I have something big to share. I’m buying group health insurance for myself and my husband starting in August. This is a big deal to me for many reasons. 1) I can stop worrying 2) family can stop worrying 3) this has been a freelance goal of mine for a year 4) I can get pregnant and not worry about not being covered 5) I found coverage!
And finally, pride. Pride because I found a way to make it happen. Do I think the health care system is corrupt and needs serious changes? Yes! But what I want and what is are two different things right now. I am writing this to help out those who may be thinking about the self-employment route, but are worried about not having health insurance. Here is what I’ve discovered:
1) Having an LLC between two people automatically qualifies you for group health insurance. Getting an LLC is pretty inexpensive and easy to do. Our LLC is not our main source of income, this isn’t an issue. Having group health insurace is guaranteed coverage at a group rate. Pre-existing conditions are not an issue here.
2) It’s more affordable. But not cheap. When I had a full-time job it would cost about $600 a month to bring my husband on to my plan. And another $250 a month when we have a child. When I left my job I qualified for COBRA for only 18 months at $550, just for me. Our policy now with full-coverage for $800 a month. Ouch. Yes. But, I couldn’t even get coverage as an individual. Another thing to consider is, is that this policy would be about $300 less when I’m no longer obese. How’s that for incentive?
3) Making the decision to make it happen. I realized that I needed to double my income to comfortably afford health insurance. I came up with a plan that works for me. This didn’t mean taking on hours upon hours of design work or killing myself to make more jewelry. It means that I have found a way to streamline my production and cutting back on excess (unpaid) work.
I have started writing freelance articles (improved writing skills!) that only adds about 15 hours to my already dedicated 10-12 per week. So by only working 25 hours a week I can afford all of my living expenses with room left over to pay down debt and save with some left over for fun stuff and travel.
This also leaves room for my creative projects, which is most important to me. It took a year to get to this point. Time organization and priorities can be tricky when you’re your own boss, but not impossible. I decided to stop spinning my wheels and make it happen.
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