No Comments March 9, 2008 – 2:22 pm

Whether its one of the major automakers announcing thousands of layoffs or one of the software giants outsourcing high-paying jobs overseas to cheaper labor markets, the simple truth is that millions of people are struggling with two huge problems at the same time:

1. The loss of a high paying job that cannot be easily replaced due to an ever-tightening labor market and the availability of cheaper labor in other countries.
2. The rising costs of healthcare and its growing ability to completely destroy the financial stability of any family who is not covered by adequate health insurance.

At a time when people are struggling to replace a major loss of income in a very competitive labor market, they also must avoid incurring a major medical expense during this time or they may be crippled by a huge debt. However, complicating matters is a dramatic rise is the cost of health insurance which has forced companies to reduce benefits and possibly seek lower labor costs overseas where health insurance laws are not as stringent as those in the industrialized nations. Despite the fact that we all know how dangerous it is to not have health insurance, finding a replacement job to recover the lost income can be near impossible in some cases so the cost of coverage can honestly seem impossible.

With fewer and fewer companies offering decent-paying jobs, more and more displaced workers are turning to self-employment as the solution to the lost income. Unfortunately, for the first year or two, the income and profit margin can be so tight that buying health insurance coverage seems impossible. However, rather than run the risk of incurring a major medical expense due to injury and lack of coverage, there are options available to the self-employed that can give them the protection they need without bankrupting their fledgling enterprises in the process.