Medical insurance for self-employed
 

I'm curious, if most self-employed people pay for medical insurance? I for one don't pay, but I'm considering doing so.

Do you pay for your own medical insurance if you are self-employed?

I got set-up a year ago. I live in Ontario so of course OHIP (or whatever they call it these days) will cover a certain amount like Doctor visits, emergency room at the hospital, etc. But there is a lot it doesn't cover.

My financial advisor is also an insurance broker so she custom tailored various benefits for me. I pay for my own:
- Term 100 Life Insurance policy for both my wife and I. Good until I'm 100 years old or dead; whichever comes first! Also got life insurance policies on the kids which they can continue after they hit 25 years old if they like.
- Critical Illness insurance for me. If I get a critical illness such as cancer I will be paid a lump sum to use however I feel fit.
- Long term disability insurance for me. I'm in and out of factories every day and if I happen to get in an accident I want to make sure I still have income. This will pay me a monthly wage for life if I can't perform the duties of my job.
- Hospital and Drug benefits. This covers 80% of prescription costs, a certain amount of glasses and eye exams, chiropractor, semi-private hospital room, anesthesia, and a slew of other things for the whole family.
- Out of Province Travel insurance. This covers my entire family when I'm out of the province whether for business or pleasure. Hospital stays, medical transportation home, etc.

I also have Worker's Compensation Optional Insurance through the WSIB to cover up to a maximum of about $70,000 per year if I'm involved in a work-related accident.

I wanted to make sure I had decent coverage because although my job isn't excessively dangerous I am around dangerous equipment a lot. Primarily I work with lower voltages, 600Volts and less but it can still do a lot of damage (death). I work around moving equipment but I am quite strict when it comes to applying safety rules such as proper guarding, equipment, lockout, etc. Believe it or not but my biggest concern is always being run over by a fork lift truck. Those guys drive like maniacs!

All told my benefits cost about $4500 per year and the Worker's Comp is an additional few hundred dollars. Don't even ask about the CGL and Errors & Ommissions insurance I pay to protect myself from lawsuits!

Thanks Rob,

$4,500 sound a lot, but I guess that's the prices for all these benefits. At one point I was looking for Errors & Omissions insurance, but all companies I called didn't want to deal with one-man company (they all said they do group insurance only). What company does your Errors & Omissions insurance? Is the Errors & Omissions insurance expensive too? What is CGL?

Thanks for taking the time to help me!

I have my Errors & Ommissions and CGL (Commercial General Liability) with Enron through Aon Reed Stenhouse (broker) out of Ottawa. I am a Certified Engineering Technologist through OACETT (Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists) and one of the benefits is access to this liability insurance through a group plan set up for OACETT. Since it is a group plan it is reasonably priced (relatively speaking). I pay about $3500 per year for 2 million CGL and 2 million E&O. The next closest quote I had was for $7500 per year for a 1 million dollar policy. I had similar problems getting turned down because I worked for myself. Funniest thing is Enron turned me down as an individual but had no problem insuring me through a group plan.

By the way, the $4500 I pay for my other benefits was the best price and best benefits out of 4 different quotes I got. I also got quotes from the local Chamber of Commerce Group plan, an OACETT group plan, and an individual policy I looked at. The best value and best benefits I got were through my Financial Advisor; I guess that's why its good to go through a broker.

Thanks Rob,

Your help is greatly appreciated!