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It just had a $10K per year deductible, after which I was covered 100% at any hospital and any doctor.

So the cost for me was $1680 per year if I stayed healthy and no more than $11680 even if I fell seriously ill. Thus, even at the worst case scenario it was still cheaper than the best case scenario for the plans available today — which cost upwards $1000/month and yet still have large deductibles and limit your choices of providers to the insurers' "networks".

Was not a unicorn — was available through the National Association of Self-Employed to anyone doing business as a contractor. $140 is what I started at at the end of nineties. It was slowly growing each year and then jumped to well over $200 because RomneyCare in Massachusetts inexplicably declared deductibles in excess of $5K illegal (I think, that threshold was forced down to like $2K aftwards) — instantly raising the premiums... Thank you, Statists.

Look into:

National Association for the Self-Employed: http://www.nase.org/Home.aspx

I contracted for quite a few years after leaving my Large Corporate Job, and got my family insurance from a local agent who worked for one of NASE's insurance partners. It was a bit pricey, but on the other hand it covered me in TX and my wife in NM with no argument, something that my CORBA provider wouldn't even consider.

Look into various small business associations. Look local to your area and nationally - my understanding is that when they are representing a coallition of small business, they often negotiate larger group rates for their participants. Here are a couple of places to start for the national scene: NASE and NBA

the National Association of the Self Employed has Health Insurance offerings for it's members. It kind of acts like a large company by joining everyone in the association into one large plan, and thus they can have leverage to keep the costs low. At least that's the theory. That is the Insurance I use right now, and it seems to stay at a reasonable cost. That kind of sounds like an answer to what you are asking about.

the National Association of the Self Employed has Health Insurance offerings for it's members. It kind of acts like a large company by joining everyone in the association into one large plan, and thus they can have leverage to keep the costs low. At least that's the theory. That is the Insurance I use right now, and it seems to stay at a reasonable cost. That kind of sounds like an answer to what you are asking about.

Congrats!

My wife and I have been insured for the last three years through the National Association for the Self-Employed who has a policy for its members through Mega Health and Life. We pay about $170 a month for insurance to cover both of us with a $3000 deductable and no maternity cover. We are both just under 30 without health problems. When we decided to have a child she joined her employers insurance program which costs around $200 a month just for her and would be over $600 a month if I was added.

We plan to add our baby to her work policy and see how much his bills are. We probably will switch to a health savings account policy. On an average year we spend less than $500 on health care and more than $2000 on insurance. But as others have pointed out the insurance protects us from that $100K+ bill if something goes wrong.

You can get a quote for Mega online at http://benefits.nase.org/show_benefit.asp?benefit= HealthIns

• Your own hours, of course, and generally more time with the family.
• You aren't roped into working overtime w/o being paid for it, a la EA_Spouse.
• You get your own health insurance, something not lame & skin-flinty. Check out NASE and their indemnity option, which covers any doctor anywhere.
• Instead of grinding away at precisely one thing for a significant portion of your life, you get to mix and match. This is particularly good for me because I like to design, code, and do biz dev, and as an employee, you're pressured into a focused role.
• It's a phenomenal networking opportunity.
• For some reason, your opinion as a contractor is worth (marginally) more than your opinion as an employee.
• Often, when hired to do a job, you feel lame if you're not qualified to do a piece of it. As a contractor, you can simply subcontract the piece you suck at. You might make a little less, but you deliver more complete solutions, which in the long run will make you more successful.

Check out the information and resources provided by the National Association for the Self-Employed. They offer a wide range of help to the small business and self-employed (hence the name). Membership is not free; they DO offer one of the best independent health insurance plans you'll find. Yes, you DO want health insurance.

(oddly enough, i try the link right now and it returns nada. I know the site is there ... was reading up earlier)

Supposedly, this plan is like a traditional indemnity plan in that there is no managed aspect whatsoever. You can go to any doctor, any where, and they will pay the entire bill. No negotiated rates. You pay a copay for each procedure, none of this percentage stuff. The agent made it sound just about perfect; they pay whatever the doctor bills for whatever you want to have done, no questions asked. I suppose there are probably limits on cosmetic surgery and such but none of this fighting with the administrators to get medically necessary care approved.

There were a few twists I didn't quite follow; something about a deductible per injury or illness, but then there was something else that covers that, and a really funky provision where you pay a little more each month, but when you reach 65 you get all the premiums you ever paid back. Huh? I suppose that assumes that you stay in their plan until age 65, and what are the odds of that...

So, anyone care to comment on experiences, good or bad? Is it really as good as it sounds? I'm very skeptical, especially since they don't have an info packet they can mail you; they send an agent to your home instead. But if it really is a good deal then I'm all for it.

Oh yea, the plan is underwritten by Mega Life and Health. They do the student health insurance at most universities, and they seem to have some traditional plans for small businesses as well. So far I haven't found much in the way of user feedback on them out there, which is why I'm asking here. The plan they offer through NASE seems to be different from all their other offerings, anyway.

A Non Profit that offers health insurance. I got it for my wife and kid... it is GREAT! NASE