With the new healthcare law, passed in the US in 2010, there came a number of new options for individuals who would want to get individual health insurance plans on their own, in particular health insurance for self employed.

Especially during the time of transition between 2010 and 2014, self employed can take advantage of the system in transition. Which means that, some of the best qualities of both worlds - the abundant selection of doctors and medical procedures and devices, thanks to the free-enterprise healthcare market place, and lower insurance costs of some special personal health insurance plans that are available from the government.

While the new features of the healthcare law of 2010 will affect anyone, they especially apply to the entrepreneurs and self employed. For instance, I know of a would-be self employed couple who chose to stay in the jobs they didn't like because the jobs came with health insurance for their child with a pre-existing condition. They postponed getting their business started because they couldn't get independent health insurance on individual market. When expensive healh care is preventing creation of businesses, that can significantly slow down the country's economy indeed.

We will cover two ways this family, and in fact any entrepreneur, or would-be self employed American can benefit from the new services and the new health care law of 2010. The first way is for young entrepreneurs with pre-existing conditions, to get health insurance from their parents, even up to as late as age 26. The second way is for entrepreneurs or their children who can, even with pre-existing conditions, apply for and receive the new government-sponsored individual health plans.

Young entrepreneurs using their parents health plans until the age of 26

If a pre-existing condition has prevented you from getting health insurance and starting you out as a young entrepreneur, then the new healthcare law of 2010 is giving you a possibility to sign up with your parents plan at their place of work. Group plans that companies have can not prevent anyone with a pre-existing condition from getting on a company plan. Since 2010, any child of an employee below the age of 26 is considered "dependent" and can therefore sign up for any of the plans offered on the group plan.

Entrepreneurs with pre-existing conditions can get affordable health insurance through the government

After 2014 the health insurance companies are required to offer health insurance plans to anyone, with or without the pre-existing condition. But in the meantime, 2010-2014, the government has instituted the PCIP plans, the pre-existing condition insurance plans. These are the plans that will be perfectly suited for the couple mentioned in the introduction as their child can now receive governmentally sponsored plan at a reasonable cost, even though the child has a pre-existing condition, and requires expensive medications. The parents will be able to put the child on the PCIP plan, insure themselves privately, and the only reason that was stopping them from leaving their jobs and starting a business, will soon be gone.