self-employed Health insurance

When you're a one-man show in the business world, finding quality yet affordable health insurance can be a real challenge.

Roycroft master artisan Thomas Pafk knows that all too well. For nearly two decades, he has enjoyed an enviable reputation for creating fine furniture. Not nearly as enjoyable, however, is the feeling that he's between a rock and a hard place when it comes to finding and financing a health plan.

"Oh god, it's a nightmare. It's the worst thing," says the owner of Thomas Pafk Design, whose studio/shop is located in East Aurora. "I have had all different types of insurance. I've done it all, and it costs a fortune. They make it so hard for small businesses to get any kind of insurance at all. It's ridiculous."

Affordability is a big issue for self-proprietors, independent contractors and other small-business owners. They find themselves playing a numbers game when it comes to health-care costs, and it's a game that's no fun.

"If you're a one-man band, it costs an arm and a leg," says one local observer.
"It's like buying a Lexus without getting the Lexus," says Tom Kolveck of Buffalo Carpentry, referring to high monthly premiums he has paid in past years.
"It's definitely the biggest expense I have," adds Scott Marfurt, owner of Scott the Painter, a Williamsville-based business.
A big nut
Most people rely on employer-sponsored benefits, but when you're the employer, the burden's on you to figure out a plan for you and your family.

"The cost is real. It's a big nut," says Kolveck, a longtime carpenter/restoration specialist whose family currently receives benefits through his wife's job as a medical professional. "It's an expense, and it's hard to pass that expense on to your customers."

Business owners seek relief wherever they can get it. That means shopping around and sometimes switching plans for a better deal. Some choose to join trade associations or chambers of commerce, which can offer members lower premiums due to group purchasing. Others check out what's available through state-sponsored programs such as Healthy NY, described on the Web as a safety net for the working uninsured, sole proprietors and businesses with 50 employees or less.

Some small-business owners, however, see health insurance as so cost-prohibitive that they find themselves going for stretches of time without coverage. Indeed, industry studies show a growing number of uninsured workers in the small-business community.

One local building contractor relates the story of a friend who, lacking insurance, eventually had to take out a bank loan to pay off hospital bills after the birth of his first child. The contractor himself paid pricey premiums out-of-pocket for more than a year after his employer folded and he decided to form his own company.

"I know several sole proprietors who just don't have health insurance. There were even times when I went without it for a year or two. (But) you have to have it," says Pafk, who's now married and has a child. "Many self-employed people have a spouse who works and gets health insurance, but there are others out there who just don't have it. They don't know where to turn."