Financial Advisor

Workers Take Health Insurance Into Own Hands

You don’t have to be self-employed to be self-insured. In fact, a growing number of workers now purchase their health insurance individually, rather than buying into employer-sponsored plans.

Individual health plans are sometimes a less expensive option for workers, as an increasing number of employees find themselves shouldering the rising cost of employer health insurance plans. Individual plans can be particularly beneficial to healthier workers, since employer group rates are often based on the health of the office as a whole-meaning healthier employees sometimes subsidize the coverage of their co-workers.

“As health care costs increase and employers pass the burden to workers, more people are discovering they can better meet their health care needs with an individual or family plan,” says eHealthInsurance executive Bruce Telkamp.

Consumers can often choose from more insurance options in the individual and family market than employers are able to offer, Telkamp adds. “Rather than the one-size-fits-all approach of group coverage, workers can individually select more affordable plans that only offer the benefits they expect to use.”

Saving For Health

Recognizing this change in attitudes toward health insurance, many companies will now make contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for employees who purchase their own health plans. HSAs allow employees to contribute pretax dollars to pay for qualified medical expenses. The accounts must be used in conjunction with certain types of health plans that generally have higher deductibles but lower monthly costs.

HSA funds are rolled over year to year, earn investment income tax-free and may be applied toward that “other” big expense faced by American workers: retirement.

For more information, visit www.ehealthinsurance.com.

Workers are increasingly opting out of their employer-sponsored health plans in favor of less expensive, individual health plans.

Individual health insurance plans sometimes provide a less expensive option for workers, as an increasing number of employees find themselves shouldering the bulk of their employer’s health insurance plans.

Tag: Workers Take Health Insurance Into Own Hands