Affordable Health Insurance in NY

If you are looking for affordable health insurance in NY, you are looking for Healthy NY. Healthy NY is a health care program that provides affordable health insurance to small businesses, sole proprietors or the self-employed and employed individuals who can not obtain health insurance through their employers, and can not otherwise afford to purchase any kind of health insurance plan. Each of these three groups of potentially eligible people has their own separate sets of criteria to meet before they can enroll in Health NY.

Individuals seeking affordable health insurance in NY through Healthy NY must be currently employed, or employed within the last 12 months. They can not have access to any employer-sponsored health insurance plans, nor can they be eligible for Medicaid. Other factors that help qualify an individual for Healthy NY include marital separation or divorce and a death in the family, as well as a change in employment and a change in COBRA eligibility.

If the individual is a sole proprietor, the same basic eligibility requirements apply as those set for other individuals. Even the income requirement is basically the same.

Small business owners are eligible for affordable health insurance in NY using Healthy NY if the business is actually located in NY; there are less than 50 employees; and at least 30 percent of those employees make less than $35,500 a year. Small business owners who are enrolled in Healthy NY can even take advantage of tax benefits. For example, business owners can usually deduct all of the money spent paying health insurance premiums for their employees.

If you are an individual down on his luck, a sole proprietor making a living on his own, or the owner of a small business, and are looking for affordable health insurance in NY, Healthy NY may just be the answer. For more information about obtaining affordable health insurance in NY, contact New York’s Department of Insurance.