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There are plenty of alternatives to traditional health insurance for the self-employed to consider.
Owning your own business and working for yourself offers plenty in the way of freedom, flexibility, and limitless earning potential. But as exciting and rewarding as self-employment may be, it can come with a unique set of challenges as well.
Being self-employed places 100 percent of the responsibility on you to plan for retirement and cover the cost of health care without the help of an employer’s health plan. As a self-employed professional, it’s up to you to ensure the medical needs of you and your family are met and that you find affordable options for healthcare.
Here are some viable health insurance alternatives to consider.
If you’re comfortable with paying cash for your medical services upfront, then a medical services discount card may be an option for you. These cards will provide discounts on doctor visits, hospital services, and prescriptions and can shave down the cost by as much as 80 percent. Keep in mind that these cards typically require a membership fee, and not all medical services may be covered.
A high-deductible health plan may be suitable for younger adults in good health. They’re designed to cover the cost of significant medical emergencies rather than more frequent doctor visits and prescriptions. Insurance premiums are much lower than traditional health insurance plans, but the deductibles are quite high when it comes time to file a claim.
That’s why these plans are better suited for those who don’t expect to have to file claims very often and simply want a plan to help cover them in the event of unexpected serious illness or injuries.
Certain primary care physicians offer monthly-fee memberships in exchange for their services. However, these memberships won’t cover hospitalization, surgery, or specialist care and may be best paired with a high-deductible policy.
Health sharing provide a lower-cost alternative to insurance plans for self-employed individuals.
A unique alternative to a traditional health insurance policy is a health care sharing program. Members of these programs make voluntary contributions monthly, which the program then administers member to member sharing for eligible medical expenses. Monthly contributions are usually much less than typical health insurance premiums. In fact, members of health sharing may save 40 to 50 percent or more compared to a conventional health insurance plan.
When a medical need arises, members can choose their own doctors and network/ The member simply goes to a doctor as normal, presents his or her health care share program card, and receives service, paying only the consult fee as outlined in the program guidelines for the health share program to which the member belongs.
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