Health insurance options for PRN

[pamalamadingdong, ASN, RN]

Hello all, I’ve been really wanting to go PRN for sometime now but my issue has always been health insurance. Are there affordable options out there?  How can I find them and know it’s a good deal with good coverage? I do have some extensive medical conditions but being PRN would be a dream come true if I can make it work. I’d love any advice possible! Thank you!

[MunoRN, RN]

There are generally two types of health insurance coverage; individual and group plans.  Generally speaking there are fewer requirements to individual plans in terms of how reliable they are compared to group coverage, although that varies some by state.  This has always been the challenge in switching from an employer-provided plan which is a group plan, to an individual plan.  Typically states don't apply the same rules to individual plans as they do to group plans, this provides you with little protection from individual plans deciding to refuse to cover or simply to drop your coverage all together if you actually end up needing to use it.

There is an option for you to remain in the group-plan system, which offers far more reliability than individual plans, which is to shop for plans within ACA-qualifying plans.  There are various sites to compare these plans, but probably the most common is to go through the HHS site which is https://www.healthcare.gov/apply-and-enroll/health-insurance-plans-estimator-overview/