If you are a self-employed individual or you plan to start a business, either now or in the future, then you will find the following tips quite useful when making life-long decisions concerning all your insurance needs.
Retain the health plan you have for a certain period of time
This is the best way to ensure that you maintain a good health cover when you terminate your employment. You are entitled to this through the COBRA of 1986. This act allows you to terminate your employment and still get the coverage you had for close to 18 months using the group rates. This is only possible when you leave behind 20 employees or more at the time of you termination and you’re employment was not revoked due to incompetence or misconduct.
You might find that COBRA is expensive than you had thought. This is because you will be paying the full premium. When you were employed, your employer paid a higher percentage of the premium. Is there a cheaper alternative to cobra? An individual health insurance policy is often the best substitute of COBRA.
Plan ahead of your termination
If you voluntarily decide to quit, you can first change the plan you signed up for in your company and look for a cheaper one. This way the premiums you will be paying under COBRA will be much cheaper.
Have good timing
After your COBRA benefits expire, the law gives you 63 days to get a new coverage. If you exceed this time limit, your application can be rejected or the new plan may not cover your pre-existing conditions for close to a year.
Take advantage of your spouse’s cover
This is the best method of getting health coverage for the self employed. If you are married, you can use the policy from your husband or wife’s employer including COBRA. This is by far the cheapest way of accessing insurance coverage.
Research before buying new policy
If you want to buy your own policy, it is important that you research well for the one that will best suit your pocket and at the same time give you good coverage. Make use of online resources to find out the kind of plans offered by the insurance companies near you. This saves you time and energy. Get to know all the details pertaining to the different insurance policies available.
Look for a well-known insurance agent or broker
If you decide to purchase a policy directly from an agent or broker, make sure that you find out more about the firm and the complaints filed against them if any. You should also consult different agents so as to compare the rates and types of policies they offer including the conditions under which you will be buying the policy.
Make use of high deductible plans
Insurance with a high deductible often come with a Health Savings Account which allows you to store away your cash tax free to be used in meeting your future health expenditure.