Health Insurance for Tentmakers

life hacking Oct 24, 2024

If someone becomes a tentmaker, how are they supposed to get health insurance?

This is especially concerning if their tentmaking activities don’t involve having a job at a church or company that offers a group health insurance plan.

This is a great question & certainly something many who have thought about tentmaking have had to consider.

Ever since I came off the payroll at our church, I had to find alternative ways to get health insurance for our family.

And it’s not as hard as you might think.

In fact, there are some “hacks” that could allow you to get health insurance even cheaper than if you were buying into a group plan. More on that below.

My hope is that this newsletter might begin to alleviate any fear you’ve had of finding health insurance apart from a group plan at your church/company.

Once I came off the payroll, I was able to work with an insurance agent to apply for my own group coverage with my real estate company. Since I had at least one employee, we were able to qualify for group rates from several different carriers. While my employees didn’t opt into this coverage, I was able to take advantage of it and have used it on and off for years.

Another option is partnering with a ministry that offers a group plan and seeing if you’re eligible to participate, even as a tentmaker, due to the amount of time you spend working with that ministry. I’ve done this as well.

A third option is a health care sharing plan. To be clear, this is not health insurance. These are plans that allow you to share costs with other members of the plan. The rates are often much less than insurance premiums. I’ve never participated in one of these, but some tentmakers find they are a great fit. Just remember, you’re not actually getting insurance.

A fourth option is getting a family plan on the ACA exchange. You can go to healthcare.gov/see-plans and get a quote for coverage for you and your family. And, what’s interesting about these plans, is that you may qualify for a premium tax credit based on your income, which can dramatically lower the cost of the plan. This is certainly the most “hackable” option because the IRS gives you various ways to lower your MAGI (modified adjusted gross income), which then would allow you to qualify for a higher premium tax credit. Examples would be contributing to a Solo 401k or an HSA.

And a final option is some combination of these. For example, you might get a high-deductible ACA plan and stack a health sharing plan on top of it for better benefits. We may try this soon.

There’s much more to say here, but I wanted you to see that there are options.

I wouldn’t let the concern about health insurance keep you from taking a next step into tentmaking if that’s how the Lord is leading you. I’m certain that you’d be able to find an option that’s a fit for your family.

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