Author Topic: health insurance / benefits question.  (Read 2949 times)

taking fire

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health insurance / benefits question.
« on: January 11, 2017, 05:05:01 PM »
Wondering if anyone here has been in this similar predicament.

I have been in a situation for the last couple of years where I could possibly be in a position to start my own business. The problem is that my day job provides health insurance benefits. I am married and I have two children, so I am somewhat obligated to provide health insurance for them (or at least this is what I think).

My wife works as well, but if she were to take on the health insurance, it would pretty much be pointless for her to continue working because the cost would take up almost all of her earnings. I don't want to put her in that situation.

I honestly feel like I am stuck working for someone else because I have to have insurance, and that is the only way to reasonably get it. I have seen countless examples of self employed people that have had to just give up health coverage, because they cannot afford it. This is something that has gotten worse over the last couple of years with the  ACA in place.

So what's the verdict here? Is this an irrational fear? I would like to know what steps would have to be taken if I were to quit my day job to start my own business, and somehow provide healthcare for my family. Are there any options?


Hotstreak

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Re: health insurance / benefits question.
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2017, 05:12:51 PM »

My wife works as well, but if she were to take on the health insurance, it would pretty much be pointless for her to continue working because the cost would take up almost all of her earnings.

Not true.  She would be purchasing something valuable for the family, just like if she got a paycheck and bought food with it.  The fact that she wouldn't physically see that money in her checking account doesn't change that.

Quote
I honestly feel like I am stuck working for someone else because I have to have insurance, and that is the only way to reasonably get it. I have seen countless examples of self employed people that have had to just give up health coverage, because they cannot afford it. This is something that has gotten worse over the last couple of years with the  ACA in place.

You already identified the main options - coverage through your wife's work, or coverage through the ACA.

You have to weight the cost/benefit of starting your own business and decide if it's right for you.  If you perceive a lot of risk in health insurance, it might not make sense for you to quit your job.

taking fire

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Re: health insurance / benefits question.
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2017, 06:01:48 PM »
It certainly does no good to complain about it, but I just think it is crazy to not be able to go down my own path because one of the major considerations is weather or not I or my wife can afford health care coverage for the family.

More clearly stated, I never thought that the position of being obligated to have health insurance would interfere with my aspirations.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: health insurance / benefits question.
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2017, 06:05:44 PM »
It certainly does no good to complain about it, but I just think it is crazy to not be able to go down my own path because one of the major considerations is weather or not I or my wife can afford health care coverage for the family.

More clearly stated, I never thought that the position of being obligated to have health insurance would interfere with my aspirations.

Currently how a LOT of people are feeling, if it's any consolation. You're not alone on that. Our premiums (ACA) went from $400/mon to $650/month this year, and we're young and healthy and it's just the two of us. Health care is a HUGE consideration for benefits, retirement, everything right now.

ltt

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Re: health insurance / benefits question.
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2017, 06:43:34 PM »
If you can wait a little longer, hopefully there will be some decent changes to the health care/premiums, etc.

Hotstreak

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Re: health insurance / benefits question.
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2017, 10:05:50 PM »
It certainly does no good to complain about it, but I just think it is crazy to not be able to go down my own path because one of the major considerations is weather or not I or my wife can afford health care coverage for the family.

More clearly stated, I never thought that the position of being obligated to have health insurance would interfere with my aspirations.


If you would make enough extra money by working for yourself, after paying higher premiums, then go for it.  If your company pays more than you could make on your own, you should keep working for the company.  There's a middle ground where you accept you will make less money, in exchange for the benefits of being your own boss, but it sounds like that's not an option for you.

geekette

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Re: health insurance / benefits question.
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2017, 10:08:31 PM »
If you can wait a little longer, hopefully there will be some decent changes to the health care/premiums, etc.

HAHAHAHAHA! 

Oh wait. You were serious?

iowagirl

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Re: health insurance / benefits question.
« Reply #7 on: January 12, 2017, 05:13:14 AM »
Can you decrease your hours and still get health coverage thru your current job? That way you can spend more time building your business and still have coverage. I know a lady that worked at Walmart part time just to get the health coverage and her full time job was some where else. I know they changed their policies on health coverage but maybe there is some place else you could do the same the of thing. I also know a lot of farmers in this area that their wives work just to pay for the health coverage so that isn't really a bad thing as long as your business is covering everything else.

The future of health insurance is a complete mystery.

Gin1984

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Re: health insurance / benefits question.
« Reply #8 on: January 12, 2017, 06:02:25 AM »
It certainly does no good to complain about it, but I just think it is crazy to not be able to go down my own path because one of the major considerations is weather or not I or my wife can afford health care coverage for the family.

More clearly stated, I never thought that the position of being obligated to have health insurance would interfere with my aspirations.
It was that way prior to ACA. At least this way, well before Trump, you knew you'd still get insurance.  Before ACA, I could only work at large employers because I could not get insurance any other way.  I wanted, as well, to start a small business but could not because I could get no coverage.  Right now, I'd hold off until you know what you are walking into.

NeonPegasus

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Re: health insurance / benefits question.
« Reply #9 on: January 12, 2017, 07:15:17 AM »
We are self-employed. We started our business in '05 and I worked full-time at another job until 12/12. Through that job, we received great health insurance with ZERO premiums and a low deductible. By '12, our business had grown to the point where there was no way to grow further without me quitting my job and joining our business full-time. I had calculated that when I quit, it would cost around $500/mo to insure our family.

I planned quitting for 6 months. I saved $50k in anticipation. I set 12/20/12 as the day to hand in my notice. I found out on 12/13/12 that I was unexpectedly expecting my 3rd child. Since this was before ACA, I was immediately disqualified from getting insurance on my own, as were my husband and children. After a few weeks of major stress, I finally cobbled together a plan in which I got pregnancy Medicaid to cover me and my unborn baby, paid $1500/mo for COBRA to cover my husband and me (this was the only way to get my husband covered), and got my existing kid on Peachcare (a GA program that is for people with an income higher than the Medicaid limits).

I won't lie - it really sucked. It ate up $1k extra/mo that I hadn't planned on, on top of the pregnancy related expenses. There were two reasons why we were able to make it work - (1) our business was established and growing so we knew we could reasonably expect to make a certain amount of money and (2) we had saved a significant amount of money to cover several years of income shortfall.

In your situation, AFAIK you will not qualify for ACA because your wife has the opportunity to purchase insurance through her work. So, the rest is moot. The question of self-employment is essentially a mathematical equation: your projected income + your wife's income - health insurance costs - living expenses = monthly surplus/shortfall. Project how long it will take you to turn the shortfall into a surplus. Multiply your shortfall by that amount of time. Save that amount. Then quit your job.

By the time you've saved up enough $, you'll have a pretty good idea of what is going on with the healthcare situation and can adjust your plan accordingly.