Insurance question

[Keith Nielsen]

Hi all,
First off I'm not looking to sell it or promote it. I'm also not looking for endorsements.
I was just wondering if anyone out there has had to deal with this type of monster and would have some insight on the subject.

I'm looking to step away from the 9-5 beasty and go on my own. Yup self employment is calling to me in a huge way. In order to do it though I need to cover my family and so Health insurance becomes an issue.
Has anyone out there met this challange and what have you done to over come it. What company seems to be the best and most affordable. How have you been able to become self employed without going in the poor house paying for insurance.

Any comments would be most welcome.
Thanks
Keith

[Nancy Laird]

Keith, we haven't taken that step yet, but I understand that Aflac has what is probably the best individual insurance plan around. I know they advertise to companies and small businesses, but they also do individual policies. You might check with them. Keep us posted.

Nancy

[Ron Sardo]

Has anyone out there met this challange and what have you done to over come it. What company seems to be the best and most affordable. Keith
I've been paying health insurance for 20 years. There is no way to beat the system.

Get quotes from as many places as possible, then check with your doctor(s) to see if they accept that type of insurance before you sign on the dotted line.

Check with your Chamber of Commerce, sometimes they have group insurance.

Check with a Trade Association for group insurance.

Good Luck

[Dennis Peacock]

Personal Family medical insurance for me and my family would cost just under $500 per month. So far, I have a day job that helps take care of the insurance thing. Best of luck to ya.

[Jason Hallowell]

As a Realtor I'm in the same boat. I agree with all of the above comments, and sometimes insurance brokers can find programs that us normal folk can't. I almost went with Aflac, but a broker found a special program that happened to work well for me through Blue Cross Blue Shield. Good luck!

[Burt Alcantara]

What many people fail to do is look at the tiny print. You must know exactly what they will and will not cover. As an adult, especially depending on your age, you are more susceptible to the nasty ravages associated with the aged: cancer, diabetes, broken bones, respiratory diseases and etc.

I had United Health Care through AARP. When I was diagnosed with tongue base sarcoma I was unaware that my insurance had a cap of $37k. I ended up paying over $65k out of pocket.

In a way, I was lucky. UHC was so inefficient that they paid way over the cap.

But things they should have paid for they didn't. A CT scan costs around $2800 depending how it is costed out. What UHC did was stall until all the bills came in. Then they picked the lowest and paid that. Out of $2800 they paid $600. I paid the rest. When I called them about this they said they only pay the first bill that came in.

You don't want to pay more then you have to. It's up to you to know the details. Never trust agents. They work on commissions. Their interests are not yours. Insurance is a nasty, deceptive business.

Hope this helps, Burt

[Jim Becker]

In addition to checking out individual policy availability and rates, check out programs available through association memberships and other groups...very often they can be very cost effective. Burt is correct, however...be sure you clearly understand coverage and coverage limitations. Private/personal policies very often do not have the same "protections" that most group insurance has relative to eligibility, pre-existing conditions and so forth.

[Alan Trout]

I have been self employed for over 20 years. Insurance is always a pain in the neack but is needed if you have a family. Right now for myself wife and son it is about $500 a month. This is real insurance not just major medical. I have it at the moment with Pacificare PPO. I have also had Blue Cross Blue Sheild. among others.

Unfortunatley all of the insurance will go up rather quickly over the years. What I have done is I have a good broker that when the price gets out of hand she searches for a better deal and I go there. That is all you can do to save money on real insurance.

Another consideration which I may do in the next year or so is a HSA or a Health Savings Account. This is a product that can save you money. It is a savings account that can be set kind of like an IRA with a major medical policy component. what you do is when you make your health insurance payment a portion goes into the HSA which can be set up in a mutual fund, Money market etc. and then the rest pays for the major medical part. What is nice about the HSA is the money in the HSA grows tax free and can be used for pretty much anything medical. Dental, eye exams etc. I bring up the dental because I have not found any health insurance with good dental coverage for the self employed. A HSA helps out with that.
Remember HSA are a great deal if you are generaly healthy. If you go to the doctor alot you will eat up your savings. My family almost never goes to the doctor.

Something else to consider is long term disability if you are the major bread winner in the family. Maybe even if you are not.

By the way I am a corporation with my wife and I are employees.

Also being self employed has great advantages but also some disadvantages. I have not had what most would consider a normal paycheck in 20 years. Be sure to plan and be sure that your can do what ever it takes to make it. It realy is not that hard to do but takes a little persistance. And above all else congradulations and Good Luck!

Alan

[Joe Pelonio]

I've been self emlpyed 14 years now. During that time my wife has worked part time but enough hours to get medical. When she was laid off we had to get a private plan for 6 months and it was $700+/mo. for the 5 of us, back in the late '90s. Currently she's working at a school and we have a great medical/dental/eye plan that's about $300/mo out of her check for the 4 of us (oldest is on her own) and the District payes the rest, which
totals close to $1,000 now since it's gone way up the last few years. In our state laws were passed that made it much less cost effective for insurers here and many left, making prices higher for the rest. She's planning to keep working at least until the other two kid move on, mainly for the insurance.