right now on my cobra, next july not sure what, hope to be on wifes plan then but will have to see. this is a real problem for any small business or sole operator. reforms are needed in taxes and a national pool is needed that all can get into
until then talk to small gusiness groups in your area nd perhaps your tax guy he has lots of contact with others and will have a pulse on what others are doing

no easy answers here
staying health helps, i am diabetic and work hard to keep things in control

My husband and I both used to be self-employed. What we ended up doing was buying a "catastrophy insurance" plan that was about 60 bucks a month for both of us. There was a 5k deductable, so it obviously didn't cover any routine doctor's visits, prescriptions, etc. However, we had the reassurance that if something awful were to happen (car accident, etc.) that it wouldn't send us flying into debt past 5k, because our insurance would kick in then. What I suggest is to find something along those lines, and then also pick an amount to sock away each month - whether you can afford 50, 100, even just 10 bucks. Keep putting that into an account, and then when you do get sick and have an unexpected doctor's visit, you can pull from that fund to pay for it out of pocket.

Another thing you may want to look into is an HSA that the government now offers. These were not available when my husband and I were self-employed, so I don't know terribly much about them, but from the little I know, it would have been a valid option for us.

The last thing is also that there are some Christian groups who offer plans in which it's a kind of "share and share alike" mentality. You put in however much you can afford based upon your income. Then, whoever in the group needs money, takes it, with the assumption that once they are better, they will pay into the system and allow someone else in need to take the money. One such system is called "Medi-care" or is it "medi-share"..hmm..one of those two! We had friends who were in a group like this for their family of 4. They seemed to be pleased. I don't remember which exact group they were part of, but it's another idea. I don't have any personal experience with a group like this, so I can't say for sure, but our friends did recommend it to us when we were trying to figure out the whole health insurance thing.

My sister had this same question posted to a horse board she visits. Many of the horse trainers/instructors are in the same situation. Their were no real good solutions. One trainer worked at starbucks coffee -the early shift at 5 in the morning until 9 and then had the day free to do training. She said that you only have to work 20 hours a week there to get full(good) benefits.I have the same problem because I lost coverage through a divorce. I pay for private coverage and it is EXPENSIVE, there are no tax breaks available on the federal or state level. We really need insurance reform. I am lucky because I have no health problems,but if I ever did my insurance would be so expensive, I could not afford it . Does that make sense? NO!

Health insurance premium is a serious issue . I am ready to become a full time farmer but can't really do what I would love to do because of Health coverage. Yes , we need a reform

My wife would get major medical at about $70/month. At least we wouldn't lose the farm over major health care expenses. Then we just saved and paid out of pocket for the everyday stuff. I think that groups as the Grange and Farm Bureau also have policies available for members to purchase. Tom