When you are self employed, you don't exactly have benefits like someone with another type of job has.
You have to provide your own benefits by purchasing them.
At times as an individual trying to cover yourself or your family, you will notice that this is very expensive.
There are a few things that you can do that will help you make your health insurance a bit cheaper when working for yourself.
First of all, give up the habit of smoking.
This alone raises your rates much more than any other factor.
You could do everything else to cut costs but still pay more than a non-smoker ever will for insurance coverage.
This is a habit that will cost you thousands a year in higher health insurance costs.
Losing weight can help.
Not all plans are based on weight but some can be based on your physical health.
If you are overweight or obese, your coverage might be quite a bit more.
Losing weight also helps you avoid certain problems to save on medical bills as well.
Some people will join a self employed group to try to get a group rate for insurance.
This can be much cheaper especially if you have been prone to being sick or are much older than most others in the group.
Look for something like this in your area.
See if you can be covered by your spouse's insurance.
At times this will take a bit more out of his or her pay check but it will typically be much less than what it will cost you to get a plan on your own.
You might have to go with high deductible insurance.
This will only do you good if you don't see the doctor too much.
Major emergencies are covered but day to day stuff will not be.
These are much cheaper than other plans.
You could also get a plan with limited features.
You might opt to not have a co-pay for example and have a lower rate.