How to Get Health Insurance As an Associated Content Freelancer

Many Associated Content producers wonder about the viability of making Associated Content a full time job. If you have health problems or family obligations it could be a great option. The benefits of working for yourself are many but health insurance is not one of them, if you work as a writer, artist, freelancer, doing paid surveys from home, mystery shopper, merchandiser, contractor, or are otherwise self-employed, getting health insurance can be difficult. If you have a health problem it is practically impossible or at least often very expensive. Then you have to worry about insuring your family. How can you ensure you will get insured? What if you have a health problem?

One option is taking a class or two per semester at your local college. It is mandatory for a full time student to have health insurance, but optional for part time students to buy the health insurance available through the college. This is often available if you take one or two classes per semester. It is a large group pool of mostly college age students, so there is automatic enrollment. This insurance is generally a few hundred dollars a semester and you can enroll your spouse and dependants for an additional nominal fee.

The caveats are this:

You will need to take a class or two per spring and fall semester to be covered the whole year, but it can be something easy or enjoyable like an art studio class, or yoga or Pilates or dance. If you are trying to work as a writer, you can over course always take a writing class. It is also a great way to make connections and have an outlet for others to review and critique your writing. There are many classes in college that looked like they would be fun but you just didn't have time to take them when you were a student before. This is an opportunity to do so.

You need to keep good academic standing to qualify for the insurance, generally meaning, don't flunk out of all of your classes.

The insurance can often be very basic coverage and many standard health checkups and exams or the flu shot might need to happen through the school clinic. However, if you go to a school affiliated with a hospital, the clinic may take place there. The clinic generally has a number of basic services (like the flu shot or a routine ear infection checkup) for free if you are a student at the school.

You need to stay a student to keep the insurance - if you drop the class within the add/drop timing that you get some of your money back, you will not qualify for the insurance.

The perks are this:

If you are generally not insurable for some reason this option gets you insurance because it is a large group pool. In many states, if you are insured for preexisting when you go on a new plan, then the pre-existing non-coverage timing does not apply. Check in your state. A policy may waive pre-existing but not be of much use to you for other reasons - such as it covers prescriptions but only $1000 worth a year. This is more than enough for some, but not enough for others.

It is really cheap to get school insurance for you and your family.

There are other perks to being a student such as you have access to the school gym, the internet, the library, and discount software via the school store. You can often get student discounts at restaurants and stores around town with your student ID.

School insurance policies vary greatly, check the insurance policy in advance to see if it works for you; it is generally found online at each school's respective website. Some are very good for accidents and fully cover hospital costs, but are really light on the needs of older adults, like if you need routine screenings. Others are excellent for women with great OB/GYN care but not good for prescriptions (other than birth control) or if you need physical therapy. However, if you save hundreds a month on your health insurance, you might be willing to forgo the services you would rarely use anyways to save money.

The quality of the policy has little to do with the quality or cost of the school. Shop around for the policy that works best for you and the school that has a convenient class schedule for you and your family.