I’m actually a furnituremaker, but the Knots forum suggested I try over here for an answer. I’m a sole prop. presently getting insurance through the Small Business Service Bureau, but this is the third year in a row that it’s gone up 25%-30%. I’m tempted to drop it, but last year I needed stitches (kick back on a chop saw of all things. Reminder: don’t work when you’re tired). A quick tip to the ER would have cost nearly $1000! Of course that’s less than two months of insurance, but it’s a risk I can’t afford to take.
Anybody know of a woodworking organization or small business assoc that has group insurance? Anybody know of some way of forming one?
Yours in health,
kt
Replies
KT,Iwas in the same situation 6-7 yrs ago.I did drop my insurance(even with 3 kids)mosly out of frustration,and partly because of the $1000.00 check every month.It forced the bride back to work(kids were all in school by then)a 32 hr. a week job with ins.Believe it or not those jobs are out there....not big pay;but 70% paid ins.Look into catastrophe ins.You have to pay the small ones with hi deductable,but covers the major stuff that will put you belly up!
It forced the bride back to work(kids were all in school by then)a 32 hr. a week job with ins.Believe it or not those jobs are out there....not big pay;but 70% paid ins.Look into catastrophe ins.You have to pay the small ones with hi deductable,but covers the major stuff that will put you belly up!
Please be very careful with that. I'm not sure if it varies by state or company, but I learned the hard way that if your self employed your spouse's insurance company doesn't always have an obligation to pay for injuries that occur in the course of you making a living.
Thankfully it was a one time visit to an emergency care center (about $150).
I have friends who have had no issues and ones who found out what I did, that they weren't covered for work related injuries.
One sleazeball outfit targets the self-employed, out of Texas. Their gimmick is to take a portion of your monthly payment and apply it toward a future deductible. Sounds great, but doesn't work that way after they apply all their fees. What they promised me amounted to zero, zilch. They may be banned by now from selling in Va.
We're with the Blues now, called Trigon in Va. Large deductible is the only thing that works for us. Large annual increases are a fact of life no matter who's underwriting. You're looking for low rates for a not-low-risk group. Ain't gonna happen.
If you need insurance for a $1k bill, you need benefitted employment. You're not doing what you need to be self-employed. A major part of your overhead is health insurance. Figure it into your pricing structure.
Making furniture has nothing to do with running a business, gotta put on that other hat sometimes. I know from experience.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Don't know if these will work where you live but you might give them a look. I did the catastrophe (aka Major Medical) route myself for awhile. Much better to pay out of pocket a few hundred then $12K a year in premiums.
http://www.freelancersunion.org/
http://goldenrule.com/
I switched from BCBS to Golden Rule HSA. My BCBS was well over a $1000.00/per month for a family plan. The premium for GR was less then one-half with a $5200.00 deductible. So, if I don't go to the drs I save about half. If I do, and max the ded., then it's about the same. With GR, after the ded. was met they pay 100% of everything. Also all medical expenditures are tax deductible. I don't have a dental plan, but all my visits are tax deductible. So was the $5K bill for my son's braces. So are aspirins from Target, or bandaids or any expenses medical related.
I'm glad I switched.......
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Thanks for all the advice everyone,
guess I'm going to go the huge deductable route and plan on staying healthy.
If you are going with a high deductable police check into getting one that compatable with a Health Savings Account.The concept has been around for a number of years (Archer plans and Medical Savings Accounts). But the laws on those plans limited who could have them, thus they were never common and few insurance companies had the matching insurance plans.They need a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP).With the HSA you can put away money into an "IRA like" savings account. The funds put in are tax free. And funds can be withdrawn, tax and penalty free, to pay for medical expenses. Deductables and out of pocket expenses, but also things like dental and glasses..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
When you guys talk about deductibles, what sort of dollar and cents are you talking about? Do deductibles apply only to emergency stuff or does it apply to every visit.
Being Canadian I find these discussions of medical care interesting.
roger
I thought that was why about half of us here are married to nurses. Depending on your location, looks, and taste, it may or may not be an easy organizaton to join. :>)
Good luck.
I thought that was why about half of us here are married to nurses. Depending on your location, looks, and taste, it may or may not be an easy organizaton to join. :>)
Good luck.
You can always make your own. Mine was a Veterinary tech who saw it going nowhere fast since even though she was licensed..............our state doesn't require everyone to be licensed.
Took about two years total. Good move, the money is certainly better. But an ironic twist........... With me going back on active duty............Tricare takes way better care of my family than my wifes insurance does. Her insurance takes way better care of me since it doesn't require that I see the Military doctor first.
look at joining a local chamber of commerce.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Medical insurance ... now you got me started. Years back, I used to blame insurance companies for high costs because they were the ones you heard from. "We are denying this claim, we will only cover X percent, and pay this premium."
I lost my daughter in '78 and wife in '96 to cancer, now my son is in his fight as of last November. What I've learned through all that is that insurance companies do the most to keep costs in check. Do I love those companies? No. They are like the top of the health care weed. The root of the issue are the providers and AMA.
Health care costs are out of control and pulling our whole economy down. We as the end users and our employers need to target the pricing of health care just as you would any of your suppliers. Insured or not, demand your bill and look at every charge on it. Compare the amount of time spent with you and on your behalf, what was done, quality of care, and start figuring out what the charge out rates really are. This is from professionals that only 'practice' medicine. Compare your chances of continuing in your profession if you only 'practice'.
I've oversimplified this topic but appreciate the opportunity to blow off some steam.
Edited 4/30/2007 8:00 am ET by England1
Way, way back in 1983-4 I was living in Australia and at that time they were running a commission to investigate their Federal Health system. In Australia the medical system was and or is run by the Federal Government whereas in Canada it is run by the Provinces. Anyways, I would go to the Sydney Library every so often and read the government reports as they came out. What they found out was that some doctors were ripping off the system for hundreds of millions of dollars. Some of the problems were that patients held their doctors up on a pedestal and wouldn't say anything against them the other problem was that the patient had no idea what the doctors were doing that they were billing the government for. You also have to remember that these patients were talked to months after their visit but even so they caught lots of doctors. Their Federal Government was looking for an additional 200 Fraud Investigators.
Eventually I came back to Canada and applied for a job as a fraud investigator ( I had been a cop and did fraud) at one of the provincial medical head offices. Guess what, they didn't have ANY investigators. Period. It seems that the College of Physicians checked up the doctors. Guess how many investigators they had, ONE!
A few years ago apparently the provincial medical system of that Province still didn't have any investigators and the College of Physicians had doubled their investigators to two.
I think you could be onto something England1
roger
This won't stop until we stop it. Let a public utility try this and the bosses are strung up. The AMA is behind the movement to ban malpractice lawsuits. If succesful, there goes any chance of getting this under control. It amazes me that here in Michigan, for example, we citizens can't file a suit against drug companies for any reason. Time for the old 'bang for the buck', tie their compensation to results and people will find that the expensive, no hope treatments will disappear.
You're right about needing fraud investigators. Pay them a pecentage of what they find. They'd make a fortune and save the rest of us one. John Q. Public needs to wise up and get rid of the 'don't care what it cost, insurance paid it' attitude. Those costs are reflected in everything, cars, groceries, lights, heat, gasoline, and on and on.
Thanks. My vent is vented.
I know that in our Province (NB), Medicare does audits of physicians, and will do random spot checks, sending letters to patients to confirm they had an appt on a certain date, and what it was for.
I hope it works. It was very problematic in Australia. Is it Medicare doing the audit or the NB College of Physicians for Medicare? What clout does Medicare have against the doctors?
roger
Be thankful your not a Massachusetts Resident, as of July 1st, 2007, everybody, and they mean EVERYBODY will require health insurance, no excuses. The plans being touted are averaging $300 - $500 per month with $2000 - $5000 deductables. Those residents who do not have mandatory health insurance will face penalties/fines at tax filing time.
OPD
WOW!
Let's make sure the health care system gets paid.
When are we going to challenge the COSTS of the health care system???
Seems that the people running the new MA health care system, average $100 - $120k per year for salaries. The money has to come from someone to pay, right ?
Well welcome to the capitlistic state . It isn't just the doctors, or the health care system. it is also all the share holders who demand a high return on their investment. Taken a look at medical corporation stocks ? or rest Home/ Nursing home stocks ? One problem is that a higher and higher percrentage of shares of many, many companies are owned by a smaller and smaller number of people.Corporations and corporate earnings hold a higher place in this nations existence then people do .
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Corporations and corporate earnings hold a higher place in this nations existence then people doSamT
Praise the Corporation, for the Corporations' highest concern is the well being of the public.
SamT, ""Praise the Corporation, for the Corporations' highest concern is the well being of the public."" Yea, or in the words of Cornelius Vanderbilt ... "The Public be Damned"
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
I highly recommend and HSA, My family of 5 went from $10,000 a year to $4000. the deductible is higher, at $10,000 for the whole family, or 4200 per individual. My old plan was $2500 80/20 up to $5000.
Dump $5000 in the HSA every year tax free, and your medical costs just got reduced by 33% right off the top. And after year three, your deductible is fully funded, and you are really saving money.
Most place will offfer at least %10 off when you tell them you will be paying cash TODAY, which gets you close to a net of 40% off with the tax savings.
This is the only way to get medical costs in line IMHO, when people decide how to spend the money, instead of the bureaucrats at medicare setting the "standards of payment".
For our Canuck friend who asked, a deductible is basically the amount of medical bills you have to pay until the insurance will kick in, emergency or medicine or whatever, they don't care until you bills per person/family reach that level in a calendar year.
edit: not that it matters, but my ins.co is Pekin life, and the HSA is held at a local bank. Did I mention it earns 5% int. tax free also.
A medium to large guy named Alan, not an ambiguous female....
NOT that there is anything wrong with that.
Edited 5/5/2007 9:50 pm by bigal4102
Just to let you know what happens over here in the UK, I pay about 8% of my gross monthly income to the government to cover all the health care I need, excluding dental which most folks have to go private for.
When I look at incomes in the USA I see that a craftsman can make much more per hour but when insurances are taken into account there is not much difference in incomes.
Ah, but you are covered for everything. There are no clauses in the NHS that even compare with American insurance policies. Get cured fron cancer and see how hard it is to get covered again in the U.S.
Don't try to compare NHS to any U.S. medical policies. Government run health systems have their problems but don't hold a candle to private systems.
roger