Rental Property Investor · MI · Member since 2019 · 192 posts · 205 votes
Hi all.... I own six properties and my goal is to purchase 2 more by the end of the year. I also work FT. I need the health insurance benefits my job offers. How do you all manage health insurance? Do you buy your own? Do you factor it in your price for rent? Thanks
Rental Property Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2017 · 529 posts · 467 votes
6y
I just bought my own from Blue Cross, Blue Shield. I hate being part of a group where they can take it away from you if your job changes or your status changes. Shop a few. I only insure for catastrophes like cancer not colds and flu meaning I keep a $5000 deductible.
Rental Property Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2015 · 56 posts · 31 votes
6y
Excellent question! I asked it and got crickets a month or so ago... I was hoping there was some sort of group policy for RE investors/self-employed individuals.
Rental Property Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2017 · 529 posts · 467 votes
6y
I just bought my own from Blue Cross, Blue Shield. I hate being part of a group where they can take it away from you if your job changes or your status changes. Shop a few. I only insure for catastrophes like cancer not colds and flu meaning I keep a $5000 deductible.
However, it was not cheap. Depending on your current health and projected health, your premiums may vary. You know the best how much coverage you need.
Employers with several employees get great discounts. What your job offers will be very hard to match. Keep in mind there are High deductible plan available.
What you have to do pull your current health plan, deductibles, Out of pocket max, co-pays, etc information and then short list Insurance companies and then call them and compare premiums. That can be tedious but the only way.
Also ensure that your doctor or heath facilities you visit or plan to visit takes that health particular plan, before you sign up.
Unfortunately, no one in either parties elected or running for office been able to fix health care in the US. They all talk and another 8 years pass. Probably no one can.
If you find more information, please share with the group.
Rental Property Investor · MI · Member since 2019 · 192 posts · 205 votes
6y
@Felicia Hamilton
Yeah with so many of us in real estate, there should be more info out there. I guess it’s just one of those things where we’re on our own as with any other entrepreneurial job.
Flipper/Rehabber · Orange Park, FL · Member since 2014 · 180 posts · 83 votes
6y
@E.S. Burrell
I just started purchasing my own this year. I let my company pay for it so it will be used for tax time. There are so many different options it’s hard to say what will best fit you. It also depends what you are willing to pay for it and how much money you make. For me and my son I pay $830.00 a month and that includes dental. Some people say that is high but I have also seen other people pay more so I’m not really sure. I’m surprised there isn’t a health insurance broker that belongs to this site that can’t chime in.
Plainfield, IL · Member since 2015 · 8 posts · 2 votes
6y
@E.S. Burrell
Setting up a Health Savings Account that you self manage can be a significant way to take care of all of your health and dental needs, writing off these expenses on taxes as you go. The DMV requires a $50,000 deposite for self insurance. The self directed HSA much like the self directed IRA or 401k has significant tax advantages too.
Rental Property Investor · MI · Member since 2019 · 192 posts · 205 votes
6y
@Bjorn Ahlblad
My goal is to retire when i turn 58. Hopefully by then I’ll be making 10,000 a month and will be able to afford out of pocket healthcare!!!!! 😊. But as @Steve K. Said, who knows where we’ll be in ten years depending on whose elected.
@E.S. Burrell. I’ve been self employed since 2006, and buy my own insurance, it’s really expensive but at least I have the basics covered. There are some “faith based” groups that do a sort of health insurance group If you are into that- you’ll have to google that a little, i can’t for the life of me remember what they are actually called. I have a high deductible and my insurance is pretty much catastrophic, I feel ok with that because I have a good emergency savings and a health savings account. I just bought delta dental insurance, which was like $550 a year, and well worth it because my teeth have history and that stuff is expensive!!
Rental Property Investor · Upstate, NY · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
We pay ours complete (with high deductibles & HSA's) through our LLC's. My son manages a Pharmacy & many of those not paying taxes or born here pay $2 co-pays for everything prescribed. So just renouncing your citizenship maybe the way to go.
Others here, close to the CDN border, just cross over for much cheaper CDN Rx fulfillments, especially diabetic supplies. A woman at a dinner party last week told my wife she has Crones etc & her meds run $30k over 5 months. Then recently her husbands employee Ins carrier (family plan), wants a complete screening of her health so she's afraid they'll lose the family coverage. Another in our group tried one of those religious group coverages but that didn't work out too well for a major expense they incurred.
We have self-employed friends who pay $20k a year (familia's plan) & yet others who have been just about bankrupt from medical emergencies. We actually took over a home that the elderly (paid taxes all their lives) owners couldn't keep because of $42k in collections, because they both had medical emergencies when they were not covered.
Definitely puts a damper on the charitable billions a year, of taxpayer money, that's sent to other countries.
Rental Property Investor · Upstate, NY · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
One of his best unusual deductions cited.....
A girlfriend: The owner of several rental properties hired his live-in girlfriend to manage them. Her duties included finding furniture, overseeing repairs and running his home. The Tax Court let him deduct $2,500 of the $9,000 he paid her. The disallowed portion was considered to be for nondeductible personal services.
Setting up a Health Savings Account that you self manage can be a significant way to take care of all of your health and dental needs, writing off these expenses on taxes as you go. The DMV requires a $50,000 deposite for self insurance. The self directed HSA much like the self directed IRA or 401k has significant tax advantages too.
I think you are a little confused on how HSA work. HSA's are designed to work with insurance - typically high deductible insurance. Money is taken from your salary (annual amount limited by the government) and deposited into the account without being subject to federal tax. You use it as you need with no need to write off expenses on your taxes. As expenses, such as deductibles are incurred, these are paid from the HSA. It's a way to lower your insurance premiums and pay medical expenses with tax free money. It is not designed to "take care of all your health and dental needs".
While the money in HSA's roll over year after year, extremely few people have enough in a HSA to cover a major medical issue. Based on what I've seen (I work in insurance and have for 20+ years), most people contribute just enough to match how much they think they will spend during the year and have very little if anything left over the next year.
I was hoping there was some sort of group policy for RE investors/self-employed individuals.
You're thinking about a HPC (Health Insurance Purchasing Cooperative) where generally a bunch of businesses in the same field and geographic area get together and use their combined purchasing power to buy group coverage that is lower cost than individually. I suspect that there are ones for real estate investors. They are most likely localized as many insurance carriers only cover part of a state. Forget about one that would cover people in multiple states as insurance rules vary dramatically from state to state. To see if one is in your area, I'd suggest talking to the local apartment owners association or chamber of commerce.
Plainfield, IL · Member since 2015 · 8 posts · 2 votes
6y
@Greg M.
While all of this is true, is there any reason you can't use your HSA for investments as you would a self directed IRA or 401k?
I mean it seams to me if I can get a $10,000 contribution from rentals it would be that much less that I would need to contribute from my personal income...
Are there specific medical or dental incidents that can not be covered by an HSA?
San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
I really like Kaiser Permanente. I like it because it's just a low co-pay for anything you do, whether it's a trip to get a flu shot to major surgery. It's just available in the major metro areas in CA, but Wikipedia says it's also in these states: Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia. You'll have to see which zip codes are covered.
East Coast · Member since 2016 · 51 posts · 44 votes
6y
@E.S. Burrell
Absolutely possible with many potential clients. They could organize a member roster for those interested and solicit bids from major carriers. Only potential bargaining hindrance right now might be the state line boundaries and certain carriers only cover limited regions. Great idea!