Laura discusses affordable health plans and benefits for freelancers and solo business owners. Joined by Tom Morrissey from Healthy Business Group and Rafael Espinal from the Freelancers Union, they cover tips for accessing support and choosing the right coverage as an independent worker.
Laura discusses affordable health plans and benefits for freelancers and solo business owners. Joined by Tom Morrissey from Healthy Business Group and Rafael Espinal from the Freelancers Union, they cover tips for accessing support and choosing the right coverage as an independent worker.
Money Girl is hosted by Laura Adams. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
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Welcome back! I really appreciate you joining me for Money Girl episode 876! I'm Laura Adams, an award-winning author, female finance spokesperson, money speaker, founder of The Money Stack, a Substack newsletter, and host of Money Girl with over 43 million downloads.
Today, I'm excited to be joined by two special guests to discuss how to get top-notch education, support, health insurance, and other benefits when you work for yourself. Whether you or a loved one earn part-time income from a side-hustle or are a full-time founder or freelancer, don’t miss this episode! You’ll get valuable tips and resources for cutting costs and upleveling your self-employed benefits.
You’ll hear my conversation with Tom Morrissey, Founder and CEO of Healthy Business Group (HBG), the company behind Solo Health Collective, an innovative health plan designed for solo business owners. With over 35 years of experience in the health insurance industry, Tom’s passion is giving solopreneurs and small business owners more control over their health plans and expenses.
I’m also thrilled to speak with Rafael Espinal, Executive Director of the Freelancers Union, a non-profit organization that supports independent workers through advocacy, education, and services. Rafael has an impressive background and was New York’s youngest elected official when he joined the State Assembly at age 26. He’s a former New York City Councilmember and has been a steadfast advocate for freelancer rights throughout his career.
As you'll hear in today's interview, Tom and Rafael have partnered to help freelancers establish a health plan and take control of their healthcare spending. Both are very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about making benefits more accessible and affordable for businesses of one.
In my interview with Tom and Rafael, we talk about:
I hope you enjoy our conversation!
Laura Adams
Tom and Rafael, thank you so much for joining me on the Money Girl podcast! I am super excited to talk to you guys today about self-employment, health insurance, benefits, all kinds of good stuff.
Tom Morrissey
Great, thanks.
Rafael Espinal
Thanks for having us, Laura.
Laura Adams
Rafael, I'd love to know a little bit about you. What's the origin story of the Freelancers Union?
Rafael Espinal
Yeah, well, my story is a little different from the Union. I actually am the third executive director of the organization. And it was founded back in 1995 by this woman named Sarah Horowitz, who at the time foresaw the seismic shift in our economy.
You know, she noticed that the traditional workforce was transforming, and more Americans were returning to independent work to make a living. And with that change on the horizon, she envisioned an organization that would support the unique needs of freelancers, kind of like a traditional labor union, right?
So, it was a community that could provide not just resources, but also a collective voice for independent workers. Her goal was to ensure that independent workers had access to a broader social safety net to protect them from issues like exploitation, and provide them with the essential benefits they needed, like truly affordable healthcare, hence our partnership with Solo.
And today we've grown to about 500,000 members nationwide, and we advocate for the needs of 60 million Americans engaged in some form of independent work. And for us, a freelancer is the entrepreneur-minded individual, it's the founder, the creative worker that is using their skills to build a roster of clients, or the person picking up extra work on nights and weekends to support their income.
So, essentially, it's anyone who takes control of how they're earning a living. So as a nonprofit organization, we provide a comprehensive suite of services and resources. This includes access to affordable health insurance plans, retirement options, and educational materials designed to help navigate the complexities of being a self-employed person. We also cultivate community through meetup groups where freelancers can connect and collaborate.
And on the advocacy front, where my history is from, I am a former New York State and New York City legislator. Our work aligns with, again, my history and we push for policy changes like the Freelancers and Free Act, which was the first of its kind legislation that provides non-payment protections for freelance workers. So, to sum that all up, I would say our mission is very simple, but it's also incredibly powerful. It's to ensure that being independent doesn't mean being alone or having to work alone.
Laura Adams
Wow, I love that. There are so many people that need the services that you're offering. And I love the fact that more and more people are getting into self-employment, whether it's part-time or full-time. It really is becoming a source of security for a lot of Americans. So that's terrific.
So, Tom, you're on the insurance side of this. And so I'm so excited to talk to you guys together because you're kind of one piece of what the Freelancers Union is offering, a really, really important piece in my opinion, because I do think that a big challenge when folks get into self-employment and maybe they want to leave a day job, it's, my gosh, how am I going to insure myself and my family?
And I think a lot of people don't realize that they have a lot more options than they may think. So, from your perspective, how did HBG Solo begin? I'd love to know your origin story and how the Solo part of this came into being.
Tom Morrissey
Sure, Laura, and thanks again for having us. This is my second time with you--we were here last year at this time introducing Solo, which was brand new at the time. So, we're a year in, we've learned a lot along the way and we're really excited to be part of the Freelancers Union offering.
And as you said, there are many different options with the Freelancers Union. The freelancers for a long time have been, I think the ones that have gotten the short end of the stick, if you will, with respect to benefit offerings, you know, up until recently, really, it's really just been the ACA, the marketplace exchange plans that have been competitive. Now they're, they're even more competitive for at least the time being for 25 with the advanced subsidies that are being offered. But yes, Solo is one of a few options.
I'd like to talk a little bit about that, but a little bit about me. I'm a 25-year veteran of the large employer platform for health insurance. I worked for Cigna for most of my career, 25 years. And then I started a company 12 years ago, Healthy Business Group, which is the owner and operator of Solo. So, we saw a couple of years back, about 20 to 24 months ago, we really saw an opportunity where we started to recognize what was being put in front of us on the news and just all over the web and social media was the growth in the independent worker variety, if you will.
A lot of people were leaving their jobs during COVID. Raphael, at the top of the call, or at top of the recording, said roughly 60 million freelancers out there. So, we just saw this as an opportunity to create a program that would be very different from what everyone else is offering and make it compelling. And that's what we've done with Solo Health Collective.
Laura Adams
I love that. Yeah, as you mentioned, there's so many more self-employed people. The stat I have is that in 2020, there was a 25 % year over year increase in new businesses. And then in 2021, we saw another uptick. We saw a little bit of a slowdown in 2022, but now we have another increase in 2023. I mean, we have a record breaking 5.5 million folks that have started new businesses. So, this explosion really has I think highlighted the need for good benefits for people. It’s such an area of need. So, I'm super excited to dig into it.
Raphael, I know you guys did a study at the Freelancers Union--this is like 35 % of the workforce, if my math is right. Tell me a little bit about, know, why you think this economy has grown so much? What you know, what is at the heart of this big surge in freelance work?
Rafael Espinal
Yeah, well, you know, just to call back the study you mentioned, you know, when we ran that study, you know, it did reveal some unsurprising but impressive insights, right? That the freelance world continues to grow. As you mentioned, over 60 million Americans, 35 % of the US workforce, are engaged in freelance work. What we found even more striking is the financial impact that freelancers have on the country's overall economy. They're contributing over $1 trillion to our country.
You know, the numbers show a significant shift, and it shows a significant shift in how work is being redefined, right? Freelancers are no longer just a side-hustler or the gig workers, right? They’re filling the gaps in services. You know, they've become a substantial and integral part of our economy. And the study also highlighted that more people are turning to freelancing, you know, by choice, right? And because of the flexibility, the autonomy and the opportunities it provides, for example, women, we found, have reported being able to climb the economic ladder at a much rapid pace because when you're working for yourself, issues like childcare become less burdensome, right? On your ability to climb the economic ladder. They also deal with less office politics, like not getting paid what they're worth or having to compete in a male-dominated environment, you know, which again, we credit freelancing to being able to close the wage gap, the gender wage gap as well.
So, you know, and that explosion you mentioned that happened since 2020, you know, it really all started because of the COVID-19 pandemic, or I should say the COVID-19 pandemic lended to that explosion, right? You know, we had traditional workers who got a taste of what it's like to be a freelancer, right? They got a taste of the benefits of being able to work from home, being able to, you know, create time in their day to spend time with their family or deal with other issues that they're encountering. And they've taken a leap of faith since that time on themselves. And that's what's further driving that trend. And we've seen this before, right? It's not new, it's new in how rapidly it's happening now. But even back in 2008, during the Great Recession, there was also a huge uptick around that time. Times of economic downturns create opportunities for people to really rethink how they want to create a livelihood for themselves.
Laura Adams
You mentioned a lot of great benefits of being self-employed. What are the downsides? What are the challenges that you're seeing from the freelancers in your union, your members? What kind of services are you helping them overcome most commonly?
Rafael Espinal
Yeah, I mean, we know, of course, with all the positives that come with being a freelancer there, you can argue that just as many negatives, it's not all roses. I can't stress enough that in 2024, it's still very difficult to be an independent worker in our country. No income instability is a big factor, especially if you encounter non-paying clients, right? Which over 70% of freelancers reported that they do. There's an obvious lack of access to affordable health care.
And then there's the absence of traditional work benefits like unemployment insurance when you're out of work or pay leave if you take time off to care for a loved one, which is where our religion comes in, which is where the freelancer's union tries to fill that gap. And the private partnerships we build with companies like Solo Health, we work together to ensure that we're building those resources so that those negatives don't hurt as much or that we are able to fill the gap that those negatives are creating.
So, we also run a free co-working space thanks to a partnership we have with the city of New York where you're able to leave your home and book a free desk in a professional work environment for free. We also launched a free legal clinic this year where you're able to get free consultation with an attorney because we know attorney consultations can be very expensive, especially if you're just starting out as an independent worker.
And we host monthly meetups where independent workers are able to come together, build community and network so they can help grow their own businesses. So, we're doing a lot of that work to ensure that those negatives do not become a hindrance in your ability to grow as an independent worker and for you to succeed in our country working for yourself. So, we take this work very seriously.
Laura Adams
Yeah, those are some amazing resources! So, Tom, getting back to the health piece of it, what would you say are the most popular choices that solo business owners have when they're looking to get insurance? Let's say they've left a day job and they're no longer eligible for a group health plan. Now they're on their own. What are some of the things they need to think about? What should they be comparing in terms of their best, most affordable healthcare options?
Tom Morrissey
Well, like I said at the top, there are numerous options and obviously since we've got Rafael on the phone with us or on the podcast with us, let's talk about the Freelancers Union offering. You know, second to none for independent workers. We are extremely pleased to be part of it. I can tell you that Rafael and his team kicked the tires pretty hard on Solo. We are relatively new, as I mentioned. So, the trust factor needed to be there.
And after a number of different meetings and phone calls, establishing our program within their framework happened and we're again very pleased to be partners. Now, there are many options. If you're not a member of Freelancers Union, you're welcome to get on the Freelancersunion.org website to check out what's available. The first thing you'll see on that homepage, Freelancersunion.org, is at the top of the page top banner click on it. It's the newly released freelancer's guide to health insurance. I would just tell you to start there at Healthy Business Group again, the operator of Solo, is my company. I want to give a quick shout out to my team. They've done extraordinary work in getting us prepared. We are all about helping freelancers whether you're a member of the union or not.
You can become a member very easily and just go through the guide. The guide will start with showing what the options are. The key options are ACA, the exchange plans, the state or federal exchange plans. The Freelancers Union has partnered with what I think is a really cool company, relatively new as well, called Catch.co. They're really an engine to allow Freelancer Union members to jump on catch.co and explore what's available to them as far as what the ACA or Obamacare plans in their state are doing. It's really easy to use. It very intelligently tells you what you might be eligible for as a subsidy once you put in your expected income. So a great place to start as a benchmark to find out what's available, how much that's going to cost, and what your subsidy may or may not be.
There are other options at the Freelancers Union. There's a program called Opolis, which is really a cooperative program you've got available with six different plans from two different carriers, good plans, unique offering, just like Solo is unique. I would say Opolis is unique and you should go check that out. And then finally they have Galileo, which is a virtual plan. It's not comprehensive care, but it's for those that aren't prepared yet really to get full-blown health insurance, but need an option to cover some of the services. All of what Galileo does is virtual. I'm a member of Galileo. I love Galileo.
So, you know, we're hoping, and I hope everyone listening to this podcast, whether they're a Freelancers Union member or not, doesn't matter. You need to think about all your options. They're all very separate. They're all distinct.
Solo is not an ACA plan. It's not an individual health insurance plan. It's very different. It is a form of business insurance where what Solo is doing that is highly differentiated in this market is what Solo is doing is taking your business. You're a business of one. You and your family can put themselves on Solo by establishing your own healthcare account through your business. You must have a federal tax ID number and EIN to be able to do this. But what's special about Solo is again, it's a form of business insurance. It's available to you now where on the solo plan, ask for demographic information, age, gender, residential zip code, and then we ask medical questions. And so if you can get through the medical questions with ease you're going to find yourself quoted specifically for your demographic in your health history, a plan from Solo, very simple.
The plan designs are simple. There's only three plan design offerings and they're only differentiated by the deductible on the plan. So, we have three deductible offerings, twenty five hundred dollar deductible, a five thousand dollar deductible plan and a ten thousand dollar deductible plan.
Those are the individual deductibles on those three plans. And if you have a family, whether it's a spouse that is joining you on the plan as a party of two or a multi-member family, the family deductibles are always two times what the individual deductible is. So obviously, the $2,500 deductible is popular with us. The family deductible on that plan would be $5,000.
Further, in keeping it simple, which was the whole idea as we formed Solo, it was to go so low, so low in cost, offering a ton of service and simplified plan design. So, with Solo, those deductibles I mentioned, that is your maximum out of pocket cost. Once you've reached your deductible with Solo, all of the covered expenses on the plan are covered at 100% after your deductible. There is no co-insurance.
Let’s say you're in the Catch.co system and you're looking at what the ACA plans are now, it's important that you know your out of pocket is the same as your deductible. And with Solo, as soon as you hit that, you're at the 100% stage. Further to that is that 100% of preventive care is covered in full at 100% no deductible. We follow the ACA guidelines for that. That's to keep it simple. We're not, this is not an ACA quote unquote, client plan, as I mentioned. But for ease of use and simplicity, we're simply following the preventive care guidelines in the ACA.
What else did I want to say on that? So, as you compare yourself to the ACA plans, it's important that you really learn what your maximum out-of-pocket cost is. I'll give you a real case example, one that we actually wrote yesterday.
A new Solo member, Ali on our team, talked through this with this gentleman. He's a 35-year-old male in New York City, real estate, residential real estate guy who has an EIN. And as I mentioned this, the EIN number, it's very easy for you as a freelancer to get an EIN for your business. It's free. It's on the government website.
There are people and companies out there that charge for this. There’s no need to do that. We can point you in the right direction if you set up a support call with us, but it's very easy to do. And in fact, on the Freelancers Union website, have some, they have a blog out on the importance of a freelancer getting an EIN number to protect his Social Security number, et cetera. But once, once you know your out-of-pocket costs on the state exchange plans, that's going to be your deductible and your out-of-pocket maximum cost should be identified.
This individual was on the $2,500 plan for Solo was, want to say, was at $350 a month maximum cost. That maximum cost includes all the expenses on the plan, your expected claims, the maximum claims. That's the most you will pay. That $350 rate is the most you'll pay. That is compared to a silver plan on the New York State Exchange.
He didn't use Catch.co because they're not available till the 28th with the new rates. But the state, New York state exchange is available. Those rates were in the $800 range. So, this individual was saving $500. He was getting a modest subsidy. The subsidy, I wanted to say he was making about $125,000 a year. That gave him a subsidy of about $10 a month. So, we were saving him more than $500.
But what I want to emphasize that is the rate saving. The plan design savings, the out-of-pocket differential on that plan is $8,000 versus ours was $2,500. So, there's another $5,000 this individual picked up in potential out-of-pocket cost savings for 2025. Now that's not going to happen for everybody. That's why I'm telling your listeners, Laura, that they should look at all of the options. You owe it to yourself to find out what the state's got available to you.
I would warn you that some of those plans are really skinny down HMO networks and they're lock-in networks where Solo is on a PPO platform. We actually use the multiplan PHCS network along with the ability to have our members go to any doctor as long as they're willing to accept the payment schedule from Vault, who's another partner with Solo. So again, very important you know what your out-of-pocket costs are.
The real savings is what is your premium savings? What are your out-of-pocket cost savings on plan design? Those two really need to be summed up. And then a little bit, I may, going long here, I guess, but a little bit, if I may, on subsidies. Subsidies are important. 90% of the people buying marketplace exchange plans on the ACA are getting subsidies. There are big subsidies available.
Anyone 400% of the poverty line or lower is getting a significant subsidy and even people that are above that don't have to pay any more than eight and a half percent of their earned income towards their the Comparable the comparable plan on the ACA is the second least expensive silver plan on the exchanges That is what they base your subsidy on So as I mentioned even the guy that was making a hundred and twenty five thousand a year was getting a small subsidy
Now if that individual that we put on the plan yesterday was making $75,000 the subsidy for him would have been $350 a month not just $10 a month. He's not making that so $75,000 and then going lower if he was only making $40,000 the subsidy is around $600 a month. So that's one thing that is definitely on the ACA that's to the ACA's advantage that they're giving it an advanced premium tax credit, but you do you should be careful with this because while it's an advanced premium tax credit it's no different really than if you're buying a Solo plan because the entire rate or the maximum cost that Solo cost you a month is fully deductible at year end on your taxes. So there the subsidy is an advanced premium tax credit where you're getting the right off anyway. It's just a delayed premium tax credit is how I like to refer to it. So, you've got to really understand what all your options are.
Laura Adams
Yeah. I always say the best defense we have as consumers is shopping, right? Shopping and comparing. And I do think health insurance is a little tricky when we talk about comparing because of all of the factors that you mentioned, Tom. So, you know, you've got folks that can help walk people through this process and maybe help them do a little bit of this comparison if this is new.
But yeah, think getting down to what is that total out of pocket number, you need to spend a little time on that for sure. And yeah, just do the best that you can, making an apples-to-apples comparison. And also talking about the subsidies, you know, I know a lot of people who will underestimate, underreport their income, you know, in order to think, well, I'm going to get this great subsidy. And then, come tax time, they are not realizing that that's going to be trued up with the government based on their actual income. So, you don't want to play games with that, you want to really be as close as you can when estimating your actual income for the year to make sure you don't have any tax surprises when the next tax bill rolls around.
Let's talk about the time to shop, Raphael. You know, I know we're in the open enrollment season right now. It started November 1 for the ACA plans. That runs through January 15, although you do have to get a plan before December 15 if you want the plan to start on January 1. So, we're in this time where folks have a window to shop and compare. What tips can you give people for going through this if maybe they're just starting from scratch or, and also do you recommend people shop each year? Maybe they got a good plan last year, but should they still shop again this year?
Rafael Espinal
Yeah, I mean, it's always a good time to look at what options are out there, especially if it's saving you money. So, I encourage anyone and everyone who is looking to save money, wants to see what the market is offering currently.
To take a look but most specifically take a look at what we're offering at the Freelancer Union website, right? We've done the work for you already. As a nonprofit, our mission is to ensure that we're providing you with the best tools and resources that exist out there to help you succeed, right? So, Tom mentioned earlier he did a great job at outlining our resources especially when it comes to healthcare. We've created the freelancer's health insurance guide which will walk you step by step on how to navigate the marketplace, what the terminology means, and also what plans we're offering.
So, it's always a good time to buy health insurance. As you mentioned, Laura, open enrollment is that time, right? So, you do have from November 1st to January 15th each year. It does vary state by state, right? Because some states do control their marketplaces. For example, in New York and California, you may have till January 30th. And we've seen in previous years where they might even extend that deadline.
But why wait? And depending on when you buy your insurance, whether it be in December, as you mentioned, it does start, or in January, it does start usually the first day of the following month. So go out there, do the homework. But again, on our website, they are, I think, offering the best options and the best tools available out there.
We do have Catch, which simplifies the marketplace for you, right? So if you're looking for that traditional health plan and are wondering what sort of subsidies exist for you there, you can just easily go on our website, freelancersunion.org slash health, and you can type in your zip code with your demographic information, and it'll break down the marketplace within your state, while also aligning the cost savings.
But then of course, if you're looking for something new, something that is going to save you an extremely large amount of money, right? If you don't qualify for those top subsidies, you know, we do encourage you to look at Solo, right? They are pushing the boundaries. I must, you know, I have to add, this is the first time, right, in my time in the organization, or I think as an organization as a whole, historically, where we've partnered with a national carrier like Solo to provide a plan to freelancers across all 50 states.
So, we're really excited about this partnership because we know that at the end of the day, it's going to set you up to succeed financially, but also ensure you have the coverage you need to care for yourself and your loved ones.
Laura Adams
Tom, I want to go back to the plans that you offer. Are any of them HSA qualified? I know a lot of people love their HSA.
Tom Morrissey
Sure. I'm glad you brought it up. Thank you. Yes, I should have mentioned that, but the $2,500 version and the $5,000 version of our plans are both HSA compatible. The only reason $10,000, it’s a government regulation, that deductible is too high or the out of pocket is too high. Those two plans do and another plug for the Freelancers Union—they partner with Lively, which is a great bank for HSA coverage. You can easily buy Solo then tap into Lively at the Freelancers Union website and you'll have a great setup with a health savings account teamed with your high deductible plan with Solo.
Laura Adams
Let's go back and talk briefly about a self-funded plan. This may be a new terminology for folks that are listening. So, Tom, I would love for you to just explain that and how that compares to a fully insured plan or even a
healthcare sharing plan which may be all terms folks have heard
Tom Morrissey
Right. So again, we're not an ACA plan. It's not a government compliant plan sold on the exchanges. It's also not a sharing plan like a ministry plan that you see you hear a lot on commercials these days Candidly, but if you want my advice, I would tend to stay away from those but you know the more comprehensive plans that are available on the freelancer site is where I would direct you
But yes, Laura hit it on the head, Solo is unique and again, I've said it but I want to say it again not an ACA plan. It's not individual health insurance. This is business insurance. You're a business owner. You're a freelancer You're running your own business--you own a business and you have every right to set up your health care on your business just like an employer just like Google does for their business, they set up a business plan and they have hundreds of thousands of employees on their benefit plan. What we're doing is we're availing freelancer members to set up their business using their EIN on its own, establishing its own plan.
You use the word self-insured. This is typically what is considered self-insurance, but I don't want people to be scared by that terminology.
It's a matter of semantics. It's really the industry nomenclature for employer funded plans. Most of those are self-insured because they are large. We're a large collective, but each individual is self-insured. again, shouldn't scare you. Even more industry nomenclature would be that we're on what's called level funded.
So the only difference between level funding and traditional funding, which is how you fund ACA plans and other individual health insurance plans, that's just called traditional or guaranteed cost funding. The self-insured part of this plan is based on the maximum cost, as I said earlier, the maximum cost is your max rate. It's the most you'll pay. It's just like paying a health insurance rate. It's
All of the fees, the stop loss insurance premiums, your claim liability, all wrapped up in one, one payment into HBG. And we pay our partners with that. The upside to this, there is no downside. the members can be secure and, and feel comfortable that they're buying a, a program with a lot of power to it because we're reinsured by a company called Odyssey,
which is an A plus rated company on Standard & Poor's and AMBEST, which is the organization that rates insurance companies. So Odyssey is top of class A plus. They hold all of the stop loss insurance, if for whatever reason, if our total population starts running poorly, they're on the hook. We pay them a premium to Odyssey to cover the claims. They're in excess of certain levels.
So that's the self-insured nature of the program. There is no downside. Upside is each member of Solo Health Collective is a pro rata member of the captive itself. That means they're owner members of the captive. That's how this works. So, the max cost covers your worst case scenario. That's the most you'll pay for the plan. But the good news is, and we expect this to happen year in and year out, because we're going through demographic information and going through a medical history questionnaire and underwriting each employer of a business of one by itself, they roll up to a total umbrella. To the extent the overall experience of the plan runs well, and since we're asking those questions, it will tend to run better than plans that don't ask such questions, plans like the ACA plans that are required to cover all pre-existing conditions, they tend to run a little hotter than plans like ours because we are taking like-minded people, healthier people, people that haven't had a rough medical history are getting on our plan. That means that at the end of the day, there's more than likely surpluses at the end of the year. By law, those surpluses have to be redistributed back to our captive members.
That's not done in cash. That's done in the form of dividends like plan design changes where we'll increase plan design and make plan designs better. It might be to offset a renewal increase. Like if the plan needs 5%, we might use the 10 % surplus we had in claims to offset the rate increase. So that by law, and this plan is governed by the North Carolina State Insurance Department's capital division are in partnership or I should say Vault or a captive partner has the relationship with that with the captive insurance DOI. But these are all, it's all regulatory, it's all compliance based. So, the ownership and the upside, if you will, of being self-insured is all, you know, by contract with the state of North Carolina.
Laura Adams
Wonderful. These are such amazing resources and services that you are both providing for freelancers and solo owners. I want to ask you guys what are your final thoughts, maybe some final tips if someone is listening and thinking, I really want to start my own business next year or maybe I already have but I'm uninsured. Maybe they haven't taken that step or maybe they have insurance that is just not affordable right now. Tom, what do you think is the next step for somebody in that situation?
Tom Morrissey
Well, glad you asked. Again, you want to go through and learn all about everything that's available to you at the Freelancers Union, a wide variety of plans available. Taking it to the next step though, my company, Healthy Business Group, just signed a deal with a concierge service called Touch Care. Touch Care has health plan concierge folks on the ground who can answer any questions, both to prospective solo members and then ongoing solo members. On a prospective side, effective November 1st, through our website and through the Freelancers Union website, there'll be a spot for you to reserve up to a half hour call with TouchCare. They're a carrier agnostic set of subject matter experts that can help you. If you call TouchCare,you'll get a half hour complimentary phone call with them.
If you have all your ducks lined up, like you've been through Catch.co, you've been through Solo, you're seeing, wow, there's something that really interests you on the ACA through Catch. And maybe you're interested in Solo. They can help you make the decision. Again, they're agnostic from a perspective, member consultation ongoing. If you become a Solo member effective, call it January one beginning January one.
You have unlimited access to as a Solo member, the TouchCare concierge to make doctor's appointments for you, handle any billing problems you might have, help you get an MRI scheduled. Let's say you have an orthopedic surgeon who wants to see what's going on and wants an MRI ordered. They'll help you through that. help with anything. They help with everything you just don't like doing. And we all know this is not fun, right? Health insurance is for the birds.
But somebody's gotta do it! That's what we do. But TouchCare is a great way to go in terms of getting questions answered. And again, as long as you're a Solo candidate, you can use that service to help you through that.
Yeah, it's an amazing service. I think we all can agree that time is money, especially when you're a freelancer, right? And every hour you can save and, you know, cutting your time and figuring out what's best for you or your business. know, that's money that can go back into building your client base and doing your work in order to ensure you're bringing in the money you need.
Laura Adams
Absolutely. Rafael, any final thoughts or tips for existing freelancers or potential freelancers who might be listening?
Rafael Espinal
We covered it a lot, but I just encourage everyone to check out our website, Freelancersunion.org. We have everything there from freelance 101 guides that can walk you through everything from creating an LLC, the importance of having different types of insurance. We do offer health, but we also offer other types like liability, long-term disability, life. So, encourage you to check us out. We're also on social media, Instagram and LinkedIn, Freelancers U, and we're always on standby. So, any questions you have, you can always email us at advocacy at freelancersunion.org and someone from my team will get back to you on any questions or concerns you may have through your freelance journey.
Laura Adams
Thank you so much. I really appreciate you both. This has been such great information. Thanks again. This is going to be very helpful for a lot of people.
Rafael Espinal
Great, Laura. Thank you.
Tom Morrissey
We appreciate you too. Thank you.
A big thanks to Tom and Rafael for coming on the show and the work they’re doing to support solopreneurs!
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