Health insurance: Freelancers Union
Debs, I was chatting with Sarah Cross last week about health insurance for self employed, and seeing the "day job" post below reminded me to post this. Not sure if everyone knows about this great resource.
The Freelancers Union offers advocacy, networking, freelance job postings, events, discounts, and perhaps most important - group insurance for self-employed people (health insurance offered in 31 states; dental and other ins. offered nationally).
Membership is free and open to "independent workers - freelancers, consultants, independent contractors, temps, part-timers, contingent employees and the self-employed."
My husband signed up as a freelance web consultant so we could get the insurance. The health insurance rates are the most affordable I could find for self-employed. They are significantly cheaper than the Author's Guild and other self-employed options I researched. They have multiple plan options for both individual and family coverage including health, dental, vision, Rx, and even term life and LTD. Health plans range from basic/catastrophic care to comprehensive coverage. The plan my husband and I chose is significantly better than the plan I had at my last job working for a health insurance company, at $300/month less than COBRA!
You can learn more about the insurance plans here:
http://www.freelancersunion.org/insurance/index.html
And the organization in general here:
http://www.freelancersunion.org
Definitely check it out. Even if you don't need the insurance, it's still a good resource for discounts and networking.
The Freelancers Union offers advocacy, networking, freelance job postings, events, discounts, and perhaps most important - group insurance for self-employed people (health insurance offered in 31 states; dental and other ins. offered nationally).
Membership is free and open to "independent workers - freelancers, consultants, independent contractors, temps, part-timers, contingent employees and the self-employed."
My husband signed up as a freelance web consultant so we could get the insurance. The health insurance rates are the most affordable I could find for self-employed. They are significantly cheaper than the Author's Guild and other self-employed options I researched. They have multiple plan options for both individual and family coverage including health, dental, vision, Rx, and even term life and LTD. Health plans range from basic/catastrophic care to comprehensive coverage. The plan my husband and I chose is significantly better than the plan I had at my last job working for a health insurance company, at $300/month less than COBRA!
You can learn more about the insurance plans here:
http://www.freelancersunion.org/insurance/index.html
And the organization in general here:
http://www.freelancersunion.org
Definitely check it out. Even if you don't need the insurance, it's still a good resource for discounts and networking.