One of the major hassles of being self employed is the need to find an affordable health insurance plan that doesn't break the bank as you're trying to keep your own business running successfully. With all the articles and news casts about the ever rising costs of health care, the thought of finding an appropriate insurance policy that is also cheap can seem like a daunting task at first glance.
The good news is that if you are self employed then you have an abundance of choices in health insurance options. There is individual health insurance, small group health insurance, discount plans, and then the process of looking at various insurance companies and allowing them to bid away for your business. The most important aspect of finding a good health insurance plan is to be organized and to do your research before you actually start the process of shopping.
Individual health insurance is often the best way to go because these policies tend to be the cheapest. This has a major asterisk, in that your family will not get coverage. If you are single, this is not an issue. If you have small children or a pregnant wife, then this is a very big deal. If individual health insurance is a viable option, you should strongly pursue these policies as they usually cost only 50% as much as group plans or other options.
Small group health insurance often takes place when a group of small business owners band together (and some states require only as few as two people) in order to get insurance coverage. If this is much more expensive, then why choose this over individual health insurance? It depends on your history. If you are older, then having a group of younger individuals can bring down the cost. Also, if you have a pre-existing condition then they still can not turn you down.
These are the two best options for most self-employed individuals, although there are other options, though often with more danger of the unscrupulous side of things getting involved. One thing to note, is that at least of the writing of this article laws have been passed so that your individual health insurance is 100% tax deductible in the United States. That's right: every penny spent in a policy to keep you covered can be used as a tax write off from Uncle Sam. This can strongly help to off-set what may seem like prohibitive costs from covering yourself via an individual health insurance policy.
Health insurance is important, and self-employed health insurance is even more so since you are solely responsible for lost income, as well as your own health. There are companies who specialize in insurance for small businesses, so check around to see what type of a special deal they might be able to offer. There are a wide arrange of options out there, so just do your research and look around and you'll find the right self employed health insurance for you.
