What To Do If You Are Self-Employed – Forbes Magazine
FORBES MAGAZINE – DECEMBER 12, 2005
“The solution for healthy self-employed individuals is simple, according to author Paul Zane Pilzer. These folks should buy a high-deductible individual or family policy that is qualified to be paired with a health savings account, he says. ‘No one should ever go without health insurance, especially since it has now become affordable for most working people,’ says Pilzer.”
By Carrie Coolidge
People who are self-employed face the same dilemma as early retirees-the burden of getting health insurance in place is on their shoulders. The solution for healthy self-employed individuals is simple, according to author Paul Zane Pilzer. These folks should buy a high-deductible individual or family policy that is qualified to be paired with a health savings account, he says. “No one should ever go without health insurance, especially since it has now become affordable for most working people,” says Pilzer. The national average price for an HSA-qualified high-deductible plan is $92 a month for a single person and $272 a month for a family plan. Even better, says Pilzer, is that self-employed individuals can deduct the entire cost of health insurance premiums from their taxable income. “So your aftertax cost will be even less,” he says. Pilzer recommends self-employed people open an HSA and make the maximum tax-deductible annual contribution.
If you are self-employed but you or a family member has a preexisting condition, explore a guaranteed-issue insurance policy provided by a private insurer or from your state’s risk pool, depending on where you live. The rest of the family should then apply for “healthy family” coverage.
