Health Insurance for Contractors and Trades in Florida

Insurance for everything except you

Contractors buy liability coverage, vehicle coverage and cover for tools and equipment, because losing any of them stops the work. A health plan is the one policy that protects the person doing the job. For electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers, landscapers, framers and general contractors, a plan of your own is often the missing piece, since a subcontractor paid on a 1099 gets no employer plan.

Health insurance is not workers' compensation

These are two different things. Workers' compensation is the system meant for injuries on the job, and it is handled separately from a health plan. A health plan may not pay for an injury that workers' compensation should cover, so check the plan's exclusions.

If you work for yourself or have a workers' compensation exemption, you may have no workers' comp for your own injuries. Ask whether a health plan excludes work-related injuries. A health plan is for the rest: the illness, the checkup, the injury off the clock and the hospital stay no one planned. Ask your advisor what a plan covers and what it excludes.

Busy seasons, slow seasons and storms

Trade work comes in waves. Summer rain can slow outdoor work. After a hurricane, the phone does not stop. A lull between big jobs can leave a crew idle. A health plan bills every month through all of it.

That is why the plan's design matters. Look at the deductible (what you pay before the plan starts sharing costs), the out-of-pocket maximum (the most you could pay for covered care in a plan year) and the copays (flat amounts for visits and prescriptions). If you are hard on your body, you may use care more often than most. Compare them side by side, and not only the monthly payment. You can apply any time of year, so a slow month is a fine time to look.

If you have a crew

Your own plan and a plan for your employees are two different projects. If you have people on payroll and want to look at coverage for them, ask us about employer-sponsored plans for your business. We can talk about your own plan in the same call.

How a private PPO plan works, and where it may not fit

PPO stands for preferred provider organization. The plan has a network of doctors and hospitals it prefers you use, such as an orthopedic specialist or a physical therapist. Care inside the network usually costs less, and whether the plan pays anything outside it depends on the plan. Our plans are private and medically underwritten, not ACA Marketplace plans.

Medically underwritten means the carrier asks about your health history. For physical work, that can include old injuries, such as a back or a knee. The carrier may decline an application or exclude a condition, and plans have exclusions and limitations. Plans may not cover every benefit. Answer every question truthfully, because leaving something out can cause trouble with a claim later. A private plan tends to fit tradespeople under 65 who are in reasonably good health. If it is not a fit, we will say so.

Taxes: a general note

Tradespeople who run their own business often have two tax questions. Tools, trucks and materials are business costs with their own rules. Health insurance premiums are a separate question: the IRS has a self-employed health insurance deduction, figured on Form 7206 and reported on Schedule 1 of Form 1040. This is general information, not tax advice, so talk with a tax professional about your situation.