How to Find Affordable Health Insurance When You Are Self-Employed
There are many factors to consider when looking for health insurance, especially when you are self-employed. When looking at different carriers of insurance, make sure to do your homework so you get the best deal. Coalition for Affordable Health Coverage states there are ways to work with self employed individuals to get better coverage, cheaper rates, and reducing some of the taxes involved.
Cost
Typically, people who are self-employed will pay up to 18% more on their health insurance. The National Association for the Self-Employed has considers any business with less than 10 employees to be under the self-employment category. Health insurance rates are continuing to rise for self-employed and regular businesses as well.
Convenience
Most self-employed individuals do not have a human resource person to help sort out the claims, settle on rates, or even answer simple questions.
Inequitable Tax Treatment
When receiving health insurance through your employer, you do not have to pay income tax on that amount used for insurance. With self-employment you have to pay the taxes associated with your insurance amount and must pay your own premium amounts. The difference in the amount of money you have to pay out is substantial. If you are a family with an income of $30,000 you could pay an average of $725 more in taxes. The other problem to consider is that when you income rises, your health premium will as well. Self-employment businesses normally have to pay about 15% more in other taxes. In addition, you will not be able to deduct your health insurance payments as part as your self-employment tax. Being self-employed is the only business entity that does not allow for deduction of health insurance costs. As mentioned before, make sure to do your homework to make sure you are getting the best deal. Here are some tips that are very useful.
- There are different types of policies available
- Check out the companies that are offering insurance
- If you found the company through the Internet, check to see if there is a local company you can go to.
- Make sure you know what the policy covers and doesn’t cover
- You may be able to get reimbursed for your doctor’s visits and prescriptions
Some of these tips suggested might seem like common sense to some, but to others they may forget to ask or they don’t know the answers. If you take the time to do the research, it could help you save a lot of money on health insurance costs. Researching the policies before you really need it is the best way to go, since most people cannot think clearly when they are sick or injured.
To save more money, check into if you can pay your premiums yearly. Check with your insurance carrier to see how much of a saving you would be getting. By paying in a lump sum, it gives you the chance to save during the rest of the year either for your next payment or what is needed at the time. If you change to a higher deductible, you should see a decrease in your premiums as well. You can change to $500 up to $1,000. Read the policy over and make sure it says nothing about pre-existing conditions. It is possible you just have to research it thoroughly. There are also policies that have waiting periods be careful that it does not state for more than six months.
Supplemental insurance sounds like a great thing to have, but you have to make sure that your current insurance does not already cover what you are paying for in addition. There may also be limits to hospitalization or even doctor’s visits. Another way to save money is to get more people who are self-employed together as a group. You can apply for group health insurance to help everyone save. A suggestion is Communicating for Agriculture and The Self-Employed, but there are many others out there as well. The best way to save money is to review your policy every year. Make sure to read the fine print of every page. Your family needs may have changed or there may be other changes as well.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...