Small business owners
Covering yourself is one problem. Covering the people who work for you is another.
Self-employed and freelancers
Self-employed health insurance in Arizona
Working for yourself means nobody hands you a benefits package, and the public marketplace was not designed around how you earn. Here is how to think about it, and how I help.
- Built for variable income
- Free, no obligation
- 1099, freelance or LLC
No employer plan to fall back on
The shortlist you can build alone is narrower than the real one.
No cost
Free quote, no obligation to enroll
31+ states
Useful if your work moves you
Independent
Not tied to one product line
One contact
The same person all year
When you are employed, someone else picks the plans and takes the premium out of your pay. When you work for yourself, that job becomes yours, once a year, with no training.
Who this is for
Who this is for.
- Freelancers with several clients
- 1099 contractors working through one company
- LLC owners paying themselves
- Consultants and independent professionals
- Anyone whose income varies month to month
- People who left a job and lost employer coverage
Why self-employed coverage is genuinely harder
When you are employed, someone else picks the plans and takes the premium out of your pay. When you work for yourself, that job becomes yours, once a year, with no training.
Income makes it harder. A marketplace application wants a clean annual figure, and for a 1099 contractor or LLC owner that figure is an estimate. Getting it wrong costs you either way.
When the premium comes straight out of money you can see, the pull toward the cheapest number is strong. That is how people end up with a deductible they cannot actually absorb.
The trade-off nobody explains properly
Most decisions come down to one trade: a lower premium means you carry more cost when you use care, and a higher premium means less. Which suits you depends on your cash flow.
If your income is lumpy, a high deductible looks fine in a good month and hurts in a bad one. If you manage an ongoing condition, the math often runs the other way.
The number to focus on is not the premium. It is what a realistic year costs you, and what your worst plausible year costs you. Those two figures make the decision much clearer than a list of monthly prices does.
Freelancers, 1099 contractors and LLC owners
These situations differ more than people expect. A freelancer, a contractor working through one company, and an LLC owner are in three different positions when it comes to coverage.
If you have people working for you, even one or two, that opens a different set of questions again, which is covered on the small business page.
What they share: the shortlist you can build alone on a public site is narrower than what exists. I have access to options not listed there, which is often where the answer is.
How I approach it
How to approach it, in four steps.
- 01
Estimate your income honestly
Not optimistically and not defensively. A realistic figure avoids problems at both ends of the year.
- 02
Know your worst plausible year
Look at the out-of-pocket maximum, not the premium. That is the number that protects you.
- 03
List the providers you will not give up
Then we check them against the options rather than hoping.
- 04
Decide what a bad month looks like
If a premium is uncomfortable in a lean quarter, it is the wrong premium, however good the plan looks.
“The number to focus on is not the premium. It is what a realistic year costs you, and what your worst plausible year costs you.”
Want to know what you would actually pay?
The quote is free and there is no obligation to enroll.
Compare
Guessing at it versus working it out.
Shopping on premium alone
- The cheapest monthly number wins by default
- A deductible you have not stress-tested
- Income estimated to make the form go away
- No plan for the year something goes wrong
With me
- A realistic year and a worst year, both costed
- A premium you can carry in a quiet quarter
- An honest income estimate that holds up
- Options that are not listed publicly
Questions
Answered plainly.
- How much is health insurance if you are self-employed in Arizona?
- There is no honest single answer without knowing your household, age, location and how you use care. The range is usually wider than people expect, and finding out what you would pay is free.
- Can I get coverage if my income changes month to month?
- Yes. Variable income is normal for the people I work with. It affects how we estimate your year and which structures make sense, but it is not an obstacle.
- I am a 1099 contractor. Is that different from being a freelancer?
- Often yes, in practice. Contractors working primarily through one company are in a different position from freelancers spread across several clients, and it can change which options are worth looking at. It is worth a conversation rather than an assumption.
- Do I have to wait for open enrollment?
- The annual open enrollment window is the main route, but certain life changes can open a special enrollment period outside it. Whether yours qualifies is a specific question, so it is worth calling rather than guessing and missing a window.
The cash flow trap
The cheapest premium is not the cheapest year.
A low premium with a very high deductible looks attractive in a good month and becomes a real problem in a bad one. If your income is lumpy, that gap is the single most expensive thing to get wrong.
How it goes
Three steps, no pressure at any of them.
Step 1
We talk
Call me, or send the quote form. We go over who needs covering, what you spend now, and which doctors or prescriptions you want to keep.
Step 2
I build your shortlist
I compare what is genuinely available to you, including options that are not listed on public marketplaces, and bring back the ones that fit.
Step 3
You decide, I stay
You pick the plan you understand and want. I handle the enrollment, and I am still the person you call when something changes.
More ways I can help
Other people I work with.
If your coverage does not come from an employer, one of these is probably closer to your situation.
Health insurance in Phoenix
Independent advice for anyone in the metro whose coverage does not come from an employer.
The Arizona marketplace
What the public exchange does and does not show you, explained without the jargon.
Free and no obligation
Let’s find the plan that actually fits.
The quote is free, there is no obligation, and you will be talking to me. If what you already have is the better deal, I will tell you so.
Call now for a free quote
480-997-1810Book a 30 minute call
Pick a time that suits you and I will call you then. No sales script. Or email me at [email protected].