Hello,
I have a question about the healthcare insurance in US.
I have heard that it is tied to your employment and the company provides for it.
So here are a couple of questions:
-
Is there no way for an individual to get their own personal insurance and not be dependent on the company?
-
What about freelancers, business owners and retirees? Do they forfeit their insurances?
Yes, individuals and self-employed persons can buy health insurance on the health insurance marketplace. Since you’re one person buying a plan you don’t have the ability to negotiate with health insurance companies the same way a corporate employer buying policies for many people can negotiate. This means individual plans are expensive and coverage is often lacking, but it’s still better than ending up with cancer or a massive car wreck and being without insurance.
There are also government funded plans like Medicare, Medicaid, etc and I have never dealt with those. Have been a self-employed contractor though. A policy I paid $600/mo for as an individual, self-employed contractor costs about $200/mo for a plan with better coverage for both my husband and I through his corporate employer plan.
Oh wow. That’s 3x different.