As a self-employed person, it can be hard to find an affordable health insurance plan that won't break the bank while you're trying to run your own business well. With all the articles and news reports about how the cost of health care keeps going up, it might seem hard at first to find a good insurance plan that is also cheap.
The good news is that if you work for yourself, you have a lot of health insurance options to choose from. There is health insurance for individuals, health insurance for small groups, discount plans, and the process of looking at different insurance companies and letting them compete for your business. The most important thing you can do to find a good health insurance plan is to be organised and do research before you start shopping.
Individual health insurance is often the best choice because it is usually the least expensive. This comes with a big caveat: your family won't be covered. If you are single, you don't have to worry about this. This is a very big deal if you have small children or a pregnant wife. If you can get individual health insurance, you should definitely go for it because it usually costs only half as much as group plans or other options.
Small group health insurance is usually made up of a group of small business owners who work together (and in some states, it only takes two people) to get coverage. If this costs a lot more than individual health insurance, why would you choose it? It depends on where you come from. If you are older, going with a group of younger people can save you money. Also, even if you already have a health problem, they can't turn you down.
Most self-employed people should choose one of these two options. There are other options, but they often have a higher risk of shady people getting involved. One thing to keep in mind is that as of the time this article was written, individual health insurance in the United States is 100% tax deductible. Yes, every penny you spend on a policy to protect yourself can be used as a tax deduction by Uncle Sam. This can go a long way toward making up for what may seem like unaffordable costs of getting your own health insurance.
Health insurance is important, and if you are self-employed, it is even more important because you are solely responsible for your own health and lost income. There are companies that focus on insurance for small businesses, so look around to see what kind of deals you can find. There are a lot of options out there, so do your research and shop around and you'll find the right self-employed health insurance for you.
