My dad is self employed as a financial planner and along with my grandfather, owns a life insurance company. Here is the deal...my family (I am 20 years old) does not have any type of health insurance, and when I ask my parents about it they say, "Well, when you're self employed you don't get health insurance." ??? :confused: ??? This does NOT sound right to me, I KNOW there are options (that are somewhat affordable) for people who are self employed. I am so annoyed by this, b/c my parents are "penny pinchers" (when they don't need to be... at all) and I have a feeling they are just thinking they are saving money by not having health insurance.

Well, lately I have been having to make many doctor's visits for numerous health reasons, and also I am on Accutane at $500 a month (when we could be getting it for about $200 if we had insurance)... doctor's visits are outrageously overpriced as are medications. My mom also recently had a health scare and landed in the hospital for about a week which ended up costing our family $10,000 which we had to pay up front, full price.

Um, correct me if I'm wrong here, but wouldn't paying a fee monthly to have health insurance completely outweigh the costs of having to pay for everything FULL PRICE?! :o I feel like my parents are being completely unreasonable?! Especially with the field my dad works in, you would think he would be up to date on these types of things?

I would like to know who is right here! Also, if anyone out there is self employed and has found a reasonable health insurance plan, please let me know about it!

My dad is self employed as a financial planner and along with my grandfather, owns a life insurance company. Here is the deal...my family (I am 20 years old) does not have any type of health insurance, and when I ask my parents about it they say, "Well, when you're self employed you don't get health insurance." ??? :confused: ??? This does NOT sound right to me, I KNOW there are options (that are somewhat affordable) for people who are self employed. I am so annoyed by this, b/c my parents are "penny pinchers" (when they don't need to be... at all) and I have a feeling they are just thinking they are saving money by not having health insurance.

Well, lately I have been having to make many doctor's visits for numerous health reasons, and also I am on Accutane at $500 a month (when we could be getting it for about $200 if we had insurance)... doctor's visits are outrageously overpriced as are medications. My mom also recently had a health scare and landed in the hospital for about a week which ended up costing our family $10,000 which we had to pay up front, full price.

Um, correct me if I'm wrong here, but wouldn't paying a fee monthly to have health insurance completely outweigh the costs of having to pay for everything FULL PRICE?! :o I feel like my parents are being completely unreasonable?! Especially with the field my dad works in, you would think he would be up to date on these types of things?

I would like to know who is right here! Also, if anyone out there is self employed and has found a reasonable health insurance plan, please let me know about it!


It depends. Good health insurance is very expensive. People who aren't self employed and have health insurance through their companies are fortunate in that the company can negotiate a group rate for all employees, thus lowering the premiums. Also, many companies will pay for a large part of health insurance costs. People who are self-employed can't negotiate group discounts, and don't have an employer to help pay premiums.

It's not unheard of for a family to pay $1000/month in premiums for decent insurance, and still have deductibles, and plan limitations. Yes, there are cheaper insurances, but these usually have high deductibles ($1500+), or pay for limited services.

If you'd like, most larger and well respected health insurance companies will give you a quote online, without obligation to purchase. Just steer clear of inferior companies that aren't useful at all. For example, Blue Cross/Blue Shield is generally considered a better insurance company, but like I stated, their services come at a price.

When you are sef-employed you are not eligible for group health insurance and most companies will not sell individual policies to people with pre-existing conditions.

I used to work for a large corporation and there were many employees who worked mainly for the benefits, rather than the salary. There was one woman who used to bring in pictures of her mansion, but her husband had a heart condition and was unable to purchase health insurance, so they needed her group policy.

Thank you so much for your replies. :) I am going to be sure that after I graduate, I find a corporation to work for that supplies me with great benefits...!