How To Get Health Insurance When You Work for Yourself
Ready to take the plunge, but worried about losing your health insurance? We've been there. Here are our top tips for finding the right plan.
You can purchase insurance through Obamacare (Marketplace) or private insurance. Below we’ve creates a chart comparing the two!
Next, you're going to need to select a plan. We've listed the most popular options below:
PPO
Preferred Provider Orgs give you wiggle room to find a practitioner. While you have to select a provider from a pre-approved list you won't need a referral to see a specialist. Visits to out of network providers are partially covered.
HMO
Health Maintenance Orgs typically have lower premiums, but have strict and limited in-network coverage. You'll typically need to select a Primary Care Physician to coordinate your care.
EPO
Exclusive Provider Orgs are similar to PPOs as you have a specified list of available providers. Premiums tend to be lower than PPO, but you have to pay the full cost if you see a provider outside of your network
POS
Point of Service plans are a combination of HMO and PPO. You'll need a Primary Care Physician to coordinate your care, but you can also see out of network providers. Just expect to pay more.
HDHP
High Deductible Health Plans have low premiums but, high deductibles (out of pocket costs). Preventive care is covered, but you have to pay for everything else until you reach your deductible. HDHPs are eligible for a tax free Health Savings Account.
What to Consider:
1) How often do you go to the doctor? Paying a higher premium may be worth the lower co-payments and deductible.
2) How much do you typically spend on healthcare? A lot? You may want to avoid high deductible plans. If you have specific prescriptions consider checking that your plan will cover some, if not all, of the cost.
3) Do you require special care? You'll need a larger network and perhaps out of network flexibility.
4) Would you consider yourself pretty healthy? Consider a lower premium/ higher deductible plan if you want to save money upfront.
Need to know terms:
Premium - the amount you pay to the health insurance company each month
Co-Payment - how much you may be required to pay during a medical visit
Deductible - the amount you may have to pay before the insurance company will pay for anything (note: this does include your premium or co-pay)
Now that you know what to look for it's time to check your options. Here are a few places where you can compare plans:
1) healthcare.gov (Obamacare only)
2) ehealth.com (Obamacare & Private options)
3) state government exchanges (Obamacare only)
4) Visit health insurance company pages directly (ex: Aetna)
Healthcare in the US seems complicated (because it is), but you do have options. Don’t go without health insurance. Besides annual checkups, on the off chance (knock on wood) that you have an emergency you’ll be glad that you have it. Many early entrepreneurs qualify for subsidized insurance and even medicaid. Take a look and see what your options are!
