Judging by the discussion at Freelancer's Union, health insurance is hard to find at both an affordable price and with good benefits. Reading the forum will provide good advice from other freelancer's who have already used FU's services and have done some comparison shopping with other providers.
Freelancers appear to be having problems with the services to be offered by FU in 2009. A discussion from dissatisfied users goes into further details at http://upsetfu.blogspot.com/. Some users in the forum have found that in their particular situation, the cost and benefits works well. Reading specifics of other people's experiences will help you determine what will work for you. Freelancers are discussing other providers, such as...
- Healthy New York (HNY)
- FIC
- Media Bistro
Qualifications for these plans can cause difficulty getting accepted. For example, HNY requires that...
- income must be less than $2100/ mo
- must have "lost" insurance (COBRA discontinued) or been without insurance for at least 12 months
Overall forum users are recommending...
- to not go without insurance (get something while you are still deciding)
- making sure that you qualify before applying (a non-refundable fee is charged to apply)
- do not purchase the dental insurance through Freelancer's Union because the cost outweighs the benefits
Freelance Switch does a good job at explaining your health insurance options as a freelancer. Some are what has been mentioned above as well as a few additional ones.
