[consulting] insurance

[Matt Chapman]

My experience has been the opposite, here in California. I found I
could obtain a better value for insurance buying independently than
joining the plan offered by a former employer. I'm currently with Blue
Cross and satisfied with the plan and the service.

One piece of advice: we formerly had independent insurance through
Blue Shield of California and had to sue them to get them to pay for
expenses after they unjustifiably changed the terms of our plan
mid-contract. Avoid Blue Shield. I suspect most medical insurers are
some shade of evil, but Blue Shield is especially shameless.

Oh, and that lousy & expensive plan offered by my former employer?
Courtesy of Blue Shield....

All the Best,

Matt Chapman



On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 10:06 AM, Cameron Barrett <camworld at camworld.org> wrote:
>
> I had this same issue a while back and came to the conclusion that I could
> no longer work for myself. Insuring myself, my wife and my 3-year old
> daughter was going to cost far too much when buying insurance on the
> private market. I worked out a deal where the company I was consulting for
> was able to put me on payroll and keep me as a remote worker. My effective
> hourly rate dropped but the group-plan health benefits I get were
> drastically cheaper than I would be able to afford on the private market.
>
> In the tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT) there is Freelancer's Union but I've
> been told their health plans are pretty awful.
>
> Every state's laws are different, so you have to do a lot of research. But
> it may be possible to turn your sole proprietorship into a corporation and
> thus be eligible for group plan insurance. Some states allow a
> single-employee group plan and others do not. Some require two people to be
> employed by your company before you are eligible for a group plan. Most
> insurance companies will require proof the company has been in business for
> 6 months or 12 months and show proof of revenue.
>
> Another approach you might take is to find a staffing agency that is
> willing to allow you to funnel your consulting work through them in
> exchange for a cut of your hourly pay. You are then technically an employee
> of theirs and eligible for whatever group insurance plan they offer.
>
> If you have any military background, there are health insurance options
> available through some of the alumni groups for the various branches of the
> military. I recall there is also a military family association (I don't
> recall the name of it) that offers health insurance as long as you maintain
> your annual dues as a supporter.
>
> Lastly, you might just want to wait until the federal government's "health
> exchanges" are open for business, starting in January 2014. These are the
> key component of Obama's health care reform that was passed earlier this
> year, and will allow any American to enroll in a federally-managed group
> plan.
>
> The health care industry is horribly broken in this country and is set up
> in a way that unfairly penalizes American workers who choose to work for
> themselves. The entire market is skewed towards the corporation.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Cameron Barrett
> http://cameronbarrett.com
>
>
>
> On Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:32:34 -0400, Christopher Jones
> <cjones at partialflow.com> wrote:
>> All, I'd like some advice about health insurance. How do you 1099
>> contractors out there deal with this issue? I'm investigating options
>> for insuring my family (two adults and two kids).
>>
>> In particular, I had wondered if there were a union, or some kind of
>> cooperative I could join.
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