So I am currently self-employed near Raleigh NC, and up until now I have been using a catastrophic health plan for my wife and I (our healthcare needs are minimal, but we aren't yet well established enough to self-insure). Income is high enough to disqualify us from any subsidies.
As of this year our provider is no longer offering the plan we have, and DW is no longer eligible for catastrophic plans. The cheapest bronze plan on the marketplace for the two of us is something like $680/mo, more than double what we were paying until now. Basically it's $8k/year for a plan on which we will never reach the deductible, barring tragedy.
Do any mustaches in the area have experience with alternatives? For example has anyone tried a supplimental plan to cover major medical emergency along with just paying the tax penalty? Dropping self-employment is an option and would likely increase my take home pay in the short term, but I'm close to matching and/or beating average local wage in my field and would like to keep solo 401k as an option for faster retirement.
Brutal honesty is welcome. Thanks in advance!
