Health Insurance has always a topic of discussion as well as confusion for households and individuals especially the self employed every year more so in North America. Billions of dollars flow out of the pockets of the people who want a secure net of health insurance for themselves and their families.

Today we are going to discuss a few health insurance options for people who were laid off or entered the gig economy( THe Self Employed) and need to get their own insurances and also need to save some money.

Some of these might be helpful to those who still have insurance from their employer.

Here tehy are:

 

1.MarketPlace Insurance

This is the most familiar one to all of us.

Can be subsidised if you are not making lot of money

Has a low monthly premium

Two types of plans

• HMO( Health Maintenance Organisation)
  • Lower premiums and deductibles
  • only covers services within the network
  • need referral for specialist services
  • no need to file claims

• PPO( Preferred Provider Organisation)
  • Higher premiums and higher deductibles,
  • you can access services out of the netwok as well
  • no referrals needed
  • may need to file claims

great options for self employed people

 

2.Private insurance

Private Insurance is good if u are making good money annually lets say $50,000

Can choose plans depending upon your lifestyle

 

 

3. DPC ( Direct Primary Care)

Basically you pay a membership fees  to a health clinic and not the insurance company

you get unlimited primary care services ( but then mind you, its just Primary Care)

Benefits of DPC are

• monthly billing ( with no long term commitments)
• ease of appointments (same day or next day appointments)
• 24 x 7 access via text, phone or email
• radiology, labs and medications at discounted rates
• no co-pays or scheduling fees
• small procedures, immunization and primary care needs are covered

DPC is good if you have a lot of family members who are needing doctor visits frequently like small kids or aged parents in which case your frequent visits will be taken care of efficiently by your DPC. Imagine not having a DPC and paying the doctor every time you visit his clinic out of your pocket. Makes Sense?

And Guess what? The  monthly “membership” charges are anywhere between $75-!50 for a family of four( give or take a few dollars!)

Disadvantage: big injury/ accident/ emergency is NOT covered

 

“So a smart move is to combine DPC with Ancillary Insurance”

 

4.Ancillary Insurance

Ancillary insurance covers short term medical based on your risk like

• • Accident Insurance ,
  • Critical Illness Insurance
  • Fixed Indemnity plans

The insurer can get approved relatively quickly (typically within a week)

Can cancel it anytime (if you are paying month to month rather than lump sum.)

An Ancillary policy for a sports injury or accidental injury  can be had for a meagre sum of $20-$30 per month and can cover expenses of upto $10,000. Sweet deal,no?

So a cobimation of DPC and a Ancillary ( critical illness or accident policy ) is a good combo.

 

 5.Commercial health insurance 

A combination of a commercial insurance and an ancillary insurance policy also is a sweet deal with a few loopholes.

The out of pocket expenses that a commercial insurance asks you to pay before they pay the bills is taken care of by the ancillary insurance.

 

but loophole is that its is only upto the limit of the ancillary policy that you have paid for e.g. $10,000 as mentioned above. After that the remaining will go out of your pocket. So better to take an ancillary that covers as much as you want to.

 

 

6.Health Sharing Ministry

 

Some religious institutions give out insurances for a fraction of the price of a commercial insurance

Whats the catch you might ask?

Well, as you can understand this usually has some religious commitments to follow

eg. you might be needing a pastor signing off that you attended church

Also it does not cover primary care but covers emergency!

But is cheap

So a combination  with DPC is an ideal combination.

 

 

 

7.Short Term Health Insurance

 

If u need to buy some time( you might have just given up your job and are between jobs)

It just covers the basics

A lot of personalization required so go through a certified insurance agent.