Choosing a health insurance plan can be daunting, especially when the countdown clock starts ticking for the open enrollment window. Many freelancers—especially the young and healthy—may ask themselves whether they actually need health insurance.While it’s understandable that health insurance may be low on your list of priorities, it does need to be on your list. Choosing the right coverage, understanding the terms of the plan you choose, and finding an affordable health plan don’t have to be rocket science.In fact, there are plenty of Texas bronze plans that may be a good fit if you are self-employed and looking for comprehensive, affordable coverage. We’ll walk you through the things to consider when choosing a Texas bronze plan.
Understanding the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) allows everyone access to health insurance through Healthcare.gov, the official ACA site. Also known as a healthcare exchange, the website enables people to shop for health coverage choices, understand how to save when shopping, and to learn about the law surrounding health insurance.
Each year, people can enroll in health insurance plans during the Open Enrollment period. If you are in need of a health insurance plan outside of this window, you have several options:
- Qualify for a Special Enrollment Period through a Qualifying Life Event (QLE): If you have a change in life circumstances (lose a job, get married, have a baby, etc.), you can enroll in health insurance through the exchange outside of open enrollment.
- Enrolling in a short-term health insurance plan: Short-term plans cover a specific amount of time, usually up to 12 months. Since there is no enrollment period for these plans, you can enroll at any time. These are ideal to fill gaps in coverage.
- Enroll through the Freelancers Union: Freelancers can leverage this free online resources to purchase health care coverage and support advocacy for freelancers.
- Enroll in the Pathfinder Texas Bronze Plan at Decent.com: Our Texas bronze plan is one of the most affordable options out there. It’s a perfect fit for freelancers and other self-employed individuals shopping at the bronze plan level. The best part? It comes with FREE primary care. See your doctor whenever you want—for $0. We also offer open enrollment year round, so you don’t have to wait until the end of the year to enroll.
Texas bronze plans for when life happens
Everyone should have some time of health care coverage. Even if you’re young and healthy...life happens. Whether it’s a bad case of the flu, a skiing accident, or an unexpected diagnosis, health care coverage ensures that you (and your wallet) don’t get caught off guard when things come up.
Then there’s the case for primary care. Young adults tend to use primary care less frequently than adolescents, but they use emergency care more. We empathize; going to the doctor is not typically a “fun” activity. In addition to confusing copays and long waiting room stints, going to see the doctor sometimes results in other hidden costs and surprise bills. Health care spending in the U.S. topped $3.5 trillion in 2017, with 20% of that attributed to physician and clinical services.
The good news is that bronze plans are a great fit for young, healthy adults that don’t want to overspend on health insurance but do want to make sure they’re covered if anything happens. The ACA separates health care plans into metal categories to make coverage easier to understand:
For Lone Star state citizens, Texas bronze plans can provide affordable coverage and even some perks. For one, self-employed individuals can often take advantage of the self-employed health insurance deduction. Additionally, those with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage or charged higher premiums.
Decent Texas Bronze Plan for Self-Employed
Self employed individuals looking for a Texas bronze plan may want to consider Decent’s Pathfinder plan. This plan is customized for freelancers to be affordable, comprehensive, and easy-to-understand. Some benefits of our Pathfinder plan include:
- Year-round open enrollment—enroll at any time, even if you haven’t experienced a qualifying life event
- Free primary care—that’s $0 to see your doctor at anytime
- Free 24/7 telemedicine access to your primary care doctor
- Preferred brand drugs at less than half the cost of a traditional exchange-based Texas silver plan
One of the biggest benefits of our bronze plan is free primary care. That means you can see your primary care doctor as often as you want for $0. We believe strongly that the doctor-patient relationship should sit at the center of healthcare, so we’ve built our health care plans around this concept. You should be able to get the care you need from a doctor you trust, so we make it easy to do that. We also offer free 24/7 telemedicine access with your primary care doctor for days when you don’t feel well enough to get out of bed. Even if your doctor isn’t already a part of our network, we’ll do the legwork to get them on board. just give us their contact information and we’ll reach out. We want you to be in the care of someone who knows you as a patient and understands your medical history.
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