You should also mention health care sharing organizations, like Samaritan Ministries, Christian Care Medi-Share and Christian Care Newsletter. They’re all Christian faith-based programs, but offer a great service and the monthly amounts are very affordable.

Try http://www.ehealthinsurance.com — I got a plan from BXBS for a very reasonable price. It’s a bare-bones plan, and I haven’t actually used it for anything, but it’s nice to know that I can still get _something_ even without a full-time job or a large organisation backing me up. The site works like Travelocity or one of those — worth a visit.

@liz - I’ve been on that plan too - be careful! The point this article makes about high deductibles is spot on. A five or even ten thousand dollar deductible might almost make having health insurance seem pointless, but it’s still better than nothing in the event of something tragic. I’ve seen plans as low as $40-50 that fall into this category (The same price as a cheap cell phone, really), so it’s definitely worth it.

OR… you could move to Canada, where trips to the doc, major cancer treatment, broken bones and the very air you breath all cost the same: $0

Keep an eye on your mail for offers from health insurance companies, too. I had insurance through a small business consortium for more than ten years, and this year the monthly premium went up to $450. Needless to say, I started looking around. I contacted a few insurance brokers, who told me that because of my weight and current health issues, I would never find insurance for less than $400/month. Then I got a mailing from Independence Blue Cross, who set me up with a pretty decent plan for “only” $301/month. Yeah, it’s still expensive, but it’s much cheaper than what I was paying and it was nice to be able to thumb my nose at the brokers and their “Sorry you’re such a fat slob” attitude.

I’m fortunate enough to have a spouse with a great full-time gig and a really nice benefits package that covers me and my pre-existing conditions. Due to pre-existing conditions I am uninsurable if I were to go it alone though.

For those of you who do not have insurance, I strongly advise you begin looking into options. I was perfectly healthy, young, seldom saw a doctor, fit, and ate right, when I received a devastating diagnosis in 2006. I believe within the year the bills racked up to well over $250,000, and current meds sit at $3200/monthly…luckily I have/had insurance and pay/paid only a small fraction of that out-of-pocket. I shudder when I think of what would have happened had I not been insured.

I’ve got to agree with tek79. Marrying well is also an option. My partner’s firm offers incredible spouse/domestic partner insurance benefits - medical, dental, vision, etc. Yes, we still pay for them - but the cost is about a quarter of what I would pay elsewhere. A $10,000 emergency room visit one night, with an ambulance ride, ended up costing me $300 out of pocket.

OR… you could move to Canada, where trips to the doc, major cancer treatment, broken bones and the very air you breath all cost the same: $0

Do you *really* think the health insurance is free in Canada?

“Do you *really* think the health insurance is free in Canada?”

It’s probably cheaper in Canada. I moved to the US after marrying a US citizen and still can’t believe how much things cost here. Our medical bills in New Zealand were $10 for a doctors visit, and $5-10 for a prescription.

For a nation that seems to pride itself of encouraging entrepreneurship and business it amazes me that the US continues to place the burden and expense of providing insurance upon business.

We had Mega-Life (often associated with NASE) but luckily we got off of it a couple of years ago after working with an excellent health insurance broker.

On Easter, I broke my leg while snowboarding. Emergency room, doctor visits, operation, rehab - it’s looking like it’ll total out to around $40k. Expensive recreation:(

The good news is that we’ve been paying $375/month (me and two kids) for high-deductible ($5K) insurance and have an HSA ($5K) for the tax deduction. I didn’t remember until this accident but, when we signed onto this policy, we also have a $5000 accident policy which will cover my deductible in this case. I’ve yet to receive all the billing but I am pleased to see that the policy is paying 100% over the deductible. Plus the network discounted the $29K surgery bill down to $7000. Of course, I’m sure my monthly premium will now go up (again.)

One tip my doctor gave me was to ask up front about costs and discounts. I had an MRI last year (another stupid snowboarding injury) and offered to pay half that day and half the following month. Low and behold, the imaging clinic bill dropped from $1500 (if submitted through insurance) down to $500. Of course, I paid via my HSA account. Often, the doctor/medical office will not be able to tell you costs but will at least direct you to their billing department. I’ve learned to be insistent about offering to pay up front (if I’m able to.)

We also take advantage of public health fairs for discounted blood tests and health screenings. There are other obvious things like quitting smoking, improving diet, exercising more, and quitting snowboarding.

It’s probably cheaper in Canada. I moved to the US after marrying a US citizen and still can’t believe how much things cost here. Our medical bills in New Zealand were $10 for a doctors visit, and $5-10 for a prescription.

Who do you think pays for the health insurance in Canada? Who bears the cost? I would ask the same question for New Zealand?

Simply because the health costs are rolled into a tax structure doesn’t mean they are “free”. It just means they are paid for by the “gun in the room” i.e. the Government.

Make no mistake that in each country the end user is ultimately paying for the health care costs. How else could it possibly be?

For those talking about “disaster” insurance, you may want to consider a “high deductable” insurance plan instead, since that’s basiclaly what it is. For my plan, I have a $5000 annual deductible and 100% coverage after that. So if I get into a car accident or something, my HSA would pretty much be drained, but the insurance would cover the rest. (Not that I do that much driving anymore, anyway.)

The much lower rate has already paid for itself over the COBRA plan I was first on when I first quit or what we would pay to get me on my wife’s plan, even after having paid for some doctor’s visits myself. I get the added bonus of paying the insurance company’s “negotiated” rate with the doctor instead of the full rate. Plus, I fund my HSA based on the money I’m not paying for a more expensive plan, which I will keep (barring some disaster) and from which I pay my medical bills tax free!

This is the wildest thing I have ever read — first off, a few days ago I posted on Wickedfire that I was interested in starting a health insurance provider that meets the needs of freelancers, then this article appears.

Large companies like eHealth are a “convenient” solution for people like us — but I think that a more rounded benefit package tailored BY freelancers FOR freelancers would be a better fit. If you guys are interested in getting in on something like this - I would love to hear ideas on this…

I would love to talk to someone at freelanceswitch about advertising and becoming an exclusive health insurance resource for freelancers in our profession. Obviously, a niche needs to be filled as nothing I’ve seen looks like a total package for us. I think HDHPs coupled with an HSA are the way to go!

Being in good health and having not had any doctors visits in almost two years, I let a few days lapse between the end of my old policy and the signing of a new policy. The paperwork was sitting on my desk, just waiting to be signed. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this… Yes, I developed intense stomach pain late at night and had to go to the ER. Luckily, it was not appendicitis. But just sitting in an ER examining room for 45 minutes, having 2 doctors press on my stomach and having blood drawn set me back $1400. I can’t imagine what that bill would’ve been if I’d let them do the CAT scan they wanted to do or if it had been appendicitis. So I don’t fool around anymore or put too much faith in the fact that my general good health will preclude emergencies from happening.

Anyway, I bought a high-deductible ($2500) HSA through Anthem and I pay $220/month. My goal is to be protected in case of another emergency or major illness so I made sure that I have between 80-100% coverage once I go beyond my deductible. Peace of mind rocks

The same reason I now do freelance work is the same reason I can’t get health insurance worth having; disability. I have chronic health conditions that I would not be able to get individual insurance to cover so instead my husband works a normal job and we use his health insurance. He wants to open a small business of his own but until we can determine how we could cover the high cost of the pre-existing conditions on our own or the government forces the insurance companies to cover them and we can afford their rates on our then we’re out of luck. Thing is I couldn’t do any work if I didn’t have insurance somehow.

About Canada…

I have lived in Canada all my life. I realize that health care is not “FREE”, that we pay for it with our taxes. Rightly so!!! I’m willing to be that the amount of taxes coming out of my bank account which cover everything (schools, roads, fire/police protection, even military), are less per month than the amount most Americans pay for health coverage, ON TOP of their taxes.

In Canada, if we need to go to the hospital in the middle of the night, we don’t have to worry about our Insurance coverage, how much it will cost out of pocket, co-pays, or any of it. We need only worry about getting the care we need. It’s a great system, it WORKS.

We should pay for it with our taxes, this way everyone is treated equally, and gets the care they need regardless of income, or class. People with pre-existing conditions SHOULD be taken care of, they have every right to health care. But in a privatized system, sick people are turned away from getting the care they need because they are sick.

That in itself, is sick.

I work for a small business that does not provide health insurance. I went online to find help with the cost of my meds. At http://www.rxdrugcard.com I found a prescription discount card that costs me only $4.50 a month. They have their drug prices posted to check before you enroll. Anyone can have this card. They don’t ask about age or income or pre-existing conditions. All the major drugstore chains accept RxDrugCard. Wouldn’t it be great if small business owners bought this plan for their employees?