Health Insurance

[hlwiley]

My husband, the sculptor in the family, runs his own studio and has no employees. We are researching different health insurance possibilities and wanted to see if anyone here had any suggestions. We are currently using the COBRA option from my previous job, before we had a baby a year & and half ago. We do plan on having another baby in the next couple years and will have to pay for the maternity coverage in any health plan. We now pay almost as much as our mortgage for health coverage and realize this will most likely be the case with a new plan. The COBRA is running out in the next couple months.

WE have heard of group insurance offered to artists, but have not been able to locate any resources for this. Does anyone know if any?

THANKS in advance!

[suburbanartists]

I'm pretty sure it is state by state. NY has the "artists union?" group which i believe was formed just for that reason. A few years ago I tried to find a similar group in NJ with no luck. The group rules in NJ were at the time totally screwed up. Not sure what is going on now though. Others suggested finding other groups or assiciations that offer group insurance rates but that will take some research. Sorry not a big help but maybe a bit.

[Julianna]

I agree that your best bet would be to find a professional artists' group which offers health insurance as part of the membership perks. If none of the groups you can find offer health insurance, you may want to simply ask them if they know of any other groups in the area and go from there.

[Blacksun]

I know this will sound counter-intuitive, but I have found great rates & coverage from Blue Cross / Blue Shield. You can find your (state) BC/BS organization's contact info on the web..... Their PPO programs are great...low co-pays and great overall coverage.... Good luck on the hunt...and do it while your other coverage is in effect....any lapse in coverage will tend to up the rates for a replacement policy.

[evaldart]

my wife and I have been paying for our own Blue-cross blue shield plan for 15 years. It is my biggest expense these days but well worth it since the 2 children have come on board (8 and 3). It is a simple small business plan (nothing to do with art, two employees, myself and her) Complete good coverage for 1200-1400 bucks a month (and going up). Such is life...you can cut corners in other places.

[ironman]

Hi, Wait until Hillary gets into office and they pass a national health insurance bill before having that next kid.
Just kidding!!!!!
Some Chamber of Commerces have group policies at affordable rates, or so I'm told.
Of course that means joining the "Chamber".
Have a great day,
Jeff