VISTA Health Solutions

The self-employed from the state of California will go with the private health insurers licensed in that state, they are Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California, Celtic Ins. Co. Health Net, Cigna Health Care of California, Kaiser Permanente of Ca, Western Health Advantage, Sharp Health Plan, and PacifiCare. The U.S, Health News reported that consumers found these insurance companies to be the best at preventing and treating illness within the state. A quick search on the net will help the self-employed individual find health insurance quotes.

There is no doubt that premiums are high all over the country, but there are advantages for the self-employed living in California. The United Health Foundation ranked California as 24th healthiest state in America.  This ranking will of course affect health insurance costs and keep them down overtime. And so some individuals but not all well be able to purchase a plan   The type of health concerns, which keep California costs down over time, is the fact that California has less smokers, obese individuals, and a low cancer rate.  It appears that Californians over all are concerned about staying healthy and that is a good thing for self-employed individuals who need good affordable insurance coverage.

Other issues, which directly affect health care and its costs, include the fact the violent crime has gone down by forty three percent since 1990, and premature death rates have declined by twenty-five percent in the last two years. Another good thing is that infectious diseases have also dropped by ten percent since 2007.

Now for the negative medical concerns for the state of California:

California ranks high in air pollution, and although Californian’s appear to be concerned about smoking, binge drinking has gone up, to over sixteen percent of the population from the former fourteen percent. What is ironic is that even though the state population is healthy overall, the state still carries a high rate of uninsured individuals.  There is no doubt that California is an expense state to live in and that does affect the income and the ability of self-employed families to obtain health insurance coverage.

The state of California does have a major risk pool for individuals who would otherwise be uninsurable.  If you are self-employed and have a pre-existing condition or other reason why you cannot obtain insurance, inform yourself about the California State Managed Risk Medical Insurance Program. The California State Managed Risk Medical Insurance Program, may be the last available option for some people, however, there is a waiting list

At present there is the concern for affordable health care for all Americans.  Small businesspeople and the self-employed are faced with expensive private insurance companies that charge exorbitant premiums for self-employed and small businesses. The self-employed and the small business owner are currently in a precarious position, one the one hand, unable to pay for high self-employed and personal health plans but making a living and therefore unable to able for state Medicaid plans.a

If you have left your current employer to start up your own business, chances are you have enrolled in the consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 better known as COBRA, the good side of this is that you are still covered for up to 18 months after you left your job, but the downside is that COBRA, is still very expensive. Since your employer is no longer paying the bulk of your premiums, which are in some cases up to 80 percent, you are faced with paying the entire cost on your own.

What happens if you decide not to take advantage of the Cobra Plan?

Yes you can purchase health insurance on the open market, as long as you are in good health and have not had any policies rescinded before, and oh yes your credit rating is good as well.  You will need to calculate how much money you can come up with out of pocket, should a medical emergency occur and then you would have to choose a plan that is as streamlined as possible for what you need for yourself and family. What you don’t want to do is not have coverage at all. You don’t want to risk your business and your life savings to a bankruptcy.  Nearly 60 percent of all bankruptcies in America happen because of the inability to pay medical expenses.  You do not want to become part of the statistics.

However, if you have COBRA now, you would have the same coverage that you had when you were employed.  If you have a pre-existing condition and the group policy you had covered that pre existing condition, it does not necessarily mean that once you go out on your own, it will be easy to get the same benefits in a private policy.  Some employers do not cover pre-existing conditions. You would have to make sure before the expiry of your COBRA eligibility what the state laws are and get an insurance advisor to help find a good health insurance private plan.

On the other hand, before trying a private plan, you may decide to take advantage of your spouses group plan after you leave your current job to start up your own business.  The advantage of this group plan is that normally health insurance companies cannot refuse you on a family plan, if you have a pre-condition, nor can they rate you, (increase your premiums based on that pre-condition).

Some states such as New York are known as guarantee issue states and these states cannot deny you or raise your health insurance premiums based on a pre-condition. However the conditions for coverage would still vary among these states.  For example the coverage may only apply if you are already covered with a policy somewhere else and are wishing to switch over to a guaranteed issue plan.