GDG Self Employed Health Insurance

[Kristie Wilder]

My ins from Joie's work runs out at the beginning of February. I had insurance before -- a high deductible policy. And it was fine.

I wanted to see what's out there and if anyone has any policies they recommend that are good and a good value.

Thanks!

-K

[YardleyLabs]

Check to see if you can get a decent policy through your local chamber of commerce. A business policy generally requires a minimum of two "employees" to join the plan and 100% membership by all qualified employees. When i had trouble getting coverage through my company, I created a separate company, joined the chamber of commerce, and got a better policy through them at a lower premium. The first month savings covered the cost of membership in the chamber.

[EdA]

I wanted to see what's out there and if anyone has any policies they recommend that are good and a good value.
-K

HSA (Health Savings Account), $2650 deductible for individuals, you put the $2650 in an HSA bank account annually to pay the deductible, if your medical expenses do not meet the deductible the money stays in the account and accrues interest tax free, when you reach the age to be eligible for Medicare the HSA account essentially becomes an IRA account

HSA policies and accounts are not available everywhere but there are many banks and some insurance companies that have HSA accounts, for a young self employed person this could be a huge benefit in 20 years given good health or provide a significant financial cushion for catastrophic illness, HSA policies are comparable to good major medical/surgical plans and are offered by major insurers including Blue Cross

http://www.hsaforamerica.com/

or Google HSA accounts or plans and you will find a wealth of information

[Kristie Wilder]

HSA (Health Savings Account), $2650 deductible for individuals, you put the $2650 in an HSA bank account annually to pay the deductible, if your medical expenses do not meet the deductible the money stays in the account and accrues interest tax free, when you reach the age to be eligible for Medicare the HSA account essentially becomes an IRA account

HSA policies and accounts are not available everywhere but there are many banks and some insurance companies that have HSA accounts, for a young self employed person this could be a huge benefit in 20 years given good health or provide a significant financial cushion for catastrophic illness, HSA policies are comparable to good major medical/surgical plans and are offered by major insurers including Blue Cross

http://www.hsaforamerica.com/

or Google HSA accounts or plans and you will find a wealth of information

That's what I had, although i think it was called an msa, medical savings account... I had a $5K deductible.

Does that seem to be the biggest bang for the buck?

Thanks!

-K

[Leddyman]

The HSA (health savings account) is definitely the way to go. You buy a catastrophic coverage policy that pays 100% after the first 2500, 5000, whatever you set it up for. And you write checks out of the account for routine medical expenses. The whole thing is tax free and becomes like an IRA.

EdA is right that is the way to go if you are self employed.

Try http://clarkhoward.com

scroll down and look under health care.

I don't know how to make that a link.

[Tim West]

This won't help you probably unless your state has something similar.

Oklahoma has a program now called Insure Oklahoma. It's a tobacco tax subsidy for lower income businesses.

If your income from your business is 200% above the Natl poverty average, you can qualify and the State pays over 60% of your premiums on just about any health insurance policy such as BC/BS, etc.

My daughter will leave our policy at work when she graduates from college and I can sign her up to our Guide/Kennel business because I dang sure don't take much of an income on that business!

You only need one employee to be a business, so it's perfect for farmers who may have only a few employees and small business owners who have not been able to offer health insurance for their employees.

If you need more info, go to Insureoklahoma.com for more info.

I like it when the smokers pay for your health insurance.

[Lyle Harne]

If you have health insurance through your spouses employer and your spouse passes away while employed and insured you should be eligible to continue that coverage at your expense for 18 months, through the COBRA continuation health coverage.
Lyle

[Kristie Wilder]

If you have health insurance through your spouses employer and your spouse passes away while employed and insured you should be eligible to continue that coverage at your expense for 18 months, through the COBRA continuation health coverage.
Lyle

oh, I thought that was only for three months... I'm going to look that up. Thanks...

[Kristie Wilder]

If you have health insurance through your spouses employer and your spouse passes away while employed and insured you should be eligible to continue that coverage at your expense for 18 months, through the COBRA continuation health coverage.
Lyle

I don't think Joie's clinic employs 20 or more people... That's a stipulation to get cobra for 18 mos. The clinic has paid for three additional months of insurance for me, which i thought was very very kind of them...

[WRL]

COBRA'ing insurances tends to be very very expensive.

I did that years ago just for my son.

When working, I paid $200 a month for three of us. After quitting I paid for my son only and it was $500 for him only.

If you have too, you can do it, but it will save you a ton most likely to pick up your own.

WRL