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Health ins. for self-employed geeks

mary.poppins on 2004-06-25T05:24:53

I'm a self-employed geek living in the US.

Any advice as to how to go about getting health insurance? I'm thinking a high-deductible "major medical" type plan, with infrequent routine stuff out-of-pocket. I'm young and healthy, with no family to worry about.

The ACM and IEEE each have group deals with insurance companies. Anyone had experiences with them, or with some similar deal?

Working Today

perrin on 2004-06-25T16:57:19

I was using something from Working Today when I was contracting. It seemed expensive to me, but people tell me it's cheaper than most of the others.

What state do you live in?

autarch on 2004-06-25T17:01:09

If by some chance you live in Minnesota, and you can't get private insurance, you should check out Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association. It's a state-mandated nonprofit which provides health insurance to those who are turned down for private insurance. Their rates are about 10% higher than comparable private insurance, which isn't cheap, but it could be worse. Other states may have similar plans.

Insurance

runrig on 2004-06-25T20:09:33

When I lived in Morgan Hill (South Silicon Valley), insurance was available through the Chamber of Commerce.

Tough to work out the math

VSarkiss on 2004-06-25T22:29:06

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. There are lots of parameters to work out, besides the rates and coverage (which are complicated enough in themselves). Whether a high-deductible plan will work for you depends on how often you think you'll visit the doctor, what your tax bracket is, and whether your coverage includes your family.

I opted for a fairly traditional HMO plan from Kaiser Permanente mainly because I'm familiar with them, so I know how to work the system; in particular, my children have an excellent pediatrician. Given that I can deduct premiums but not co-payments or co-insurance from my taxes, that worked out the best for me.

Good luck. Do your homework (a lot of homework) and it can save you a ton of money.