[Hidden-tech] found the answer

[Jan Werner]

What you say is no doubt true, but what it omits is that under current 
Massachusetts law, you are also eligible for individual plans that may 
be as good or better for you than what you are getting through a group.

The problem is that you have to do a huge amount of research to find out 
which plans will provide the best solution for your own needs. As I said 
before, most people don't have the time or the know-how to do that.

The whole debate about "health care reform" in Congress is completely 
misguided, IMHO. What I -- and I suspect most people -- want is choice 
among providers and treatments, not among insurance companies. Choice 
among insurers is a shell game in which we consumers can only loose.

If you have not yet read T.R. Reid's "The Healing of America" do so now. 
It gives by far the clearest explanation I have yet read of how health 
care is provided and paid for in other "wealthy" countries and just how 
poorly we are served by what we have here.

Jan Werner
____________

Edbride-PR wrote:
>   ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
> 
> 
> Whatever it's called, I am eligible for the coverage I have because of 
> membership in the Chamber.
> 
> Ed
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jan Werner" <jwerner at jwdp.com>
> To: "Edbride-PR" <Ed at edbride-pr.com>
> Cc: "'Tom / Reelife Productions'" <tomadams at gmail.com>; "'Hidden-Tech 
> Tech'" <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>
> Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 2:48 PM
> Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] found the answer
> 
> 
>> That hasn't been true for many years in Massachusetts.
>>
>> Membership in a Chamber of Commerce or other affinity group does not 
>> qualify for group insurance in Massachusetts, a sore point that came 
>> up often when I was on the Government Relations Committee of the 
>> Berkshire Chamber, and something that business groups have long been 
>> trying to reverse, without success.
>>
>> There are insurance purchasing outfits  that require you to be a 
>> member of such a group to use their services (e.g., Northeast Business 
>> Trust, from whom I used to get my insurance) but under the current MA 
>> health insurance laws, they don't offer any advantage, and, as I 
>> discovered in researching the matter, tend to offer less value than 
>> you can get by purchasing directly from insurers like BCBSMA or Tufts 
>> as an individual.
>>
>> That said, the insurers conduct a real shell game by offering a vast 
>> number of plans using all kinds of different combinations of copays, 
>> deductibles and other options. This makes it nearly impossible to 
>> compare plans directly. I ended up building a spreadsheet model and 
>> running what-if scenarios to make an informed choice, but I don't 
>> think most people have the know-how (or time) to do that kind of thing.
>>
>> As to the original question, a self-employed individual who files a 
>> Schedule C and reports a profit can deduct up to the amount of that 
>> profit minus 1/2 their SE tax on line 29 of their 1040, if he/she does 
>> not qualify for coverage under someone else's plan. Your spouse's 
>> insurance will also qualify if she/he is a co-owner of the business.
>>
>> Also, if you are both owner/employees of the business, you can get two 
>> individual plans, which is less expensive than a family plan if you 
>> have no other dependents.
>>
>> Jan Werner
> 
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