11–20 of 106 posts
Did this 3 years ago when I broke out on my own. I'm in Boston. MA has a decent portal through their MA Health Connector site. For my family (Wife, son and myself) I pay $760 on a high deductible plan for health and $99 for dental for my wife and me. Once my son needs dental it'll most likely go up by about $40 for the dental. My only advice is to really sit down and determine what you're going to need for coverage a…
Is that per month?
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. When we started out it only cost about $500/month. Jumped to $890 and deductible went to $23K with the affordable healthcare act. Basically, now we pay all of our health care out of pocket.
I did exactly this as a freelancer even though not anymore. It will cost you more out of pocket to buy insurance compared to a "group" plan through an employer. My first suggestion: Keep the health insurance through your wife if you can and if she is still working. It is hard to beat the plans sponsored by employers as they get subsidized group rates to offer to employees. But if you absolutely need to buy your own,…
Medical underwriting is no longer a thing industry-wide and hasn't been since the beginning of 2014. No matter where you buy your plan, they will not ask about pre-existing conditions.
It's true that the only reason why you'd actually buy through an exchange is to get the subsidies, even if you don't it's worthwhile to check. They offer a pretty comprehensive survey of the companies that offer insurance in your state and roughly how much you'll pay, and you can go to those companies separately and check into their plans they don't offer on the exchange.
Another idea is to find a local insurance broker in your area. They're free to you (the insurance companies pay them) and they'll find you a good plan that fits your needs.
PS I haven't noticed much effect due to ACA, except that some services that used to require a co-pay became free. It will be nice not having to worry about pre-existing conditions, too.
I had 3 options:
1. Obama Care - I qualified for a $16 subsidy...
2. Individual plan from a health care provider in state
3. Health Share plan (think Credit union for health care)
Obama care cost 2x as much as an individual plan, and almost 3x as much as a health share plan, so even after the subsidy, this was not an option.
Health share plan was very affordable, however it only worked with the health care providers on the east side of the state(I live on the west), it had a low yearly deductible, much lower then the individual High deductible HMO, however it had a 20% copay for all health services, including routine physicals and checkups.
Individual Plan from an instate health care plan costs slightly more each month, but all routine check ups, generic brand pharmaceuticals proscribe from my doctor, and any specialist (Chiropractor, Knee Doctor, etc) visits are 100% covered IF I am referred by my primary care physician.
I went with an individual plan for about $140/m and $28/m for dental coverage.
A political side note: this same exact coverage would have only cost me $84/m before 2014 when Obama care went into play. (edit: Health Care cost, not Heath + Dental)
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. When we started out it only cost about $500/month. Jumped to $890 and deductible went to $23K with the affordable healthcare act. Basically, now we pay all of our health care out of pocket.
Personally, I went with a plan from Oscar (http://hioscar.com). Oscar offers reimbursements for gym memberships, free unlimited access to Teladoc (http://www.teladoc.com/), and Amazon gift cards if you take enough steps per day (tracked by a free Misfit Flash).
Pre-2015, I had insurance with Freelancers Union (https://www.freelancersunion.org/). Their plans are not subsidized, but with some of them you get free, unlimited access to doctors at Freelancers Medical (https://www.freelancersmedical.org/). They have two offices, one in Downtown Brooklyn, and one in the Financial District.