15 million Americans who are self-employed or work for a small business and have to pay for their own health insurance are currently uninsured.
There’s no doubting that there have been many changes to health insurance policies and requirements in the past few years.
Before, self-employed individuals didn’t have the same kind of access to tax breaks, patient protections, and lower-cost health insurance that contracted employees did. However, that’s all changed, especially when it comes to Texas health insurance.
How? You’re about to find out. Here’s your guide to making sense of self-employed health insurance.
What Are Your Health Insurance Requirements?
Before diving into the best healthcare plans for self-employed workers, it helps to make sense of what you need out of your insurance policy.
The Affordable Care Act aimed to make health insurance more affordable for workers who didn’t receive it through their employer.
While the initiative wasn’t perfect (nothing ever is in the beginning), over seven million people were able to sign up for health insurance through this health care reform.
Now, with changes in the current administration, you might be wondering, “How has healthcare changed in 2019? What do I absolutely need to have?”
As of January 1, 2019, the federal government no longer requires you to pay a penalty if you don’t have minimum essential coverage.
This means that, if you’re paying self-employment tax, you won’t receive any penalties for not being enrolled in any health insurance plan (at least for the following tax years past 2019).
To be eligible for this tax credit, you must apply for insurance through the federal marketplace, which we’ll get to a bit later.
Because the Affordable Care Act is still in law, though, you still receive premium tax credits to help pay for your insurance premium if you meet certain requirements.
With tax rates being so high for self-employed workers, it might make sense to crunch the numbers and see how things level out when you include insurance premiums and tax credits side-by-side.
Health insurance might not be a requirement anymore, but should certainly still be a necessity.
When you’re self-employed and looking to enroll in comprehensive health insurance as an individual, you’ve got options!
Different Types of Available Health Insurance
There are different types of health insurance according to your needs. This might be one of the biggest perks of being self-employed when it comes to insurance.
Of course, you’re always free to choose your own insurance plan or make modifications by adding on a supplemental benefit medical plan.
But, as an independent employee, you can speak with an expert regarding the best insurance option for you. Most of the time, you’ll end up getting a better deal and paying lower deductibles than you might by opting into an employer’s health plan.
Here are a few of the most ideal options regarding independent health insurance for self-employed people.
Short Term Health Insurance
This is a good option if you’re only going to be self-employed for a short period of time between contracted jobs.
It’s also great for people who have missed the federal enrollment period as these plans are open year-round.
If you have missed the enrollment period and are still looking for healthcare options, you can also enroll in Medicaid year-round or simply contact a health insurance broker to help you find the best option.
Individual Health Insurance
This means exactly what it says, it’s for individuals! These plans tend to be more affordable than group plans and they’re more customizable.
We’ve found that there are a variety of plans available that can help self-employed workers and small business owners meet specific financial and benefit level requirements.
If you’re a small business owner and looking to get health insurance for your employees, whether they’re contracted workers or independent contractors, individual health insurance might also make sense.
Fixed Benefits Insurance Plans
If you’re self-employed, then you might feel like paying for health insurance out-of-pocket sounds kind of pricey. It doesn’t have to be.
Fixed benefits plans can permit some people to offset their healthcare costs. How? These types of insurance plans allow you to choose any doctor in the MultiPlan Nationwide PPO.
Other benefits include the ability to enjoy:
- A deductible amount starting as low as $0 and going up to $5,000
- Preventative care without paying a deductible
- Treatment for pre-existing conditions after the first 12 months of the plan
- Consistent renewability regardless of changes in health
Depending on your current health and insurance needs, this kind of plan might make more sense if you’re self-employed.
Enjoying the Benefits of Self-Employed Health Insurance
Whether you’re running your own small business as a one-man show or trying to find health coverage for your independent employees, there are numerous benefits of having insurance.
The federal government requires that all individual and small-group plans cover the following ten essential health benefits:
- Outpatient Care
- Emergency Services
- Hospitalization (includes surgery and overnight stays)
- Maternity & Newborn Care
- Mental Health Services
- Prescription Drugs
- Rehabilitation Services
- Lab Services
- Preventative & Wellness Services (includes chronic disease management)
- Pediatric Services
These ten services are pretty comprehensive.
This means that regardless of the kind of self-employed health insurance you choose, you can rest assured that you’ll receive coverage for most incidents.
Getting the Most out of Health Insurance
Making sense of self-employed health insurance might seem like a tough task to tackle. That’s okay, that’s why we’re here!
Our expert insurance agents have years of experience in the Texas health insurance industry and can help guide you through the process.
Contact us today and let us know what your current situation is and what you’re looking for.
We’ll be able to provide you with the best rates and coverage due to our integrative online services and partnerships with health insurance providers.
We know that being self-employed can be tough sometimes, and that’s why we want to make health insurance one less thing you have to worry about.
