Health Insurance for Truck Drivers
Trucking is classified as a high-risk profession per The Bureau of Labor Statistics It is one of the most dangerous jobs because the combination of long hours and sleep deprivation increases the chances of accidents. An estimated 70% of truck drivers have at least one grave health condition.
Many independent operators are forced to purchase their individual or family policies. Unfortunately, they are not able to afford the premiums to obtain the proper amount of insurance they need most of the time. Luckily, there are other options truck drivers have for health insurance. Let’s take a look at them.
Your Health Insurance Options as a Truck Driver
- Through the government marketplace during open enrollment or via a special enrollment period due to a qualifying life event outside of open enrollment
- Through a short term medical plan
- Through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
- Through a government-compliant medsharing plan.
Note that you can also purchase supplemental insurance such as dental, vision, critical illness, or accident policies at any time.
Now, two of those options listed above would be based on your income level. Given that the average salary for a truck driver right now is $43,464 a year per Glassdoor.com, that eliminates Medicaid and most of the benefits through the government marketplace plans assuming you had a qualifying life event (marriage, childbirth, etc.) since they do not give any subsidies for individuals that make over $48,240.
So that means even if you have a qualifying life event and make less than $48,240 a year, you still won’t get much assistance from the government unless you make less than $30,150 which qualifies you for a subsidy plus cost-sharing. Between the other two options left, short-term medical plans and medsharing plans, the medsharing plans are the only ones that are government compliant which would exempt you from the tax penalty for not having insurance.
Once you understand your options as a truck driver, the choice for which plan is best for you becomes pretty obvious in most cases, a medsharing plan. This is especially true if you make more than $48,240 per year, which means the best value plans you have to choose from inside of open enrollment are very similar to your choices outside of open enrollment because you make too much to qualify for a government subsidy.
There’s no sense in waiting until open enrollment. Let’s talk more about what these medsharing plans offer.
Medsharing – The Best Insurance For Truck Drivers
These plans operate very similar to traditional health insurance except the premiums are put into an escrow account and claims are paid less than the Members Shared Responsibility Amount. Preventative care, doctor visits, prescription discounts, and more are all included in medhsaring plans.
Some of the benefits of Medsharing plans are:
- They can be purchased year-round.
- They are government compliant but not affiliated with the government at all, which means they exempt you from the tax penalty and it keeps the government out of your business.
- Guaranteed Issue
- PPO Network
- Monthly premiums are much lower (usually about half the price of government ACA plans) because of the way they structure their plans
- Your price is based on your age bracket, so you can have peace of mind that your health insurance premium will stay the same until you reach the next age bracket
- Your monthly payments go towards helping other members as opposed to corporate higher-ups
- When negotiating your bills they have leverage due to the cash they bring to the table as well as tax benefits from being a non-profit organization
If you are interested in learning more about medsharing plans and/or your options for health insurance as a truck driver, please contact one of our licensed agents toll-free at (800) 353-8870 or request a quote below.