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How To Obtain Health Insurance If You Are Self-Employed

Become A Small Group

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Form your own small group if this is an option.

Most states allow the employees of small businesses to qualify for group-based insurance.

In some states, such as Washington, self-employed people can form a group of one. You have to submit tax forms to prove you really are a business.

Most states allow as few as two people to be considered to be a group -- which could mean you cannot be denied coverage because of your health history.

To learn the situation in your state, see www.healthinsuranceinfo.net offsite link

  • You may be able to qualify for an employer group policy if you hire an assistant to work the minimum number of hours per week that would qualify for an insurance company's standards (perhaps as few as 17.5 or as many as 30 --depending on the state in which you reside). You'll also have to pay the employer's share of Social Security taxes. The cost of an employee can be a good deal less than the major expense that can be associated with a serious health condition.
  • Consider joining forces with someone who works in your same field or a complementary one. The type of entity you create should be decided in a discussion with an attorney.
  • There may be a pre-existing condition exclusion in the policy for up to 12 months. If there is no more than a 63 day break in coverage between your old policy and your new one, the pre-existing condition period exclusion will be reduced by the amount of "creditable coverage" you had thanks to a federal law known as HIPAA.


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