Today registration opens around the country for the new Affordable Healthcare Plans (a.k.a. Obamacare) which will take effect on January 1, 2014. People on both sides of the fence are fired up and expressing their support or disgust for the plans. It got me thinking though: What does this mean for self-employed photographers?
I voted for Romney in the last election. I have not been the biggest supporter of Obama and the choices he has made so far. However I have got to say I am quite interested in what the new health insurance plan means for our industry. Let me explain.
Self-employed photographers finally have a way of purchasing a reasonable health insurance plan.
I have been working for myself for the last 3 years. I have 5 kids under the age of 12. My wife works for herself as well. We have managed to get by over the last year without any health insurance at all. Fortunately for us, our family has been healthy. I hate to admit this openly. But if one of us were to need health care, we don't have a plan. I think about this often. One broken bone, one sick child, one surgery, one hospital visit, any of these things could end up costing us a fortune. According to a recent study medical bills are the biggest cause of bankruptcies. Being uninsured is not the way to live as it causes a lot stress, praying everyone in the family stays healthy. (I hope my mother doesn't read this as she always asks about whether or not we have health insurance and I have just fibbed telling her we did as to not stress her out as well.)
Every couple of weeks I wonder if it would be better for me to have a full-time job with health benefits rather than work as a wedding photographer. But I just can't do it. I feel like it is my calling to photograph weddings and create photos that couples can cherish throughout their life. So while I have yearned for some kind of health insurance protection, my wife and I have just continued rolling the dice hoping we all stay healthy as a family.
Even with pre-existing conditions you still qualify for health insurance.
I didn't think much about this before. After all, my wife, kids and I have been healthy. But in one discussion inside a Facebook group of photographers one person spoke up. She explained that in her early 20's she was diagnosed with cancer. She fought the battle and won but as a result she has found it extremely difficult to find any insurer that will cover her. With the new Obamacare she can finally get the health insurance she desires and not have to worry about being disqualified because of her past condition. I was truly excited for her. It opened my eyes that there are a lot of people out there in her same shoes. These people are now going to be able to get the prescription medications and doctor checkups they need without having to pay out of pocket to cover all the costs.
More people will be able to follow their dream to become a photographer.
One of the biggest hurdles for people interested in becoming photographers is that as much as they would love to do it they just couldn't see how it was possible. Insurance was too expensive. Their child had a pre-existing condition. It was a risky choice for them to make and so more often than not they just stayed in their 9 to 5 job and did a little photography on the weekend. I have a feeling in 2014 we are now going to start seeing many of these people leave their "9 to 5" and find a more fulfilling life as they actually are able to do something they love.
Is Obamacare perfect? Absolutely not. Am I looking forward to paying an estimated $7,000 a year for my family to get the insurance or be penalized? Nope, not at all. In fact, when my wife and I first talked it over about a month ago we were fired up. We were angry that we were being forced into something we didn't want. But as we educated ourselves more and more about what this meant to us as a family we started realizing this was not such a bad thing after all for us. I have a feeling that on January 1, 2014 a lot of stress of worrying about my family needing health care will finally be lifted from my shoulders. Will we need to use it? I hope not. But it is there to assist us in case of an emergency.
You hear about outrageous hospital bills all the time. In fact, I bet if you asked around you probably have a friend that has received one for $50,000+ and hopefully they had insurance to cover it. My feeling is that as a family we might go years and stay healthy never needing a doctor visit. But when that one time happens. When one of us gets sick, cancer, Parkinsons, heart disease, I am grateful to know that we will be able to get the help we need without having to worry about breaking the bank or reaching our hands out desperately to family members to help.
When we buy a new car, before we drive the car off the lot we have to show them proof of insurance. Same thing goes when we get pulled over by a cop. It is required by law to have it. When we buy a house they often bill the cost of insurance right into our mortgage because the lenders want to make sure we are insured. Insurance is all of us pitching in a little bit today so that the person who needs the help tomorrow can find it.
I realize that Obamacare is not perfect. In fact far from perfect. But I do believe that for us self-employed photographers it does give us certain benefits that were once not available. I thought that was definitely worth mentioning. If you would like to find out more information about it you can visit this link, Healthcare.gov. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Please keep it civil and keep party lines out of it. While the new Affordable Health Care plan is not perfect, it is here, it is happening. What are some of the additional benefits we can get out of it as self-employed photographers? What are some of the disadvantageous? Chime in below.
If you spent half the time working on photography as you do trolling the comments here....man...
Is someone deleting one person's comments? Or are these all from different people?
Are people just getting angry because a few Fstoppers are disagreeing with the writers that be?
Edit: I just noticed it shows a name.
It's one thing to disagree with someone, but squelching their (somewhat free) speech because you don't like it..
I don't like the path Fstoppers is going these days...
Jan sadly quite a few sites are disabling comments altogether on articles because of trolls. Popular Science is one large blog that just followed that route. It's okay to have a civil conversation. But if your comments are full of hate and have no value at all, they don't belong here. Such was the case with the comments that were deleted.
That isn't very consolatory, Trevor, there's always a "good reason" when other people's speech is supressed.
Until all the 'good reasons' are revealed to be magnanimous proxies for peoples' own prejudice.
No one will ever care, becauseoppressors will always malign dissidentts as enemys of whatever ideal they hold dear. That is, no one cares, until it starts happening to them.
I hope we don't go down that slope, just because a few people on Fstoppers can be offensive :P.
After all, if you're offended by one person's comments- (who's lightly trolling, at BEST) what does that say about us as adults here?
I mean, we ARE all grown ups here, right?
You might enjoy reading this article on Popular Science. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-09/why-were-shutting-our-comm...
Thank you, that's a good read and I'm only 1/3 of the way down...
sad times. I kinda like the idea of how things used to be before the internet, information wasn't as easy to get, but neither was stupidity.
This is one of the best articles I've read in a long time. Thanks you for writing your own analysis of the Affordable Care Act and for sharing the Popular Science article.
I had a reply to this and it didn't show up...I may have made a mistake.
Anyway... there's no real way to be sure what age we are, Jan. lol you're talking to the internet!
Too tired to retype everything I said so let's hope it's just in moderation until it's posted. Odd if it were..
Miguel Antonio was trolling. He was being deliberately inflammatory over the last few days in many comment sections. He had nothing to add except old fashioned name calling and provocation for no reason. You missed some good ones. One of the other comment sections ended up being completely disabled because of him (well he played a part in it). Unfortunately, I may have been partially to blame as well because I was feeding him.
It's hard not to put idiots in their place, even I know the world is so full of them there is NO hope of remedying it, but still try sometimes.
I've been attempting to stop lately though, less stressful if I ignore the airheads, lol. I've had to gradually exit a few forums and facebook groups because of it...
Yeah, the problem is, I have been sick with a stomach bug for about a week, sleeping irregular hours, and not feeling like doing much actual work. So, I have been spending too much time in comment sections.
that sucks, feel better. I lost about 10lbs from stomach flu, worst sickness I've ever had.. I don't even want to describe it, lol.
am i the only one concerned that this guy has 5 kids who don't go for yearly check ups because they have no insurance...
We are concerned right there along with you.
Indeed. Maybe having less kids would have been an idea.
We are blessed to have the ones we have. Wouldn't change that for anything.
"Blessed" ?
You do know how babies are made right ?
You have sex without contraception and a baby comes out. It's an act of biology not a "blessing".
I personally believe that the world is over populated and 2 should be enough. Or less if money is an issue which it seems to be here. If I couldn't afford healthcare for my children - I wouldn't have any/not have more.
Yes sir, I think we figured out how kids are made. Saying we are blessed is not me saying that these kids floated down from heaven on the backs of angels. It is me pointing out that we love our kids and feel grateful that they are part of our lives. We wouldn't change a thing.
For some people it is not about having money to afford health insurance. It is that because of a pre existing condition, which can be practically anything, the private insurance companies deem them uninsurable. If they accept a job for a company offering health insurance its no big deal, but no dollar could even buy health insurance if they wanted to run a business on their own.
Wow! For BC health care we're paying "Effective January 1, 2013, monthly rates are $66.50 for one person, $120.50 for a family of two and $133.00 for a family of three or more." But that doesn't cover prescriptions or ambulance rides. It does cover doctor visits and surgeries though. I couldn't imagine having to worry about hurting myself and then not being able to pay to get fixed up
Okay, I'm Canadian. I'm comfortable middle-class. We have health care that is fantastic. Sure we pay more taxes, but I am not paying huge insurance premiums. I am not being told I can't have medical coverage because I have a medical problem, or charged extra because of it. We are all treated fairly. No favouritism because I have money. No rejection because I don't. My taxes sure, are higher, but not exorbitant. I probably save money in the total package of benefits, over giving the money to insurance companies and its share holders money.
Our economy is doing just fine. Our health plan has been around for over 50 years. Most Canadians very strongly support Medicare. American friends of mine that have moved to Canada think it is wonderful.
Repeating, in the long run, I think I am financially ahead with our Medical system, plus, I have excellent medical service.
You forgot to mention the current wait times in hospitals and ER rooms.
FACT: 1HR 30MIN to 2HR 45MIN.
FACT: If you don't have health insurance you can't afford to go to emergency to wait. Now that is a lot longer. ALSO It is always done with triage, so if you are desperate you get help faster.
A bit of new info. as of just now.
My daughter has a business on a main street. Her staff witnessed a stabbing today. Her Husband is an emergency Dr. (this is how I know.) The victim would have been registered before he even got to the hospital. So the message is, if it is severe, you are right in. If you have a cold, you are going to wait.
Canada FTW!
Wait a tiny bit and get care... or get no help?
Which to choose... its so hard to decide.
/sarcasm
The current wait time for ER in the USA is same crap if not more. I was just there, I took my little one in. And we waited FOREVER, so don't be fooled Patryk. Other countries have better medical systems than the US. Why? it's debatable, but certainly this is a big step into something better.
I lived in Toronto for two years, and it was less expensive for me to get care there than in Houston, and I got it faster and more efficiently.
Also, my Canadian friend, you don't pay more in taxes for health care than Americans do. We, in fact, pay more taxes for health care than you, and we pay for insurance on top of that. So, you're actually WAY better off. The YouTube video speaks to this point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSjGouBmo0M
In 4 years plus, no one has come up with an alternative, not even the staunchest political opponents. That must say something.
There has been an alternative offered by the House… HR 2300.
Have you even looked at HR 2300? It contains NOTHING. Plus, they couldn't even pass their own bill amongst themselves.
Obviously you definition of "NOTHING" differs from mine.
Okay, I'm Canadian. I'm comfortable middle-class. We have health care that is fantastic. Sure we pay more taxes, but I am not paying huge insurance premiums. I am not being told I can't have medical coverage because I have a medical problem, or charged extra because of it. We are all treated fairly. No favouritism because I have money. No rejection because I don't. My taxes sure, are higher, but not exorbitant. I probably save money in the total package of benefits, over giving the money to insurance companies and its share holders money.
Our economy is doing just fine. Our health plan has been around for over 50 years. Most Canadians very strongly support Medicare. American friends of mine that have moved to Canada think it is wonderful.
Repeating, in the long run, I think I am financially ahead with our Medical system, plus, I have excellent medical service.
...But your Canadian friends aren't republicans ;).
But the US economy is not healthy even without Obamacare. Won't Obamacare just be another strain on the system?
I certainly do not know the ins-and-outs of how the economy works. (i'm not certain the experts really know) However it has to help if fewer people are going bankrupt, losing their homes etc.
Also, if you have a health insurance plan now, much of that money is going into shareholders, investors pockets. If they have money to invest, they already have a cash flow. How does that help the economy? How is the money that goes into their pockets helping your personal health plan?
I'm a freelance videographer/editor and I've been buying my own healthcare, while my wife who works for the schoolboard gets hers through her work. Since I'm young and healthy I was only paying about $105, today I received notice that my premiums would go up to $285 to stay on a comparable plan. The reason was the new regulations because of the Obamacare Affordable Care Act. Explain how that helps me as a freelancer.
Are the plans exactly the same? I
Yeah, my dad had the same thing happen to him. The thing is, they did it last year, long before the law even kicked in. I couldn't say for certain that their math doesn't add up, but private companies can charge you what they like and justify it whatever way they wish.
Pick a different plan.
Saying something is unconstitutional does not make it so. There is a test to see if it constitutional or not. That highest test is litigation in the Supreme Court. You may not like it but that is the definition of the word you are using. If another court overturns the judgement then you can say it is unconstitutional. Until then that word does not apply.
Also government mandates purchases all the time. If you have a car in most states you must have car insurance (If you baby in the car you must have a car seat). If you have a restaurant you must have the required sanitary and food storage equipment. If you want to walk the streets you must have clothing.
Finally people actually read the constitution
Section 8 Says
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.
By any stretch Heath Care is in the general welfare. And so says the Supreme Court.
I Yield the floor
Another Excellent Point!
Read the bill. The word "tax" appears nowhere in the bill/law. It was magically converted from a "penalty" to a "tax" during Supreme Court arguments. While we are reading the constitution, read Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 about apportions from the Treasury originating in the Congress and not the Senate. Then look up the history of HR 3950, it was written in Congress as a mortgage assistance bill and the Senate amended it and sent it back.
You don't have to have insurance to own a car and that has nothing to do with the constitution anyway, that's a State law.
Why are so many people getting so worked up about getting health insurance of all things? For goodness sakes you have insurance on your house, car, and even your cell phone. How big of a deal is it to make sure your own body is taken care of. Having health care benefits is one of the biggest make or break decisions for many people looking for work, so to be able to have that assurance without being forced to work a job just because of health care is great. Don't get so caught up in the Constitution and your "rights" that you overlook the good in things.
But you also shouldn't get so caught up in the things that are good for you, as an individual, that you disregard the negatives that come along with it.
True...I'm just saying out of all the things people spend money on you would think health insurance wouldn't be something to complain about. There will never be an all in one solution to this but at least steps are being taken so people have a fighting chance.
In Australia there's no such this as "medical bankruptcy". I find it amusing in the US that people are objecting to it being eliminated....each to their own.
No such thing as "medical bankruptcy" here in Australia...we have a govt run health care system which costs me about $1300 per annum. I can join a private health care provider if I want extras such as choosing my own doctor, a private room in a private hospital etc...
I highly suggest reading FactCheck.Org's many articles on ObamaCare in order to weed through the fearmongering that has been used against it. I for one, as an self-employed photographer without insurance currently, support it!
Here's a good place to start reading:
http://www.factcheck.org/2013/09/obamacare-myths/
And I'm not saying that all that President Obama has been entirely truthful, either. There have been a good deal of stretching of the truth on both side of the aisle. But regardless, the plan is here and it's needed. Let's just hope they will continue to improve it on both the cost that we pay AND the cost that healthcare providers/insurance companies can charge. It really is insane how much various medical bills can cost