I was recently contacted by a writer who wanted to interview me on the issue of health insurance for self-employed people. As we talked I realized that this is a very important issue.
I am fortunate that my husband has good health coverage so I’ve not had to deal with obtaining insurance on my own. I wonder how many people don’t work at home because they assume that they couldn’t afford health insurance. I do know that a lot of people want a telecommute job rather than a home business because they want benefits. The thing is, though, that when you own your own business you provide your own benefits. I have a retirement account that allows me to make tax-free contributions up to a certain amount each year. If you don’t have insurance coverage through a spouse, the cost of providing your own insurance is a tax deductible expense of doing business.
I definitely want to research this topic further and I’d love to hear from you on this. I’d like to hear from business owners who do have to pay for private insurance as well as anyone who has an opinion on health insurance for the self-employed.