Jones, Donna wrote: > > I'm not sure if that's true. If you're paying hundreds of dollars a > month in premiums, is it better to pay that or to put that money into a > personal account that you use to pay for health-related costs? Add up > the premium, copay, and deductibles for COBRA or any other policy with > extensive coverage. You may find that you're better off with a > high-level policy somewhere that covers only major hospitalization costs > and footing the rest of the bills yourself. >
As others have said, rules and programs vary from state to state. But here's something I haven't seen mentioned in this thread (not that I haven't mentioned it previously in other venues). Call a _commercial_ insurance agent--someone who sells group plans to businesses and represents more than one insurance carrier. As an independent business (sole proprietor, Schedule C), you may or may not be able to establish a "group" plan for your business with one member. In Connecticut, we were able to do this (my wife and I are both self-employed and we set up the plan under her business rather than mine for technical reasons). In New York, I believe the group has to have at least two members. Other states may have different requirements, and it may also be necessary to incorporate (an S corp or an LLC should work). In any case, doing this provides some flexibility. Once you are a member of a group, you can switch plan types every year just by making an election. And if you do hire an employee, that person can choose a different plan. Typically, preexisting conditions are a non-issue (because you're an employee joining a group rather than an uninsured person getting a new policy). We ended up with a high-deductible policy and a health savings account. The latter is with a bank unrelated to the insurance company, but the policy was written in a way that required us to establish one somewhere. HTH, Dick ______________________________________________ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. DOCUMENTATION & TRAINING WEST 07: THE USER EXPERIENCE April 18-21, 2007 ~ Vancouver BC ~ Marriott Pinnacle ~ free city tour 40+ sessions * free workshops * free iPod offer * www.doctrain.com _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
