The Writing Coach Blog

Health Insurance Help for Freelance Writers

By Rebecca Smith Hurd

Being the boss of you isn’t always a picnic. As a self-employed person you may have to find, secure and pay for your own health care. And getting adequate, affordable insurance can be a challenge, particularly if you’re older, chronically ill or have gone without coverage in recent history. Fortunately, with a little work, it’s usually doable.

Rule No. 1: Shop around. If you’ve recently left a job with benefits, it’s a good idea to sign up for Cobra while you’re still eligible.  It provides great backup while you look for a less-expensive policy. Ask your current insurance provider whether you can convert your existing company policy into an individual one and get a quote. If you go for, say, a higher deductible, you may be able to keep your policy relatively intact without a huge change in premium. (Advantages: You’ve already been accepted, and you won’t have to switch doctors.) Bear in mind, however, that your costs will likely increase because, as a small-business owner, you’ll be picking up the entire tab, rather than having some of it subsidized by an employer.

That said, depending on your situation, you may be able to find a better deal if you take your business elsewhere. Several professional organizations offer group rates for freelance workers nationwide — and offer good places to start shopping.

Freelancers Union

The Freelancers Union is a nonprofit group for independent workers, including freelance writers, editors, consultants, and contractors. Anyone can join for free. The union, through a third-party provider, offers health insurance to members in 31 states, and provides dental, life, and disability insurance nationwide.

In 2008, the group started its health-insurance company in New York State, where it now issues its own policies. Freelancers Insurance Company was “created to meet the needs of independent workers, with plans tailored to fit freelancers’ health care needs more closely than traditional plans typically allow,” executive director Sara Horowitz explains on the group’s website. “We also believe that, through FIC, we will be better able than commercial insurers to control the cost of coverage to our members.”

FIC got off to a shaky start, but seems to have ironed out the kinks since then. “This is a big idea from a group that is trying to build an infrastructure to support entrepreneurs and microbusinesses,” John Tozzi blogged for BusinessWeek. If you’d prefer to play it extra-safe and keep shopping, read on.

Mediabistro

Mediabistro is a professional organization for anyone who works in a content-driven industry, from news organizations to public relations. Membership in its AvantGuild ($55 a year) buys freelancers access to all sorts of resources and discounts, including medical insurance. New York residents can join its group plan, and individual plans are available through its partner, Affinity Health, nearly nationwide. (Mediabistro says those who live in Hawaii, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington are not eligible, due to state laws.)

“Mediabistro.com offers well-priced individual or family coverage through a group plan to New Yorkers and discounted plans to those outside the state,” Leslie Alderman wrote in the New York Times.  She also noted that one AvantGuild member managed to find a policy for a third of the average going rate. Family coverage includes domestic partners, too. Mediabistro members may also apply for nationwide dental insurance and discount prescription cards.

Society of Professional Journalists

As its name suggests, SPJ is a group for professional journalists of all kinds. Like Mediabistro, the society offers a broad array of tools and support, including several types of health insurance for freelancers. Its major medical policy is provided through Marsh Affinity Group Services and Healthinsurance.com, which give discounts to SPJ members. (Membership costs $36 to $72 per year.)

“As a journalist, I joined the SPJ and in return got decent health insurance for a reasonable price,” writer Rachel Kaufman posted on Freelance Switch. “I was paying for the exact same plan out of pocket, and it was costing me $20 more a month — so for an annual membership fee of $36, I’m saving quite a bit. (It helps that I can join the org at the ‘household rate’ for living under the same roof as another SPJ member).”

Various types of plans—HMO, PPO, MSA and fee for service—are available through SPJ, depending on your state of residence. The society also offers catastrophe major medical, term life, disability income, accidental death and dismemberment, group hospital indemnity program, and short-term medical plans.