Husband is self-employed....Any Insurance Ideas?

[amyofPA]

We already have a high-deductible health plan, and the monthly premium is skyrocketing. Any options out there of where to look for actually affordable health insurance for self-employed?

 

Thanks.

[Colleen]

We already have a high-deductible health plan, and the monthly premium is skyrocketing. Any options out there of where to look for actually affordable health insurance for self-employed?

 

Thanks.

I so hear you. The health insurance burden on self-employed people is ridiculous. Like you, we have a high-deductible plan, but given that we have a family of seven, our monthly premium is still significant ~ and about to double (!) next month. I find myself once again shopping around. The ehealthinsurance site might be helpful to you. Good luck!

[MamaSheep]

I hear ya too. My dh is self-employed and our premiums are now almost as much as our house payment. And I'm about to turn 40, which will probably push it up even more.

[Dobela]

I hear ya too. My dh is self-employed and our premiums are now almost as much as our house payment. And I'm about to turn 40, which will probably push it up even more.

:iagree: and my dh actually sells insurance. Unbeilevable how much it is costing. My parents are paying $35,000 this year for health insurance alone.

 

Dh always tells people to call every agent in town. Some companies have slightly different policies they can offer. Some they can all sell, some are company specific (ie here BCBS can be sold by any agent who has a contract with them, or directly thru BCBS).

 

For me we finally went with a catastrophic temporary policy that is to last 1 year. I think the company name is Assurrant. Premiums are about $200 a month. However, I have a $5000 deductable and no Rx coverage until the deductible is met. At the end of the year, I can sign up again for another 'year temporary' policy.

[ColoNative]

And then each state has different insurance rules. It's quite frustrating...we currently have Aetna and they are pulling out of the individual insurance market here in Colorado. I don't know if it's nationwide or just here, but we have another year and then have to find another option.

 

We are looking into "Medi-share"....I know it has risks that they don't guarantee coverage (but so does our insurance right now). It also doesn't cover just anyone - there are faith based requirements and lifestyle requirements so it wouldn't be for everyone. But, we're checking into it...I know some have vehement opinions against it - and for it....so we'll see how it goes.

 

It's great incentive for us to eat healthy!

 

Melody

[matilda]

I found some cheaper plans administered by a local hospital that cover only local services. Sometimes organizations or societies that you or your husband belong to can offer insurance.

 

But I hear you . . . private insurance is very expensive.

[joannqn]

We've been uninsured for over two years. We pay out of pocket when we must and hope for the best.

[Ellie]

I am a member of Samaritan Ministries (Mr. Ellie has health insurance through his work...well, he did, but since he's unemployed, he might be signing up with me!). It's a health share program, not health insurance, so not everything is covered, but it did cover my chiropractor visits over the last year, which my former health insurance would not have.

[Wabi Sabi]

In many self-employed families one spouse will get an outside job just for the insurance. It's what we've had to do, pretty much my entire paycheck goes towards insuring us. I know there are others on this board who also juggle full-time jobs with homeschooling, so it can be done (especially if your job is flexible with non-traditional hours like mine; I work nights and weekends.)

[4everHis]

We've been uninsured for over two years. We pay out of pocket when we must and hope for the best.

 

This is us. . .don't know how anyone affords the premiums, especially if they want to eat or actually drive just now.

[matilda]

I had to take dd to the ER a couple of months ago . . . it was $3500. SIL was in a car accident driving her dd to preschool last month . . . another ER trip. A friend's dd was playing and fell off of a swing on Friday and got a compound fracture. Another friend had a heart problem and was rushed to the ER . . . $18,000.

 

I know that insurance is expensive - we are also on private insurance. But how do you afford not to have insurance? Even if you are hoping that nothing will happen, life is not that easy. The $3500 ER trip for my dd was a lot, but we could pay it, but that $18,000 bill would take a long time to recover from.

[Carol in Cal.]

Do you have access to group insurance through a trade association, homeowner's association, or alumni association? Those are especially nice because a lot of them have guarentees of issuance. There may be a state program to cover the children at a cheap rate as well.

 

It's a mess, for sure.

[creekland]

We already have a high-deductible health plan, and the monthly premium is skyrocketing. Any options out there of where to look for actually affordable health insurance for self-employed?

 

Thanks.

 

If you're a practicing Christian, then here's another vote for Samaritan's Ministries - a health sharing plan. We've been with it for years (2 claims in that time) and are super happy, plus it's saved us a ton. We pay $320/month + $170 annual fee and $400 (I think that's what it is) annually for Save to Share (higher coverage limits).

 

It's not for everyone, but for people like us, it's nigh onto perfect - AND - it's legal to keep it when Obamacare takes over.

[Wabi Sabi]

I had to take dd to the ER a couple of months ago . . . it was $3500. SIL was in a car accident driving her dd to preschool last month . . . another ER trip. A friend's dd was playing and fell off of a swing on Friday and got a compound fracture. Another friend had a heart problem and was rushed to the ER . . . $18,000.

 

I know that insurance is expensive - we are also on private insurance. But how do you afford not to have insurance? Even if you are hoping that nothing will happen, life is not that easy. The $3500 ER trip for my dd was a lot, but we could pay it, but that $18,000 bill would take a long time to recover from.

 

Exactly. In this day and age I really don't understand why anyone would go without insurance unless they had absolutely no choice. I really don't enjoy working outside of the home, but the thought of being without insurance doesn't allow me to quit. Even a broken arm would bankrupt us without insurance.

[joannqn]

I had an ER visit without insurance, and our income qualified us for the hospital's charity program. I didn't ask about it; they told me about it during the registration process. I paid nothing.

 

When DS4 was 2 1/2 weeks old, he spent 8 days in the hospital. The room bill alone was outrageous. He didn't have insurance for half of it because of a stupid paperwork issue. He was suppose to be on state medical but they require that you turn in the paperwork by the last day of the month to be covered the next month, but he was born at 9:30pm on the last day of the month so the paperwork was late. He couldn't be covered until he was a month old. My insurance at the time covered him for the first 21 days so the first half of his stay was covered by them. The state has a "spend down program" where they determine a sort of deductible based on income. Any medical expenses for any member of the family counts towards that deductible. My deductible and co-insurance for the birth was just over the deductible they required for us so we didn't pay any of that bill either.

 

So far, we've managed without insurance (the kids are on state). With an income of $3,000 a month give or take for a family of six, there really isn't any money for insurance anyway. Any job I could get wouldn't even cover child care, let alone insurance premiums. I don't see the point of becoming a two income family just so we could have less than we do now.

[Heather in WI]

For me we finally went with a catastrophic temporary policy that is to last 1 year.

 

We just switched a catastrophic plan this month. (Golden Rule Ins.)

 

We had a high deductible plan with a HSA, but the premiums were killing us in this economy. (We own a small construction business.)

 

We went from $1000 a month premium, $5,000 deductible (which was increasing to $1300 a month in July) that included preventative care & pregnancy to the catastrophic plan that is $200 a month premium, $10,000 deductible with no preventative care or pregnancy coverage (which we aren't planning on needing.;))

 

If/when we do go to the dr. for a reg. visit, we get about a 50% discount and it should still be cheaper than the monthly premium of the old plan. I don't understand why these types of plans are only available in the short term though. It almost seems like the ideal solution for a fairly healthy family.

[amyofPA]

Thanks so much for all the info. I didn't realize there was temporary insurance that you could apply for. I will also look into the medical share programs here in our area. Glad to know we are not the only ones that are paying through the roof for high coverage that we rarely use. We are a healthy family, and it just gets me mad to know we have to pay so much for something we really don't use.

[creekland]

Thanks so much for all the info. I didn't realize there was temporary insurance that you could apply for. I will also look into the medical share programs here in our area. Glad to know we are not the only ones that are paying through the roof for high coverage that we rarely use. We are a healthy family, and it just gets me mad to know we have to pay so much for something we really don't use.

 

Here's a link to the one we use and have been very happy with:

 

http://www.samaritanministries.org/

 

Feel free to send a pm if you have any specific questions we can answer as members. Most general questions ought to be on their site - or, of course - feel free to e-mail them.

[sonya]

My husband is also self-employed and we went out on a limb and joined Christian Healthcare Ministries, not sure what to expect. It has been such a blessing to share medical expenses with other people, rather than feeling like each premium payment is going into corporate waste land! I have had 100% of my surgery costs covered this year (although our out-of-pocket expenses are repaid months later).

[Halcyon]

It is very hard. In NYC, our health insurance costs as a self-employed family were $2200 a month. In Florida, we have found insurance for about $900 a month. We are adding in dental for another 100 next month. It is almost the amount of our rent, and I HATE it. I had to pay OOP $2000 for an ER visit last year, though, and my guess is the total bill was a lot higher. Also, for younger, I had an emergency c-section which was very expensive and insurance covered all of it.

 

If we were practicing Christians (I am Christian, DH is Jewish) we might consider that ministry--I think friends of ours who have 4 kids and were previously uninsured use it, and they've been very happy.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Thanks so much for all the info. I didn't realize there was temporary insurance that you could apply for. I will also look into the medical share programs here in our area. Glad to know we are not the only ones that are paying through the roof for high coverage that we rarely use. We are a healthy family, and it just gets me mad to know we have to pay so much for something we really don't use.

 

:grouphug:The sad part is that I took care of many, many previously healthy people who became critically ill and racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. As for Samaritan Ministries, they are no health insurance and there is no guarantee of coverage, period:(.

 

MY family was able to get a pretty cheap, basic plan from blue cross in PA 2 years ago. I would call and ask them and other providers such as Geisinger.

Edited August 24, 2011 by priscilla

[Momof3littles]

Our premium is about 6500 per year, and DH's employer gives him an extra 2400 per year because he doesn't take the insurance through them (small business).

 

We have a 5K deductible (for the whole family, not each individual). Once we hit that everything is covered at 100%. Childhood WBV are covered at 100% even if we haven't met the deductible.

 

We use an HSA (deposit our money).

 

We have an HRA through DH's employer. They put 1200 per year in it. It carries over, so we could use that to pay off bills when we haven't met our deductible.

 

We essentially don't have an RX plan unless we hit something like 3000. I take a generic med that is about $4 a month and we use our HRA to pay.

 

Our plan is through Golden Rule (United Healthcare). We found out about it through a professional organization that DH is affiliated with.

 

Costs keep going up. Our premium rose a few hundred dollars this year.

 

DH works for a small business and if we were on his company plan it would be 1000/month, but there is only a few hundred dollar deductible. It is a great plan, but very costly.

[Cera]

Definitely look around for any organization you can join that would make you eligible for group health coverage.

 

My grandparents were always self employed and maintained chamber of commerce membership for exactly this reason.

[BearWallowSchool]

I had an ER visit without insurance, and our income qualified us for the hospital's charity program. I didn't ask about it; they told me about it during the registration process. I paid nothing.

 

When DS4 was 2 1/2 weeks old, he spent 8 days in the hospital. The room bill alone was outrageous. He didn't have insurance for half of it because of a stupid paperwork issue. He was suppose to be on state medical but they require that you turn in the paperwork by the last day of the month to be covered the next month, but he was born at 9:30pm on the last day of the month so the paperwork was late. He couldn't be covered until he was a month old. My insurance at the time covered him for the first 21 days so the first half of his stay was covered by them. The state has a "spend down program" where they determine a sort of deductible based on income. Any medical expenses for any member of the family counts towards that deductible. My deductible and co-insurance for the birth was just over the deductible they required for us so we didn't pay any of that bill either.

 

So far, we've managed without insurance (the kids are on state). With an income of $3,000 a month give or take for a family of six, there really isn't any money for insurance anyway. Any job I could get wouldn't even cover child care, let alone insurance premiums. I don't see the point of becoming a two income family just so we could have less than we do now.

 

I agree with this. My husband is self-employed and we have no health insurance. I know many people will think this is horrible, but I actually think we are better off without it. I'm having a baby in October and the hospital has told me they will write it off 100% b/c we qualify for their financial assistance program. My husband broke his leg before we were married and paid about $300 until he paid the bill. Still cheaper than insurance and when you pay off the bill you are done with the payments, insurance premiums have to be made every month forever, kwim??

[RoughCollie]

It is cheaper for us to have the kids on Chip. Our insurance agent told us that. There is no income limit, but the cost is higher, the higher the income. Also, all the insurance companies that participate offer the same coverage. I just switched to a different company because I did not like the choices of doctors, dentists, and vision care offered on our first plan. For higher quality medical care, I pay $85 more per child each month.

 

http://www.chipcoverspakids.com/

Edited August 25, 2011 by RoughCollie

[Carrie75]

MY BIL is self employed and he ended up getting an early am job at Starbucks just for the benefits. Their premium got so high and the Starbucks benefits are pretty decent.

 

Are you a Costco member? They have a self employed benefits package now.

[FairProspects]

Are you a Costco member? They have a self employed benefits package now.

 

They do in CA, but it is only for certain states (maybe those with TORT reform?) anyway this option is very limited (something like 3 states) and not available here in WA (Costco's home state :glare:).

 

Honestly, health insurance is the main reason dh works 2 full-time jobs instead of just running our business. We could make it just fine with the income from our business, but the loss of benefits would be a huge problem for us.

Edited August 25, 2011 by FairProspects

[Parker Martin]

We have an individual policy through Blue Cross Blue Shield. I think our premiums are reasonable.

[Moxie]

I agree with this. My husband is self-employed and we have no health insurance. I know many people will think this is horrible, but I actually think we are better off without it. I'm having a baby in October and the hospital has told me they will write it off 100% b/c we qualify for their financial assistance program. My husband broke his leg before we were married and paid about $300 until he paid the bill. Still cheaper than insurance and when you pay off the bill you are done with the payments, insurance premiums have to be made every month forever, kwim??

 

Not to pick on you but this is a big part of the problem. SOMEONE has to pay for that care. My DH is also self-employed. We have a high deductible policy with no maternity coverage and the baby I'm having in April will probably cost us $15,000.

[Beth S]

Our Blue Cross/Blue Shield has a high deductible ($2500/person/yr), but it allows us (if we use a provider in their network) to get the BC/BS discount on ALL of our medical bills. We have had an unexpected medical "event" each year, and this insurance protects us from financial ruin.

 

The high cost of health care has become a major problem for many families (as we can see from this thread). It's difficult to know how it all will change in these next 2 years. Whew.

 

(We, too, are self-employed. The health insurance premiums are deducted on federal tax returns before Adjusted Gross Income is calculated. This is a welcome break as well.)

[Parker Martin]

One of my parents was the healthiest person I knew, then that parent was diagnosed with cancer. I think the treatments came to at least a quarter of a million dollars. Health insurance paid it.

[aggieamy]

One of my parents was the healthiest person I knew, then that parent was diagnosed with cancer. I think the treatments came to at least a quarter of a million dollars. Health insurance paid it.

 

I come from a family of super healthy people that die in their 90's at home. Then when I was 17 I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. My parents figured out my treatements were well above $250k when I was finished with chemo and surgery. My parents are both executives and do well but I can't imagine if they had to pay even a portion of that out of pocket.

 

Oops. Forgot to actually answer the question. DH and I are self-employed and we found an insurance broker off Dave Ramsey's site that was fantastic at hunting us down insurance. Our premiums are DH (36 yo) $100/mo and me (29 yo) $120/mo despite the fact that I had cancer. It's high deductible but that's what we wanted.

 

Dave Ramsey's ELP Website

Edited August 25, 2011 by aggieamy

[parias1126]

We've been uninsured for over two years. We pay out of pocket when we must and hope for the best.

 

My DH is self-employed as well. My DH has high BP and sleep apnea. We just can. not. afford. it. We have been uninsured for almost 4 years. We just pay out-of-pocket when we see the doctor, dentist, etc.

[parias1126]

I agree with this. My husband is self-employed and we have no health insurance. I know many people will think this is horrible, but I actually think we are better off without it. I'm having a baby in October and the hospital has told me they will write it off 100% b/c we qualify for their financial assistance program. My husband broke his leg before we were married and paid about $300 until he paid the bill. Still cheaper than insurance and when you pay off the bill you are done with the payments, insurance premiums have to be made every month forever, kwim??

 

Just last month, we had one child with an eye infection. He had to go back for a eye exam after the infection cleared. I had to buy glasses for him. Then my other son had his teeth cleaned. After that he had to go back for selants on 4 teeth. My husband needed a new mask for his C-PAP machine. The first he was allergic to so I had to order a different mask. My oldest had an ear infection and was in so much pain, it was a trip to the Urgent Care.

 

Even after paying cash for all those visits in the month of July, I still come out cheaper than having insurance for a family of 6.

 

I completely get what you mean since we have had no choice but to do things this way for almost 4 years now.