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Learn from this costly new business owner medical care insurance error

Guest post by: Alston Balkcom

Article Overview: If you are self employed and need health insurance coverage, you probably have several alternatives and it may be hard to decide which option is best. You may have the option of keeping your COBRA coverage from your most recent job, you may be able to get coverage through your spouse's employer, you may be able to get medical care coverage on your own as an individual and you may have the option of buying coverage through your business.

Learn from this costly new business owner medical care insurance error

If you are self employed and need health insurance coverage, you probably have several alternatives and it may be hard to decide which option is best. You may have the option of keeping your COBRA coverage from your most recent job, you may be able to get coverage through your spouse's employer, you may be able to get medical care coverage on your own as an individual and you may have the option of buying coverage through your business. The biggest error you can make is to make the asumption that all of the choices are equal or nearly so. Often a newly self-employed person will accept their COBRA option or the options offered through their spouse's place of business and never look around to see if they could get a better price or policy. This is understandable. It is hard to start a business and taking the easy way out regarding your health care coverage allows one to devote more time to other business-related decisions.

As understandable as this is, it is a mistake because it can be very costly. The most expensive option available that will cover you well will probably cost twice as much as the least expensive option.

Each choice listed above has its pros and cons. For this reason, the best alternative for you may not be the best alternative for someone else.

Accepting the COBRA choice from a previous employer has the advantage of allowing you to stay with your present policy. It also requires the least amount of thought and no health-related questions.

There are, however, two major drawbacks. The first is that the policy is only good for a short period of time. This means that when your COBRA eligibility ends, you will need to find another answer. If you have an accident or get diagnosed with a significant illness between now and then your options for other plans may not be as good as they are today. The second drawback is the likelihood that this option is one of the more costly choices.

Another choice you may have is to get your health insurance through your spouse's job. This can be a good option. However, many employers are now only subsidizing the cost of their employees' health coverage and not the cost of their employees' dependents coverage. This can result in a higher cost than you might get from one of the other options.

Another problem with purchasing coverage through your place of employment's plan is that your coverage will end when your spouse's employment does. It can also end if his or her place of business decides to stop offering health insurance coverage to its employees.

Buying coverage through your business is another option. However, do not expect a group insurance discount. Group insurance costs more than the typical policy you can sign up for on your own. The reason for this is that group insurance policies typically have to take all comers. This forces the insurance company to charge more for these plans than a policy you can buy on your own.

The best alternative for most people who have one-person businesses is to get a medical care insurance policy as an individual or as part of a family plan. If you have medical issues that prevent your purchasing a policy on your own, one of the other options will probably be better for you. However if you are in good medical care, you will probably be much better off with a policy you acquire as an individual.

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Article Tags: business owner, cobra coverage, health insurance, medical care coverage
Referred by: http://www.searchengineworkshops.com



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