Ask HN: For those of you self-employed, what is your health insurance?

My partner has a job in academia which can't pay the rent but includes full health and dental. Before we got together it was basically a $20/month high deductible catastrophic plan mixed with some prayer to FSM.

I have a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado, associated with a health savings account (HSA). It has worked well for me and I recommend that general route to other self-employed people, but man have the premiums shot up in the past few years. It was ~$80/month when I signed up (2005 or so, maybe). The same plan is now around $400/month.

For dental, I pay out of pocket but use a discount card (Vital Savings by Aetna). The discount card basically lets you pay the discounted rate that the insurance companies have negotiated with the dentist, which can be significantly lower.

I'm Australian. I insure with BUPA, who have gobbled up the insurer who gobbled up my original insurer (Community Mutual). Because we have a public health system as a backstop, private health cover is a no-brainer in this country. I'm paying about $550 per quarter.

That said: one thing that annoys me about the Australian private health market is how dumb shit I get bundled in my payment.

I don't want a bloody reiki rebate. I'd rather you refunded my MRIs, thanks ("not an outpatient service").

To answer your stated question: My ex was career military. He spent more than 20 years in the army before retiring and we were married more than twenty years. Thus, as long as I don't remarry, I am technically entitled to free medical care for life through the military medical system. However, I never bothered to renew my military ID when it expired and I haven't seen a doctor in like six and half years, so it might be difficult or impossible for me to take advantage of those benefits. I don't really care.

To provide info that might be useful on the assumption that you are American and that what you really want to know is how to best take care of your needs: New laws mean some Americans can get covered under their parent's healthcare plan up until age 26, even if married. This isn't necessarily free, but for some people it opens up additional opitions they wouldn't otherwise have.