Self-Employed Health Insurance

Self-employed also tends to mean self-insured. Because anyone who has chosen to work for him or herself is not in a position to take advantage of a group plan such as that offered by an employer, and insurance premiums of the self-employed may be higher than most.

Group insurance takes the overall health of the group into account, allowing high-risk and low-risk individuals to balance each other out. An individual will get a health insurance quote according to his or her own health and possibly that of his or her family. The greater health costs and potential liability tends to drive up medical insurance premiums.

COBRA Health Insurance

Fortunately, the self-employed do have options for health care coverage, depending on their health and medical insurance needs. For instance, the COBRA program may be quite helpful if you are newly self-employed. If you had health insurance through your previous employer, COBRA will allow you to keep your medical coverage for up to 18 months at the same group rate. However, the employer will no longer be paying a portion of the premium for your new self-employed health insurance, so you’ll likely have to start paying more than you’re used to.

HMO or PPO

Alternatively, you might want to look into a medical insurance plan through a health maintenance organization (HMO) or a preferred provider organization (PPO) if you are self-employed. With either plan, you can expect to make co-payments for doctor’s office visits. Some plans will also charge deductibles and coinsurance.

While these types of plans can be expensive, they offer great coverage for large medical bills resulting from injury or illness, work well for families, and are flexible enough to fit the health insurance needs of each policyholder.

Fee-For-Service Health Insurance

Another option for the self-employed is the fee-for-service plan. This plan only requires payments to be made for each doctor visit instead of charging a monthly insurance premium, so it would work well for anyone who only occasionally sees a physician. The downside of a fee-for-service plan is that it will not cover routine maintenance care, and may not be the best choice for a family health insurance plan.

Health Savings Account

Opening a health savings account (HSA) is a good idea for any person or family who is covered by a high deductible health plan. Money deposited into the HSA is used to pay regular premiums and deductibles as needed, but can only pay for qualified medical expenses. If any remains at the end of the year, it is carried over to the next.

Alternative Self-Employed Health Insurance

For the healthy self-employed individual, there is catastrophic health insurance coverage. Such a policy offers protection against large medical care bills for surgery and hospital services required due to illness or injury. However, routine, preventative, or maintenance care programs are not covered by catastrophic health care insurance.

Self-Employed Health Insurance Quotes

When choosing the right health insurance plan for you, it is important to weigh the pros and cons by doing the right research and getting accurate online quotes. You only need to provide your ZIP code to use TheHealthInsuranceQuotes.com to search for cheap health insurance quotes and compare the top insurance companies in your area.