Post: Affordable Care Act Options for Self Employed Individuals

If you are self-employed and you have no employees, you are not considered an employer according to the new health care law. Therefore, you are eligible to use the individual marketplace to purchase health insurance for yourself.
With so many people now shopping for the right Affordable Care Act insurance provider for their needs, many people are asking the question, “Am I self-employed?” This question is relatively simple to answer. If you run a business that generates income, and you have no employees (other than yourself), then you are self-employed. Even if you hire employees as contractors every once in a while to do work for you, you are not considered an employer and are therefore self-employed. Those who are employers and are not self-employed should instead consider the SHOP marketplace for small businesses rather than the individual marketplace.
If you are self-employed, you are eligible for the many self-employed health insurance plans located on the individual marketplace. Covered California is California’s health insurance marketplace and offers many additional benefits to traditional ways of shopping for health insurance. You can use the marketplace to make direct comparisons between health insurance plans to analyze differences in deductibles, premiums, coverage, and overall quality. Also, the market place prevents you from being overcharged or denied coverage because of a pre-existing health condition.
If you are self-employed, sign up today at Covered California to begin shopping and comparing health insurance plans to find the best one for your needs. You can even switch to a plan on the marketplace from a plan you currently have that you bought yourself.