Who we help
Self-employed
Marketplace subsidies that track variable 1099 income, the small group option once you have an employee, and the tax layer underneath both.
The question
“How do I cover myself when the income moves?”
Nobody hands a self-employed person a benefits guide in November. You pick a plan on your own, you pay the whole premium yourself, and the choice interacts with your tax return in ways a salaried employee never deals with.
The subsidy question is the one that costs people money. An advance premium tax credit is calculated against your estimated household income for the coverage year. Guess high and you overpay every month. Guess low and you repay the difference on your return. For a 1099 household with a variable run rate, that estimate needs revisiting more than once a year.
There is also a path most sole proprietors never look at: once you have even one W-2 employee, small group options open up that are unavailable to you as an individual. Whether they price better depends on your ages and your ZIP codes, which is a census question, and we run it either way.
The path
What we do, in order
- Start
Estimate the year
Last year's return, this year's run rate, and an honest view of how variable it is.
- Compare
Test both markets
Marketplace with a subsidy, and small group if there is a W-2 employee, including a spouse on payroll.
- Layer
Add the tax picture
Self-employed health insurance deduction and, if the plan qualifies, HSA contributions.
- Enroll
Pick the window
Open Enrollment, or a qualifying event such as losing other coverage, moving or marriage.
- Quarterly
Recheck the estimate
A five-minute income check each quarter prevents an unpleasant April.
Avoid these
Four mistakes we see every single season
Setting the income estimate once
A strong third quarter can turn a comfortable subsidy into a reconciliation bill. Report the change when you know it, not at tax time.
Buying a health share plan
Sharing ministries are not insurance, carry no guarantee of payment and are not regulated as insurance. We do not place them.
Ignoring disability
There is no sick leave in self-employment. Income protection usually matters more here than any supplemental product.
Forgetting the spouse's offer
If a spouse has an affordable employer offer, it can affect whether the household may use Marketplace subsidies.
Before you decide
Self-employed questions we hear most
If your question is not here, call the desk. Nobody will put you on a list for asking.
Use a realistic mid-case, not your best month annualised. Then update the Marketplace application whenever the picture changes materially. Adjusting forward is far less painful than reconciling backwards.
It can open small group options, but it has payroll tax and administrative consequences. Talk to your accountant first, then bring us the census so you can compare real numbers.
Only with an HSA-qualified high-deductible plan, and only if you can actually fund it. When both are true, it is one of the better tax positions available to a self-employed household.
That is a qualifying event. You can drop the Marketplace plan and take the employer offer, and you should update the Marketplace application immediately so the advance credit stops.
Bring us the file. We will bring the market.
Send a census or ask one question. Either way it costs you nothing and nobody will chase you.
Independent and multi-carrier. $0 cost to work with us. No pressure scripts.