US Health Insurance - Options Other than ACA Marketplace/Employer?

[AmHere]

For folks in the US, do you know of any organizations for self employed/writers/freelancers that have health insurance as a member benefit?

Does anyone know of any options other than the ACA marketplace and Employer provided health insurance?

Thank you.

[She-la-te-da]

You could look into NINC, ALLI (I think that's the acronym), and professional orgs like SFWA, HWA, RWA. They may not actually provide insurance, but may have a way to get in under a group rate thing.

[Rosie Scott]

I don't know if this will help you, but there are a few options I know of for people with no health insurance. I went without for years because ACA was too expensive and the previous plan that I loved was no longer offered under it. The FMMA has a search for medical providers who accept patients without insurance for rates that are much lower than usual, and they list their prices like a marketplace so you know your medical costs in advance. Their website is fmma.org. There are some doctors near me who offer vastly reduced rates for a monthly fee (you can pay $50 per month, for example, and get most of your exams/tests/procedures done for no further costs). This seems to be a fairly new concept, so it might not be offered everywhere. Lastly, I also highly recommend CareCredit. You can put medical costs from a variety of medical providers on it (it includes dental and most veterinarians too) and you have 6 months to a year to pay it off without any interest.

I'm sorry that these aren't technically insurance options, but they've worked for me when no insurance was affordable. Hopefully this helps someone. Good luck. 

[AmHere]

Thank you She-la-te-da and Rosie. I didn't know about FMMA or CareCredit - thank you for posting about them.

[ilamont]

See what's offered by the Freelancers' Union:

https://www.freelancersunion.org/health/

[BillSmithBooksDotCom]

I have read that most colleges offer health insurance plans for currently enrolled students -- some offer family plans, if needed. You need not be full time, either -- just taking one course qualifies you. (Just auditing a course might work -- the nice thing about auditing is that it is often quite a bit cheaper and there is no grading -- you are paying to be able to attend the class, how much of the work you actually want to do is entirely up to you.) Depending upon the college, the savings over buying on the ACA open market may be substantial.

Sometimes you really have to look around on the website to find the rates -- you might be better off inquiring directly with the college to get this info.

Plus the best part is, you should be able to find _something_ that you are interested in.

[AmHere]

I have read that most colleges offer health insurance plans for currently enrolled students...  just taking one course qualifies you

Thank You! Lots of colleges around.