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I find myself in a medical insurance Catch-22 at the moment, and I hope that some of you can give me advice on what you think is the best way to proceed.
I am self-employed and my salary varies from year to year. 2013 was one of the worst years that I've had in quite some time, and I barely had any salary at all. I managed through the year just fine because I had plenty of savings, but I did go through quite a bit of it. Since my salary was so low last year, I can qualify for subsidized health insurance through the affordable care act which would mean that I would pay almost nothing.
My current medical premiums are about $500 a month, so going from that to not having to pay anything would be a great help for me to get my savings back to where it once was. The problem is that I don't think that I will be having years like I did last year very often, and I should make enough so that most years I don't qualify for a subsidy under the affordable care act.
My crew medical premiums have been grandfathered in with my insurance company, so they are actually pretty good for the price. I can get an equivalent one under the affordable care act that would be less with the subsidy I would receive, but if I'm making enough where I don't qualify for it, I would actually be paying more for the same coverage.
So you can see my Catch-22 situation. If I a choose to sign up for the affordable care act, it will be beneficial for me during the years when I don't make as much money as I usually do, but it will hurt me when I do make my normal income. If you were in a situation like this, what things would you think about to make the decision of which one would be better? I see positives and negatives to both and I'm not sure which way I should go.
I am self-employed and my salary varies from year to year. 2013 was one of the worst years that I've had in quite some time, and I barely had any salary at all. I managed through the year just fine because I had plenty of savings, but I did go through quite a bit of it. Since my salary was so low last year, I can qualify for subsidized health insurance through the affordable care act which would mean that I would pay almost nothing.
My current medical premiums are about $500 a month, so going from that to not having to pay anything would be a great help for me to get my savings back to where it once was. The problem is that I don't think that I will be having years like I did last year very often, and I should make enough so that most years I don't qualify for a subsidy under the affordable care act.
My crew medical premiums have been grandfathered in with my insurance company, so they are actually pretty good for the price. I can get an equivalent one under the affordable care act that would be less with the subsidy I would receive, but if I'm making enough where I don't qualify for it, I would actually be paying more for the same coverage.
So you can see my Catch-22 situation. If I a choose to sign up for the affordable care act, it will be beneficial for me during the years when I don't make as much money as I usually do, but it will hurt me when I do make my normal income. If you were in a situation like this, what things would you think about to make the decision of which one would be better? I see positives and negatives to both and I'm not sure which way I should go.