If you run a business, are self-employed or otherwise pay the full cost of your own health care expenses then you know that the price is too high. We are quickly approaching the point where one out of every five dollars of income will be spent on health care.
This week the federal government took steps to loosen regulations that allow us to use lower cost options and strategies. Granted, the government did not do anything to reduce costs, but rather allows us to make choices to accept higher levels of risk for these costs.
What are these newly expanded options? According to previously published reports from Freedom Benefits, the most popular and effective options from the era before the current restrictive laws were:
- short term medical insurance
- limited benefit medical insurance
- association health plans
- out-of-state insurance purchase
- telemedicine
- provider repricing plans
- uninsured health plans (Health Savings Accounts, Health Reimbursement Arrangements, Flexible Spending Accounts, Section 125 cafeteria benefit plans)
The specific strategies that will be most effective in saving money will vary for each person and business. Some of these are available immediately, others will be delayed by months. I’ll have a lot more information on the use of these options soon. Meanwhile, most of these options are available now on my old (pre-ACA) web site at www.freedombenefits.net.
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