

Ask HN: For those of you self-employed, what is your health insurance? - kurtvarner


======
simmons
I have a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
of Colorado, associated with a health savings account (HSA). It has worked
well for me and I recommend that general route to other self-employed people,
but man have the premiums shot up in the past few years. It was ~$80/month
when I signed up (2005 or so, maybe). The same plan is now around $400/month.

For dental, I pay out of pocket but use a discount card (Vital Savings by
Aetna). The discount card basically lets you pay the discounted rate that the
insurance companies have negotiated with the dentist, which can be
significantly lower.

------
johnsonko
I live in a country that will provide healthcare no matter what my income is.
Pretty nifty, huh?

~~~
pravda
Not if the country is Cuba.

~~~
lussier
Have you heard of Canada?

------
ScottWhigham
I'm of two minds on this thread. On one hand, I'm surprised at the poor
quality of comments ("vitamins", "The government", etc). On the other hand, I
sort of place it on the OP's shoulders due to the fact that he didn't list any
domain/restriction on this incredibly generic question.

We are a diverse group here of 100+ countries. If you ask a generic question,
you're going to get 100+ countries' worth of experiences. In a case like this,
it's just not helpful to anyone to throw this question out to 100+ countries -
what value is it to a Canadian what someone from Thailand pays for health
insurance? Zero. What value is it to someone from England who has four kids
and a spouse what a 20yr old American on his parents' insurance "pays"?

I wish this thread had been better. I'd love to know this information about my
fellow USA HN'ers. Hopefully the next thread someone creates on this topic
will be a bit more specific and we can have intelligent discussions.

------
codegeek
You have to give more specific details (country/state,marital status etc.)
before a reasonable answer can be provided. But to give you a general idea,
being self employed in the US can cost anywhere from $100-$1000 per month
depending on how kind of insurance you need/want with deductibles, co-
insurance limits, out of pocket expenses, in-network vs. out-network etc.

If you want to do some comparisons for US, try
<http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/>

In my case, I use my wife's health insurance from her job and don't bother
buying it myself.If I had to, it would probably cost me at least $500 per
month.

------
ahi
My partner has a job in academia which can't pay the rent but includes full
health and dental. Before we got together it was basically a $20/month high
deductible catastrophic plan mixed with some prayer to FSM.

------
codenerdz
Those that do answer, please mention what country and/or State youre in as
things different depending on your locale. Freelancers union for instance does
not offer health insurance in california.

------
debacle
We did a HDHP at one point. Nowadays, the premiums are just too fucking high
(~300-400 a month).

Have a spouse that can get good benefits.

------
zerohp
I'm not self-employed, but I purchased my own insurance to cover a 6 month gap
recently. I found that I could get reasonably priced health insurance as a
member of ACM.

------
mcrider
None! However, I will soon have an office job with good insurance and am very
much looking forward to going to the dentist.

------
jacques_chester
I'm Australian. I insure with BUPA, who have gobbled up the insurer who
gobbled up my original insurer (Community Mutual). Because we have a public
health system as a backstop, private health cover is a no-brainer in this
country. I'm paying about $550 per quarter.

That said: one thing that annoys me about the Australian private health market
is how dumb shit I get bundled in my payment.

I don't want a bloody reiki rebate. I'd rather you refunded my MRIs, thanks
("not an outpatient service").

------
erictarn
Freelancers Union

------
dholowiski
The government.

------
Mz
To answer your stated question: My ex was career military. He spent more than
20 years in the army before retiring and we were married more than twenty
years. Thus, as long as I don't remarry, I am technically entitled to free
medical care for life through the military medical system. However, I never
bothered to renew my military ID when it expired and I haven't seen a doctor
in like six and half years, so it might be difficult or impossible for me to
take advantage of those benefits. I don't really care.

To provide info that might be useful on the assumption that you are American
and that what you really want to know is how to best take care of your needs:
New laws mean some Americans can get covered under their parent's healthcare
plan up until age 26, even if married. This isn't necessarily free, but for
some people it opens up additional opitions they wouldn't otherwise have.

------
frozenport
vitamins

