SmallBizResource Blog -- SmallBizResource

Health Matters

Posted by Gayle Kesten Monday, Mar 31, 2008, 11:49 AM ET

What can be more important than the health of your business?

Try your own personal health, be it a bout with the flu, a chronic condition or a life-threatening illness -- anything that requires a doctor's visit. Plenty of us grumble about our ever-rising co-pays, but, hey, at least we have health-care insurance. According to census data published by the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), 24 million families in which the head of the household is self-employed or working for a small business are without medical coverage.

In addition, a December 2007 report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFID) Research Foundation indicates that 52 percent of small-business owners do not offer either employee health insurance or an insurance purchase subsidy. Those employing 20 or more people are more than twice as likely to offer employee health benefits as those with fewer than 10.

Now that I'm self-employed, I'm covered by my husband's plan. That's after years of coverage under the company I had worked for. The prospect of having to find a plan independently seems daunting. To wit, according to the NFID, the smaller the company, the less likely it is to shop around for an insurance plan.

Where to start? The New York Times "Shifting Careers" blog offers a bunch of places to do your health-care homework, submitted by small-business owners and would-be entrepreneurs. Among them:

Small Business Service Bureau

Also, keep in mind industry-specific trade associations, like a bar association or the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and your local chamber of commerce.

What do you do for health insurance? Did you have to find it on your own? Share your experience -- and your resources.

SmallBizResource

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