looking health for insurance for the self employed

jim simmons · Post by **jim simmons** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 2:35 pm

Has anyone any good reccomendations for health insurance for the self employed?

My sweety is thinking about taking the big leap from the corporate qworld and we need to get health insurance.

Any responces will be greatly appreciated.

Jim

charlie · Post by **charlie** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 2:40 pm

there's an awful lot on this in the old archives

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 3:38 pm

jim simmons wrote:Has anyone any good reccomendations for health insurance for the self employed?

My sweety is thinking about taking the big leap from the corporate qworld and we need to get health insurance.

Any responces will be greatly appreciated.
Jim

Jim

I was warned to be wary of NASE. My wife and I are both self employed and our only choice is non group Blue Cross. Every state is different. Maybe you are in a better one relative to health insurance.

lissa · Post by **lissa** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 5:43 pm

Slim pickings here in NC, too. Our agent said we had three options, one covers emergency room care only...yikes. The other two are Blue Cross which I have, and Fortis, which my husband has, we too are both glass/self employed. My Blue Cross coverage is decent but pricey, my husband's Fortis is super basic with few options, but cheaper. Talk to an agent and and keep yourself healthy.
lissa.

Sherry#2 · Post by **Sherry#2** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 8:29 pm

We have had to buy our own insurance for the last 7 years.

Definitely I would stay away from NASE. Their premiums are just as high as any individual policy, and their coverages are far less - catasrophic only.

We are in Texas, and here, we have been able to find no option other than buying an individual policy.

For the last 4 years we have had Fortis coverage. We hardly ever have to use it, but my sister and her husband have it, and in one year he had 3 brain surgeries, lots of office visits to all kinds of doctors, treatments at MD Anderson, chemo, a couple of hospice stays and hospice home visits, and tons of drugs. Fortis paid $24,000 per month for eight months of an experimental cancer drug that by law they were not required to pay since it was a trial drug. He had monsterous medical bills, and Fortis never tried to wiggle out of paying.

Fortis is not the cheapest you will find, but they pay well if you ever need to use it.

Pama Designs · Post by **Pama Designs** » Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:56 pm

You may want to look into a Medical Savings Account. You can find out about it at http://www.msabank.com . It's a special program for the self-employed where you have a high deductible policy combined with a tax-deferred savings plan much like a Roth IRA. You get to use the money in the savings account for medical bills and deduct them. I've had one before and now, recently re-unemployed, or should I say self-employed, I have it again. Each state has different insurance companies that do this type of policy (MSAbank.com has a list of agents by state, I believe.)
Alice

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 2:12 pm

your wife is probably eligible for COBRA for 18 months when she leaves her job -- meaning she can keep the insurance, but has to pay for it. her human resources department can explain all that to her. if you do that, it'll give you time to look for a new carrier & policy. i buy my Blue Cross preferred provider (non-HMO) thru a hawaiian business alliance. your state probably has an office over-seeing insurance. perhaps you can get a list of medical insurance companies, then find out what they offer.

jim simmons · Post by **jim simmons** » Wed Jul 30, 2003 4:55 pm

Thanks you people. You have given me something to think about and some avenues to explore.

Jim

Paul Housberg · Post by **Paul Housberg** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 12:39 pm

I'm not an expert, but here's something to investigate:

There are temporary health coverages that are intended for people who may be between jobs or students just out of school. They are surprisingly inexpensive and provide coverage (I think) similar to that of a Blue Cross type of insurance.

The catch is that you must be in good health to qualify, ie: no pre-existing conditions and you may have to renew every six months. If you require medical treatment during the period of the policy you will be covered, BUT, you may not requalify when it's time to renew. I think you can renew indefinitely, so, you'll save money until you actually need the insurance. After that you may have no choice but Blue Cross or indemnity insurance. Don't know if they're available in every state.

Do a search with key words: Alden, Fortis, temporary (or short term), health insurance. You'll get lots of hits.

charlie · Post by **charlie** » Thu Jul 31, 2003 12:48 pm

but won't you then have a precondition, which will cause another insurance carrier to not cover you for that for some period of time?

this was discussed a lot in the old archives. sara's post maked the best sense to me.

sharonbooker · Post by **sharonbooker** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 12:21 am

Hello,

I didn't see a mention of what state you live in but I'm an insurance agent in Washington state. We specialize in insurance for self-employed people and small businesses under 50 employees. Our coverage allows you to go to any doctor, any surgeon, any hospital anywhere in the world. If you are in Washington and would like more information feel free to call me at 425-869-3866 or my e-mail address - sharonbooker@msn.com The plans are totally customizable to what type of insurance you are looking for. I'd be happy to see what I could do to help.

Sharon Booker
sharonbooker@msn.com

WarmGlass.com

looking health for insurance for the self employed

looking health for insurance for the self employed

Re: looking health for insurance for the self employed