And if you say you have an individual plan with Kaiser or something - that doesn't count.<p>FACT: If you pay for an individual healthcare plan, you are essentially throwing your money away.<p>The reason being that if you ever had really serious medical bills (the whole point of getting insurance), your health insurance company will likely make an attempt to rescind your contract. Since you filled out 10 YEARS of health records to make your application - then agreed that if you misrepresent material facts, it makes your contract void - you don't stand a chance. The inconsistency they find doesn't have to do anything with the condition that you racked up all of those bills for.<p>So, for the insurance company, it's win-win: they get to take your money - if nothing happens, they get to keep it - if you rack up tons of bills, they get to rescind (then they have to give that money back, as well).<p>You don't have this problem if you can join a GROUP plan. They require far less medical history to apply, and don't get rescinded.<p>But how can you get a group plan if you are an independent entrepreneur or freelancer? I've heard that some professional associations have group plans - but I don't know which ones.<p>It's tempting to form a company with some friends just to create a group plan, but (at least in Illinois) such an entity has to be "formed in good faith for purposes other than that of obtaining insurance."<p>Has any individual out there found a way to be a part of a group plan?
The ACM has some group insurance plans for members: <a href="http://www.acm.org/membership/insurance" rel="nofollow">http://www.acm.org/membership/insurance</a><p>I haven't used them myself, so I don't know how they compare to plans offered to employers, or to individual plans.