

Ask HN: Health insurance when telecommuting - throwaway1101

More and more often I'm learning of new job opportunities where telecommuting is an option. In fact, several companies that sound interesting to me are made up exclusively of remote workers.<p>What i'm curious about is how (if) health insurance benefits are handled at companies like this. I've always worked on site for small companies that offered group health insurance plans. Due to an assortment of health issues, I believe that it would either be impossible or prohibitively expensive for me to obtain individual health insurance. Can those of you who  work remotely for a company (i.e. not as an independent consultant) comment on your experiences?
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jeffmould
My experience has been that if you are "telecommuting" for a reputable company
and are not considered an "independent consultant" or are otherwise labeled as
a 1099 employee you are carried under the company's group health insurance
plan (assuming they offer health insurance). It really depends on the company
though and how your employment is set up with them. For example, I know that
Microsoft has many employees who are remote or field employees, meaning they
primarily work from home or a client location. These employees are full-time
MS employees and receive all benefits any other MS employee receives.
Occasionally they receive more in the sense they are compensated for home
phone and/or Internet costs as well.

Ultimately though it really depends on the company and if they offer benefits.
Be sure to check with the company and ensure they are reputable before taking
any job where the workforce is exclusively made up of remote workers. The
nature of that description makes it sound like the employer will be 1099ing
you at the end of the year, but I could be wrong. If you are a 1099 employee
you will most likely have to obtain your own benefits.

