I was wondering what people did for their own health insurance
Hi Kathleen,
You have to look at health insurance as part of the cost as doing business as a trainer, and it’s not cheap. I pay $1400/mo. for 3 of us. I would only ditch my day job & lose my insurance if it made the financial sense to do so. Let’s say the expense is $500/mo. – $6k/year pre-tax dollars. That’s a lot of workouts just to make up for that. But at some point, it may make sense to go out on your own once you get your training business built up. Then you can make the switch without becoming financially strapped. Good luck with your decision Kathleen.
Paul Thomas
www.homeworkoutguy.com
Hi Kathleen,
I have health insurance through my husband’s previous employer (he is retired now).
I am not sure I would have ventured into the business of personal training without that as a backdrop. Because of my personal situation, I have not needed to investigate the ACA but that seems to be a good place to start.
Karin Singleton
www.meltnc.com
You can try COBRA, but it doesn’t last for ever. I’m not sure what your situation is, but dropping a job that provides you with health insurance might not be the best option. Unless you can get insurance through a different way (husband, other work, COBRA or qualify for one by yourself)you might want to reconsider. With Obamacare you could qualify for a good plan, so you should look into it. Good luck to you either way.
I’m in California and was on COBRA from my last job for a year or so and it was expensive! Almost $400/mo as a 40 year old woman. I signed up for healthcare through Covered California (CA version of the health benefit exchange) and it was much lower. Subsidies are available on a sliding scale depending on your income and since I was starting my business in earnest last year, my tax return for 2014 reflects a particularly low income. I’m sure I’ll have to pay more in the future as my business grows, but for now, the subsidy is nice.