You are busy running your business. Since you are self-employed, there are so many things to take care of, at the same time you are the Chief Financial Officer, you are in charge of sales, procurement and sometimes do the accounting work yourself. With all this on your plate is there time to consider paying out more money for health insurance? Absolutely there is, or at least there should be.
You are looking at the bottom line. This is an expense that you think could be avoided and you would have that much more money in your pocket at the end of the day, week or year. It might be starting to sound like some to be avoided right? Consider this however; more than half of all personal bankruptcies in the United States are due to medical bills. That got your attention, didn’t it? You can always put an hour or two more in per week to cover the cost of insurance, but if you are not healthy and can’t be working to pay the medical bills, you will be in a precarious position in very little time.
There are advantages, including the fact that since 2002 health insurance premiums are now a tax deduction. If you were to take the time to do the math and figure out what you would have paid without a policy and what you pay with a policy in force you may find that it is not costing you as much as you may think. The government doesn’t give out money for free mind you; they have a vested interest in keeping businesses afloat and this is one way to do that. It is very important for the protection of your family to have the right kind of health insurance and it will help you to get the right protection.
If you recently left a group plan or are looking to be self-employed in the near future, consider that the COBRA, or Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 gives you the option to extend those benefits for 18 months past the regular coverage end date. You will pay more for coverage than you did before, as your employer is not kicking in their share anymore, but it might be a good way to put off having to make a decision for a while and gives you the peace of mind that you have something in place.