My hubby recently became self employed and we are no uninsured. Does anyone know of any insurance that we can purchase on our own?

[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 12-17-2002).]

You might ask your local chamber of commerce. Often
times if you become a member they have access to
health insurance for their members. Also a big
company like Blue cross and blue shield has open
enrolement once a year where you can get insurance
with them.

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Thanks for the reply. I will check with the chamber of commerce on this.

There are actually so many that you can choose from depending on your state http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif

Kaiser, BCBS, .... you'll be amazed

I would call a big insurance company broker like.... Metlife or someone huge and make the agent do the work for you http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif.... its going to cost the same AND they can sell almost ANY companies (because they are a broker)


Jvirgil

I was insured for several years through NASE and would never go back to them.

Your chamber of commerce will be your best bet. That way you will be purchasing as part of a large group so your premiums will be much lower then you could otherwise get.

Check out Medical Savings Accounts with high deductible policys. It is well worth it. Celtic carries a policy and Medical Savings Insurance Company. There are a couple more I can't remember right now. You can begin to sort through the ones available by typing MedicaL Savings Account or MSA in a search engine. Basically, you are purchasing a higher deductible policy for lower premiums, and your deductible is in a tax deductible savings account. Right now, only the self employed can use these, but there is a push on to open for eveyone. It has been a real Godsend for us, and we have used it with no problems at all. Our premiums had gotten up to 1,000 a month for a regular PPO policy, and now we pay apprx. 700 evey 3 months with a portion of that going to a tax free account from which we can withdraw without penalty for any medical reason including dental and glasses, and we are covered from any catastrophic losses. The family deductible is apprx 5,000 (they do pay for checkups, though) but if you were in an accident what is 5,000 compared to an 80,000 hospital bill?

My hubby recently became self employed and we are no uninsured. Does anyone know of any insurance that we can purchase on our own?

[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 12-17-2002).]
Affordable Health Insurance for the self employed is no easy task! ;)
I spent the better part of a year researching, getting quotes... before I finally got a decent, affordable health insurance policy for me, my husband and 2 children, after we started our own business 2 years ago.

Depending on what sort of business you have, you may be able to find a business organization that your business can join in order to pool together to get large group discounts. (For example, manufaturing business would join a small manufacturing pool.)You could ask local CPA's or lawyers, who may be able to get you on the right track finding an organization which your business would fit in with.

Most group plans will not take a group of one - meaning that if you have no other employees that you are going to insure - most group plans will not allow you in. (We finally found one that would allow us to set up seperate employee policies for spouses... Saves us about $250 per month this way.)

Another thing to consider - Insurance companies truly do discriminate based on age and sex...
When we got our original quote on health insurance for our business employees, we were given really great rates based on one individual employee plan (for a 30 year old, single male employee) and one family plan (for DH, me & our 2 children.)

However, in the meantime, the employee did not work out, and we fired him. So, we had to change the insurance census form, from a individual employee plan for a 30 year old male, to a 28 year old female, with no medical problems…

Guess what happened?!!

The individual employee policy price jumped from $129.00 per month to $226.04 per month!!! The sole reason for this price difference? Because I am (gasp) a WOMAN!!!

OK, I know I just dumped a ton of info on you!

I understand how frustrating this is, our family lived for over a year with no health insurance because it is so frustrating and expensive!

I think I know more than I wanted to about this now, so please feel free to ask me any questions... I would love to help anyone avoid the confusion and frustration we dealt with! ;)

State Farm Insurance. Don't know where you live but I live in New England
and while checking out Auto Insuarance rates & Homeowners I mentioned I'm unemployed right now and didn't buy into the Corbra cause it was too darn
expensive. She mentioned she has Health Insurance plans that could meet my needs..IE: temp health insurance as little as $40-$60 A MONTH that you pay month to month till I find employemnt with health insurance.
It doesn't cover doctor visits or current percription but if something happened to me auto accident, doctor says I need surgery it will cover this up to 80%. I will be making an appoitment soon with her to further discuss my options of which health insurance plan works for me and what I can afford.
Hope this helps.

State Farm Insurance. Don't know where you live but I live in New England
and while checking out Auto Insuarance rates & Homeowners I mentioned I'm unemployed right now and didn't buy into the Corbra cause it was too darn
expensive. She mentioned she has Health Insurance plans that could meet my needs..IE: temp health insurance as little as $40-$60 A MONTH that you pay month to month till I find employemnt with health insurance.
It doesn't cover doctor visits or current percription but if something happened to me auto accident, doctor says I need surgery it will cover this up to 80%. I will be making an appoitment soon with her to further discuss my options of which health insurance plan works for me and what I can afford.
Hope this helps.

I would be very weary of those temp health ins plans... Do some research and ask alot of questions first... I found when I looked in to them that they really don't cover anything! By the time you pay the deductible off, you could have paid for a full package plan - without paying all of the additional expenses...
As far as them paying for anything relating to a car accident - most states require your car insurance to pay for all expenses relating any motor vehicle accident anyway, only after you car insurance policy is exhauseted can you submit to your health insurance. In fact if your state is a "no fault state" such as PA, you could not submit anything to your health insurance that was resulting from any type of car accident, even if you wanted to. Even if you were a passenger in someone else's car involved in an accident, you still have to submit the claim to your own car insurance, or the drivers if you have no car insurance.

I would be very weary of those temp health ins plans... Do some research and ask alot of questions first... I found when I looked in to them that they really don't cover anything! By the time you pay the deductible off, you could have paid for a full package plan - without paying all of the additional expenses...
As far as them paying for anything relating to a car accident - most states require your car insurance to pay for all expenses relating any motor vehicle accident anyway, only after you car insurance policy is exhauseted can you submit to your health insurance. In fact if your state is a "no fault state" such as PA, you could not submit anything to your health insurance that was resulting from any type of car accident, even if you wanted to. Even if you were a passenger in someone else's car involved in an accident, you still have to submit the claim to your own car insurance, or the drivers if you have no car insurance.

Thank you very much Genn...Gzz...like they say it is sounds to good to be true then it isn't...Your right about the deductable thing. The lady on the phone was giving me so much information and that's when I said I need to come in and see this info in writing...I used to be an Accounting Analyst so I do tend to review everything and seek advise from others before doing something stupid that I am unsure of. Thanks for the advise I will continue to look elsewhere unless I find a JOB first with medical insurance.

Thank you very much Genn...Gzz...like they say it is sounds to good to be true then it isn't...Your right about the deductable thing. The lady on the phone was giving me so much information and that's when I said I need to come in and see this info in writing...I used to be an Accounting Analyst so I do tend to review everything and seek advise from others before doing something stupid that I am unsure of. Thanks for the advise I will continue to look elsewhere unless I find a JOB first with medical insurance.

You are welcome! I know first hand how frustrating trying to find affordable health insurance is, and I am more than happy to offer any advice or share any information that I gained from my own personal insurance saga!

Your background as an accounting analyst will be to your advantage here! ;)
That will really help you to look past the sales pitch, see the facts, weigh the options, and determine what insurance plan mathces both your price and needs. My background is also in accounting, and that was a major factor in leading me to the great, affordable healthplan I now have. ;)

Good luck!