How to Get Health Insurance As A Freelancer
Ah, health insurance, the bane of existence for some freelancers and independent contractors. Now this is probably more of an issue for freelancers in the United States than it is for other parts of the world with socialized medicine. Here in the United States, if you work independently of any corporate structure or entity, you will most likely find yourself without health insurance at some point or another.
Many freelancers and independent contractors decide to go without health insurance coverage rather than commit to a 9-5 job. However, others will work full-time jobs alongside their freelance projects in order to have health benefits.
For those freelancers among us without health insurance who desperately want health insurance coverage but don’t know how to get it, this article aims to give you some direction and advice on setting something up and stressing less.
Where To Get Health Insurance Coverage
- Get A Full-Time Job: Yes, I know. The point of being a freelancer for most of us is to be free of cubbies and corporate shenanigans. However, sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Many freelancers and independent contractors do their freelance work in the evenings and weekends or whenever they’re not at their full-time job just to feel secure about having health care insurance. There is nothing wrong with doing that and from a security standpoint, it’s an mature thing to do. Sometimes freelancers do this until they are making enough money freelancing to cover the cost of private health insurance coverage. So, this might be something to consider.
- Get On Your Spouse’s Insurance: If you are married, and your spouse has health insurance coverage through his job, you very likely may be able to get coverage through their job. Most companies do allow their employees to add their spouse and children to their health insurance policy for an extra premium. Even though doing this will raise the amount taken out of your spouse’s salary, the cost for insurance will be cheaper than buying individual health insurance for yourself.
- Buy Your Own Insurance: This one can be a bit tricky and one that’s caused me many of hours of research for myself. There are policies available to purchase on places like the Healthcare.gov where, if you qualify, you can get inexpensive health insurance coverage. The caveat is that the policies many times don’t cover things like preventative care and doctors visits, the premiums are so ridiculously high that they are out of reach of most freelancers, or the premiums are affordable but the deductibles are so high that the policy doesn’t even make sense. In addition to Healthcare.gov, it is possible to purchase a health insurance policy directly from an insurance company like Blue Cross-Blue Shield, UHC, etc. but again, I’ve found that the policies don’t cover much and the premiums are incredibly high. I have, however, managed to buy my own vision and dental insurance through a company called Guardian Direct Insurance that is extremely reasonable with benefits equal what I got at my old 9-5 job.
- Sidecar Health: Recently, I’ve discovered and have bought a policy with Sidecar Health. Sidecar Health is not an insurance policy instead they help cover the costs of most doctor-recommended treatments. Sidecar Health keeps a list of the average cost of healthcare in your area and can suggest services and doctors that are less expensive than others. However, you can go to any doctor you want and you don’t have to get authorizations before getting care. The way it works is you tell your doctor you do not have health insurance (because, well, you don’t) and ask for the self-pay cost. Many times this is lower than what you would pay with health insurance anyway. You then pay that cost and submit the detailed bill to Sidecar Health. Sidecar Health will cover a percentage of the cost (usually around 80%) and pay you back the amount that you didn’t have to pay. As of this writing, I have not used the policy yet but I will be using it shortly for my yearly preventative healthcare exams and tests so I’ll update you on how it works. I did a lot of research on this one and they seem to particularly work well for freelancers and independent contractors. You can cancel your policy at any time should you not be happy with it. The policies are customizable so you can get the coverage you want and leave off what you don’t want. My policy is costing me around $300 a month and it covers up to $2 million in services. I opted out of the prescription coverage and it made a sizable difference in cost. Check it out and see if it might be a solution for you. BTW, I am not an affiliate and will not get any reimbursement at all should you decide to give them a try. I wish I did but I don’t. I am giving this option this much space because I’ve literally been trying to get any kind of reasonable priced coverage for several years now. I wanted something that would not only cover my yearly preventative care but that would also provide peace of mind should something unexpected and/or bad happened but that wouldn’t bankrupt me. So far, this appears to be a solution.
- Open A Health Savings Account (HSA): This is a good option that anyone can set up through various companies. A Health Savings Account or HSA is an account where you put a pre-determined amount of money monthly to cover any healthcare expenses that might come up for you. With this money, you can pay for glasses, dental visits and procedures, health insurance deductibles, and any number of things considered a healthcare expense. One caveat with HSAs is that you must use all the money in the account at the end of every year and you can only use it on healthcare expenses. If you go with this one it’s best to calculate your yearly healthcare expenses and not put in more than you will likely need. Most of these accounts do not carry over into the next year. It’s a use it or lose it situation.
- Open An Interest Bearing Savings Account: If none of the other options work for you then opening an interest bearing savings account is the minimum I would advise you to do. Find a savings account or even a money market account with a decent interest rate (though right now interest rates are low but, hey, every little bit helps) and create your own healthcare savings account. When you do this, you discipline yourself to put a certain percentage of every bit of income you receive directly into this account BEFORE you pay the bills. Yes, it starts off slow but if you make paying yourself first a priority, you’ll find your account building up steadily. This money is ONLY to be used for healthcare expenses and nothing else.
Yes, finding healthcare insurance can be a bit of a challenge sometimes when you’re a freelancer but if you are smart about it you can find solutions. For myself, I’ve come up with several things that work for me. I’ve purchased my own vision and dental insurance (both combined are about $50 a month), have purchased a policy from Sidecar Health (around $300 a month), and I’ve opted for a concierge doctor that costs around $1,800 per year. The concierge program provides a complete medical exam, bloodwork, etc. yearly as well as 24/7 access to my doctor for any other health issues. I also have created my own “HSA” for any additional healthcare expenses I may need and I let it build up year after year and never touch it for anything else.
You should also be aware that there are some organizations that you can join that pool together their members into one group insurance so they can offer group insurance rates to their members.
If you’re a freelancer or independent contractor and have found a solution to the healthcare insurance dilemma that works for you, we would love to hear about it in the comments below, contact form here, or comment on our Facebook page here.
Veronica Buhl is a freelance social media manager, who has been a writer, editor, proofreader, summary writer, and transcriptionist for some of the top motivational and self-improvement speakers in the world. She has also helped numerous clients develop their websites, blogs, and social media presence in order to promote their businesses, non-profits, and projects. She is the author of the book, Making Your Business A Social Media Superstar, and is co-author of the book, The Massage Disadvantage. Her official website can be found at www.veronicabuhl.com
