Self-employed husband... I carry the insurance. SAHM thoughts/ideas?

brncntry316

My husband owns his own construction business so I carry the insurance through my work.  I just went back to work full time last week and my son just turned 3 months.  My husband would love for me to be a SAHM, but it's INSANELY expensive to pay for an insurance plan out of pocket especially if I wouldn't be working.  I already asked my boss if I could cut back my hours or work at home and these were not options per the company.  My coworkers and boss are super great and I do have flexibility with my schedule so if I need to leave early or work at home on occasion I can, just not a regular thing.  Any suggestions for how I can cut back and still have benefits?  Anyone else experience or gone through this?  HELP!!  Thank you!

blairdavis99

Where do you live? In the US, the federal and state health care exchanges created by health care reform actually offer semi-affordable options. My family of 5 pays just over $800/mo for silver-level plans.

HollyHK84

Same here. My husband doesn't want me working anyone but I carry our insurance through the hospital (I'm a nurse) and it's amazing and cheap. But, I have decided my kids are more important so I am switching to working on an as needed basis. I contacted a local company and its going to be about $760 a month for us, my 3 year old and newborn.

brncntry316

I live in Pennsylvania but I work in Delaware. The "affordable" care act exchanges are not affordable for the type of plan we need and we can actually get kicked off the plan if my husband makes too much money on a job. So I guess it's a question of how much extra are we willing to throw into insurance if I'm not working....

blairdavis99

Our affordable care act plans are not tied to income at all. You can get subsidies and tax breaks if you qualify but even if you don't, they aren't allowed to jack up the cost of the plan. The price I quoted was without any breaks because I make too much. I believe the only factors they are allowed to base your rate on are age, sex, zip code & whether you are a smoker. But regardless, if they aren't affordable to your family, then that doesn't really help. Best of luck to you in this difficult decision!

foresk

Same story here. I decided to stay with the baby for a few months so our family lost health insurance which my employer provided. We live in NY so we bought state sponsored insurance for the baby. The agent told me it is Obamacare through Fidelis. The coverage for our daughter costs $172 per month. As for the affordable healthcare for us, we do not have extra $700/month, which is the minimum price that we would have to pay for my husband and myself for the silver plan. So we are left without health insurance. I do not know how we can call this the affordable healthcare when it is not affordable at all.