
It's one of the least expensives ways to go and if you can fund your HSA account for the first few years it's an excellent way to augment savings.
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Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:15 am |
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