Family of 4, I pay 1250$ for the cheapest Blue Shield CA plan. I got the plan comparison on https://www.stridehealth.com/ but the enrollment period is over already for this year, unless you qualify for an event.
I assume that is per month?
Yes
Ask HN: What healthcare options exist for entrepreneurs?
31–40 of 52 posts
Re: Ask HN: What healthcare options exist for entrepreneurs?
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is false and will likely get you into trouble. ACA uses your last year's income tax return in order to determine whether a subsidy should be awarded. While it is true that you do not send in your tax return while applying for coverage, your insurance company does send in paperwork through a 1095-A. In the past, 1095-A was used primarily to show that coverage was carried in order to avoid a tax penalty, so, yes,…
There is nothing false about his comment (maybe it was updated). ACA is fully based on projected income for the year. Previous year's tax returns are one way of substantiating your projected income. But not required. If you are living off of savings and not making a profit yet on your business, you can pay yourself a small salary and qualify for full subsidies from ACA. If you file as a C Corp (which you can do with…
Yes, ACA is based on projected income:
https://www.healthcare.gov/income-and-household-information/...
However, for most people, the primary number to estimate this is your adjusted gross income, which they explicitly instruct to use line 7 on the 1040. It's not entirely clear to me who the regulatory authority is now that the tax penalty has been taken away for not carrying insurance, but I'm pretty sure it's going to look bad if you say that your income is near $0 to get a subsidized plan and your actual income is above the subsidy level and the IRS will have this information.
As far as holding the money in a C-corp, sure. However, then you're going to pay the corporate income tax rate for keeping the money in C-corp, file much more complicated paperwork than you would as a sole-proprietorship (depending on the state), and then likely have to pay additional taxes or play games once that money turns into income. All of this is to save on what's going to turn out to be likely less than $5k in premiums, which are already tax deductible as a self-employed person.
I'll still contend that the comment is largely false given the idea is to save money by pretending that there's no income. The IRS isn't dumb and they'll get their taxes eventually even if it requires an audit. It seems like a huge hassle and liability to play this game to save such a small amount of money. If this isn't a small amount of money, then the OP isn't in a position to start a business, unfortunately.
Re: Ask HN: What healthcare options exist for entrepreneurs?
#33I pay $1,050 for myself, my wife, and my son. It is crazy, that is with a $6k+ deductible per person... It is terrible insurance and just for catastrophic.
I hope we do Medicare for all. This system is so broken, it is time to learn from Europe, Japan, etc. I don't get why we don't steal great ideas because we are doing terrible.
Re: Ask HN: What healthcare options exist for entrepreneurs?
#34I pay $150/mo using a health sharing service called Christian Healthcare Ministries. There are others not religious in nature like Liberty Health Share. Would be $450 for entire family.
Re: Ask HN: What healthcare options exist for entrepreneurs?
#35I pay something like $430/month through Kaiser. My experience there is they are really good unless you need mental health stuff. I would especially recommend cancer—the views of SF from the chemo lounge are spectacular. Kaiser is their own insurer/pharmacy, and works like a mini version of single payer. If you're younger than me (I'm 43) you may find some plans with them that are cheaper. Another option is OneMedical…
Why do you say One Medical is for "wealthier people"? Outside of the $200 annual membership fee, it's no different than seeing any other physician if they are in-network for your insurance plan.
I had several doctors from One Medical and they were not the best. However, there were a number of things that made up for it. Setting up appointments was easy, the locations were convenient, and you could even talk to the doctors via messaging on the website. Viewing and downloading test results could be done via their website also, and I've had to jump through hoops to get test results elsewhere.
However, to call it a true concierge practice would be a joke, in my opinion. I've never had the money for one (10k+ per year fee), but a friend of mine did have one of these, and at least in his case they were able to cure a serious back problem of his through cutting edge and non-invasive therapies. I wouldn't expect to find anything close to that at One Medical.
Still would say the One Medical membership fee ($200) is worth it if you can find a decent doctor there and if you're not happy with what you currently have.
Re: Ask HN: What healthcare options exist for entrepreneurs?
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you say One Medical is for "wealthier people"? Outside of the $200 annual membership fee, it's no different than seeing any other physician if they are in-network for your insurance plan.
The only people I've ever seen there are young techies, and their offices are in hip parts of town rather than Medical Gulch.
In other words, the offices are walking distance from many employers.
Re: Ask HN: What healthcare options exist for entrepreneurs?
#37Use the exchange.
Re: Ask HN: What healthcare options exist for entrepreneurs?
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
The only people I've ever seen there are young techies, and their offices are in hip parts of town rather than Medical Gulch.
In other words, the offices are walking distance from many employers.
Yeah, but you don't see the Chinese Community Healthcare Plan at 2 Embarcadero. It's just the vibe of the place, it's upscale.
Re: Ask HN: What healthcare options exist for entrepreneurs?
#39I pay something like $430/month through Kaiser. My experience there is they are really good unless you need mental health stuff. I would especially recommend cancer—the views of SF from the chemo lounge are spectacular. Kaiser is their own insurer/pharmacy, and works like a mini version of single payer. If you're younger than me (I'm 43) you may find some plans with them that are cheaper. Another option is OneMedical…
Thanks for inadvertently pointing me to this [1], it was so interesting!
Re: Ask HN: What healthcare options exist for entrepreneurs?
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also on Kaiser... they make you jump through hoops to get consistent mental health (regular weekly therapy). If you're persistent enough (call and be very direct about the kind of care you want) they'll hook you up with Magellan Health, the company they outsource to for mental health. Through Magellan, I was given a huge array of therapists to choose from in the Bay Area. If you shop around you can find someone you c…
Did they outsource the mental health care now? 15 years ago they had their own psychologist/psychiatrist staff you could meet. Did that change?
My experience of this is secondhand, but they try to push people to group vs. individual therapy (though still in-house).