Health Insurance Guide For The Self-Employed

Yes, your parents were actually right on this one. Insurance is just math. If it’s cheaper, there is a reason. I have found that most of the time those reasons look like limits on care. For example, many “cheaper” policies limit cancer coverage to $500,000. Sorry, but many forms of cancer can eat that up in a month or less. In those types of plans, you would be left holding the bag on the remaining cost of treatment, or WORSE, having the hospital or physician refuse to treat you.

If you are looking at insurance options and one is much cheaper than the others, find out why before you sign up! They often have clauses that lock you in for a year or may not be qualified coverage so you can’t get in through the marketplace. It may be cheaper because it excludes something you don’t care about (like maternity when you are done having kids), but you need to read the fine print. And I mean the 130+ page document that outlines everything. Or ask a knowledgeable local agent who has probably read the contract for fun, like the insurance nerds we often are.