As someone who is self-employed, you face more pressures than most to stay healthy. Unlike regular employees, the right form of health insurance could also guarantee the health of your business – not just your own.
Although there are a number of advantages to going it alone, the self-employed frequently get a bad deal when it comes to benefits packages. Aside from having to fill out your own tax return and pay your own national insurance, there is no pension provision, no maternity or paternity leave, no holiday pay and no sick pay. This can be a real problem if you get ill, since you will not be paid for any time you take off work. A week or two in bed with the flu can leave you struggling to make ends meet, and in the worse case scenario, your business could go under. That’s why choosing the right kind of health insurance is vital.
Individual health insurance
Health insurance tends to be a complicated area, which is why it’s always worth consulting carefully with an adviser to ensure you end up purchasing the right package for your needs. However, the majority of insurance providers who offer individual private health insurance will also cater for the self-employed and/or small businesses.
Because you are, likely as not, solely responsible for your business, being seen and treated quickly is of paramount importance. You do not want to be waiting around any longer than necessary, knowing that every hour or day you are away from work is costing you business and income. Whereas some eventualities – A&E admission, GP appointments and the treatment of chronic conditions, for example – tend to be dealt with by the NHS, in other instances you will simply not be able to afford to spend weeks on a waiting list. Health insurance will give you access to prompt and private healthcare, allowing you to go back to work as soon as possible.
What to look for
The cost of your health insurance premiums will differ depending on a few variables. One of those is whether you have any pre-existing conditions or risk factors. As is the case with any form of insurance, the cost of premiums reflects the probability and potential size of a claim. Another consideration is exactly what you want cover for.
Generally speaking, health insurance should always cover you for inpatient treatment – that is, time that you actually need to stay in hospital. Whilst that should give you a degree of peace of mind, you may want to opt for more comprehensive cover. This will be a balancing act, since a greater level of cover necessarily means higher premiums. All the same, depending on the nature of the condition, you might end up spending a large amount of time as an outpatient (that is, without an overnight stay). With the exception of procedures like scans and chemotherapy, outpatient cover is usually not included in basic health insurance plans.
Avoiding the waiting lists
Given that speed is a key factor for the self-employed, you may decide it is worth having any outpatient diagnostic tests, consultations and treatment carried out privately as well. (On a related theme, you might want to ensure that physiotherapy or alternative treatments are included in your health insurance package. This is particularly useful for those occupations where there is significant risk of repetitive strain injury or other problems than prevent you from working at full capacity.) This kind of comprehensive health insurance allows you not only to secure fast treatment, but also to arrange appointments at a time that suits you; in some cases, you may actually want to delay treatment until a more convenient time.
Finally, some self-employed people spend much of their time working abroad. If this includes you, then you need to make sure that your health insurance covers you for overseas medical care and, where appropriate, repatriation for treatment in this country.
This article was supplied by the leading firm of Irish insurance brokers and members of the Irish Brokers Association, Robertson Low, established in 1995 and the only Irish incorporated ‘Lloyd’s broker’.
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