An insurance pool is a term that is used by the insurance industry to describe many people today that are already involved in the business world; or young people just making their entrance. It can, and usually, is an experience like no other. To complicate matters, there are many who enter the working world as self-employed rather than be employed by a large corporation. The choices are limitless, but the realities often bring about a whole new set of circumstantial opportunities.
As a new self-employed individual you will need to confront the facts of locating the best possible medical insurance with a cost effective solution. This in itself is much easier said than done. You also need to ask yourself if the needed insurance coverage is just for you. If you have family members you want to add you will need to find a low cost health insurance for self employed. A well-established and well-run insurance company can offer valuable and knowledgeable solutions. They offer a wide range of self-employed health insurance plans and of course, the cost is relative to the number of family members you wish to cover. Unlike other companies in the business of insuring the public, they are one of the few who requires very little personal information to provide you with a price quote.
When you fill out their very short questionnaire, you will find they really only ask three main questions. The first question – a medical insurance representative will ask you is the county you live in. Then you will be asked for the number of people you wish to cover besides yourself. The last and final question they will ask will be pertaining to what your annual salary is; even an estimate is satisfactory as long as you can substantiate the information you are telling them. Health insurance almost always requires information on your yearly salary as an expression of thanks and to see if you might be eligible for another plan such as a Home Maintenance Organization or HMO plan. Most insurance companies do carry HMO’s.
This in effect is an efficient way to assist you in getting the best possible self-insured plan for yourself and your immediate family members. Once you have been issued a price quote based on the information you submitted, you will receive a more definitive price. There are other carriers as well that offer a variety of options to suit the individual needs for insurance coverage. Some you may even already be familiar with a few of the insurance providers because you were introduced to them through your aunt’s, uncles and even cousins. The best solution for you and your family are at your fingertips and the choices available today are growing larger. Now is a wonderful time to research which plan is best for you. Describe risk classification for a certain group that meets certain criteria.
To an insurance company we are all classified based on certain factors as to what pool we belong to. For Health insurance, it’s much easier to just describe the pool in terms of a marketplace; so for the sake of understanding the term marketplace will be adopted. NY is being recognized as a Community-rated state (please see the article Factors that Effect Health Insurance Rate Increase), the amount of health insurance markets is limited to 4.
Each marketplace only uses a factor of working status as to describe which market you belong in. The 4 insurance markets are the individual market, the self employed market, the small group of 2-50 employees and the large group market of 51+ employees.
For the self employed in New York, the two health insurance markets that you can join are the individual and the sole proprietor market. Insurance companies by law in New York must offer health insurance to any consumer that requests it, however based on price it’s just too costly for most to afford. If you’re interested in receiving rates for the individual market just contact any New York insurance company direct. Single Rates currently vary from $650 to $1,000 per month (yes for single coverage). Based on rates alone, the individual market is a last resort.
With The Exception of Healthy NY health insurance (a state mandated program that all insurance companies must participate in) Self Employed health insurance plans are not sold directly by insurance companies. Rather, Insurance companies contract with business associations or insurance trusts to offer certain health insurance plans to members of the trust or association if they meet eligibility criteria. In most cases the business association member must be self employed, working full time and be able to verify self employment income through tax documentation. If they qualify then that member becomes part of the self employed health insurance pool managed & governed by that particular association. A member must pay association dues, usually ranging from $30 to 60 per year for a member.