One of the options that are important to consider when you leave corporate Europe for the freedom of your own business is affordable health insurance for the self employed. The fact is the options is most often cited for NOT taking the plunge into self-employment is the lack of affordable health insurance options for people who are not employed by a company that can offer more affordable rates on health insurancealong with a group health insurance plan.
If you do opt to brave it and be your own boss, there are many areas where you can cut corners. Letting yourself or your close family go without health insuranceisn’t one of those. Here are some popular options that can make insuranceaffordable if you’re a self-employed business person or crafter.
Cover under a Spouse’s Plan
By far the most popular option is to cover the family for health insurancethrough a spouse’s employer. As long as one member of the couple is working for the business that has a health insurance for the self employed plan, it’s usually the low cost option for insuring the entire household.
COBRA
COBRA is an option for the start of your self-employment. For the first couple of months after you leave your job, your employer is required by law to give you the option of keeping membership in their health insurance plan. You will have to cover the entire monthly premium paid by your business rather than the amount that you’re used to paying as an employee when your employer was covering part of the bill. The true cost of that health insurance for the self employed can come as news to you – a family health insurance through a group can easily cost close to €2000 a month. It’s still more affordable than most plans that you can buy as an individual. It’s also only temporary, so you should be seeking for other health insuranceoptions while you’re still covered.
A Health Insurance Cooperative with Other health insurance and Small Business Owners
There are national and local companies of self-employed workers who have an alliance together to combine their buying power and get affordable health insurance for the self employed premiums through group policies. You can find more data about groups in your area through the National Association for the Self Employed (www.nase.com) or the European Association of Home-Based Businesses (www.eahbb.org).
Group Health Insurance
In many states like the UK, health insurance companies offer best price group policies for groups of one. You may have to look around to find a company that does, but there are benefits other than being a cheaper policy. The most important of these is that they MUST cover everyone in the section, regardless of health conditions. This is important for someone who may have been turned against for an individual health insurance policy because of health.
No matter what, it is vital that you insure yourself and your family against the possibility of sickness or accident. There are cheap alternatives to individual health insurancepremiums and policies for the self-employed.
