Help for the Self-Employed
By: Alex Kellner; Source: AARP Bulletin Date Posted: 2006-07-05 13:42:00-04:00
Robert Gosselin of Newport, Vt., is self-employed in the timber business, and he and his wife have been uninsured for 10 years, since their high-deductible health plan became unaffordable at $650 a month. "It was like, do you want to eat or have health insurance?" he says of that decision.
Three years ago, an overnight hospital stay cost him $3,500. Six months ago his wife spent five hours in the hospital and was charged $8,000. They're still paying off the bills.
For years his family went to a Canadian doctor, a few miles away over the border, for primary care. "This guy was good. You could just walk into his office. Cost you 20 bucks. Down here in the States you're looking at $120 to $150." In the mid-1990s, when he had two employees, Gosselin tried to set them up with health insurance, offering to pay 50 percent of the $500-a-month premiums. "They wouldn't do it because it was still too expensive," he says.
Gosselin is interested in the new Vermont plan because "I'm 53 years old and should have something," though he's skeptical about how it will work for employers and whether it will raise taxes. But he says it's a better deal than he had before, especially in capping out-of-pocket costs. "I'm in favor of it because people need health care, and it sounds as though somebody's started to do something."
Additional Related Links
Message Board--Is the Time to Consider Universal Health Care for the United States now?
Help for Young Adults (July-August 2006)
Medical Nest Egg--Health Savings Accounts (April 2006)
Faceoff: How Good are Health Savings Accounts (April 2006)
Back to Main Article (July-August 2006)
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