Virtual Assistants and Heathcare
Many Virtual Assistants don’t know where to start when looking into healthcare. If you are already working as a Virtual Assistant or transitioning from a traditional 9-5 to becoming a Virtual Assistant, I’m sure questions about healthcare has crossed your mind. I find myself in the same boat.
My Healthcare Story
2017 was a challenging year for me medically. I had my first surgery in my life in December of 2017. I had this procedure prior to becoming a Virtual Assistant, because I had health insurance. One of the more frustrating parts of the whole experience was figuring out the insurance coverage; deductibles, out of pocket, in network, out of network, procedure codes etc… Almost everyone I know does not understand their own health insurance.
The place I wanted to go for surgery, my preferred doctor and the one that I felt I would have received the best care from was not in network. That meant I would have to pay for most of the operation from my own pocket. I called my insurance company to figure out what was and was not covered. I gave any known procedure codes we went over every detail of my policy and even then the total cost was a guess at best. There were questions I didn’t even know to ask! Seems like it should more straight forward about coverage and cost. As a result, I went with my next best option, going to doctors and a surgery center that were in network.
I feel like I did the best that I could with the information that I had at the time. The back and forth with insurance wore me down. Ultimately, I went with what I could afford versus better quality of care. This is for a full-time employee with company sponsored benefits.
I felt blessed that I had insurance. I was also grateful to be able to go to all of my medical appointments, get second opinions and receive paid time off for post-surgery recovery.
Are your concerns about healthcare holding you back from becoming a Virtual Assistant?
Does the cost and quality of healthcare as a Virtual Assistant seem scary? What if you have family or children depending on you for health insurance? What are your options? How do you pick the best healthcare coverage as a Virtual Assistant that is based on your health needs and income? Who do you talk to?
Below is the link for some good resources for insurance coverage for Virtual Assistants.
http://healthcare for independent contractors
https://www.virtualassistantroadmap.com/when-the-unexpected-happens/