Any interest in Trying to get Group Health Ins for Shopboters?

[final_cut]

I own a shopbot. At Jamboree, I talked to a couple of people who faces the age old problem of getting health insurance independently. That is my main challenge to going out on my own with my Shopbot.

My wife talked to an insurance agent who said that we might be able to join together and get a group policy.

If you might be interested in exploring this possability- or if you already looked into it, let me know. This is just a "is there any interest" post.

Thanks

Don
Final Cut Ind.

[wcsg]

Have your wife work for the county or school district. Then your covered 100%

[knight_toolworks]

could use good insurance my wife's work insurance is about worthelss.

[oddcoach]

i'm interested

[jhicks]

Great idea. add one more to your list of folks who would entertain a quote and be willing to explore this option.

[knoxdude]

I'd be interested also. A friend of mine refers to us self-employed types as "self un-employed" becasue things like insurance are such a pain. We have Blue Cross Blue Shield and for a family of 5, it just went up about $150 a month. I think we are around $700 a month now. A good group plan would be tremendous. I think some of the big eBay sellers have banded together and gotten a group policy.

Lynn

[watswood]

I'm interested.

[handh]

My wife and I have BCBS also and would be interested if it is a reputable company and has good benefits.

Jeff

[les_linton]

Cobra runs out in a few months....

I'm interested

Les

[gwilson]

I am interested.

[gene]

I`m Interested.

[foamcarver]

We'd be interested also.

[jerryp]

I'm Interested

[dmidkiff]

I'm interested

[repete]

Im interested

[foamcarver]

Does anyone have any info on this? Or is anyone still interested we could look around also

[bob_reda]

Blue cross usually goes by county-It would be very hard to get a plan for a small group (less than 1000) to cover the entire US

[kivimagi]

On this subject, Home Depot offers health insurance for its customers, or anyone. Not sure how the rates would compare, but its an option they offer. I believe to anyone.

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/entrehr/forbes/2006/0918/062b.html

[bleeth]

So does Costco

[thecustomsignshop]

We are in..

[gene]

Does anyone have this or using it?
I wonder if it is accepted at any major hospital,
and how the coverages work?

[pauls_daughter]

Your posting was forwarded to me by a fellow wood-worker, my father. I've been in the health insurance industry, group insurance, for 13 years and might be able to at least give you a head start in the right direction. What we typically see for owners of small businesses run along a few different paths: there is individual insurance (you've mentioned the Blues, but other national and local insurers offer plans as well, like UnitedHealthcare's Golden Rule, Aetna has individual products, CIGNA, etc.)If you have a high deductible plan with an insurer, you might want to consider adding an HSA (Health Savings Account) alongside of it - it will help protect you from those high claims and allow you to roll over unused funds from year to year - for the use of medical/health services - including into retirement. For group insurance, we see many people reaching out to their local small business associations. The following website will give you an example of what's out there, albeit this is for CT only - www.cbia.com (http://www.cbia.com). States vary for eligibility requirements. I've heard of states requiring as low as 1 - 2 ee's to qualify. Forming an association from scratch is not easy, due to all of the requirements associated. I found several state associations, via the internet, for woodworkers, and one that appears to be a national association - although it appears to offer every kind of insurance except medical. Perhaps if they had enough interest, this is something they could pursue. The website is as follows: http://www.alcottinsurance.com/woodworking.html.