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How I afford Health Insurance (as a part-time employee)

  • Posted on July 6, 2009 at 1:55 pm

Lifehacker.com recently posted an article titled How to Buy Your Own Health Insurance, which further links to their post asking How do you stay healthy without insurance?

I’m not self-employed anymore, but I am underemployed in the retail sector, and classified as part-time to boot. However, I do have health insurance. I have health insurance yet do not lose money every month paying insurance premiums and so can you (providing you qualify for the EITC).

Why does qualifying for the EITC matter? Because our lovely wonderful government allows you to get some of your EITC in your paycheck. It’s an easy way to increase your income without affecting your tax withholding.

What you need to do is:

  1. Read the IRS Q&A on the Advance EIC or if you’re in a hurry go straight to the Form W-5 EIC Advance Payment Certificate (PDF link)
  2. Fill out the form and turn it into your payroll department. The amount of money you get in your check is based on your wages, whether or not you’re married, and IF you are married whether your spouse also has a Form W-5 in effect.
  3. Sign up for health insurance through your employer. Just make sure your monthly premium does not exceed your AEITC.

For the record, I turned in my W-5 first and waited to see how much I actually got in my paycheck before opting-in to my employer’s health insurance plan. I was able to afford health insurance on myself AND to contribute to an HSA.

The Form W-5 does have to be renewed every year. I have the AEITC website bookmarked and when I fill out my preliminary tax forms using my last paystub of the year, I go ahead and fill out the new form.

One last thing: following these directions will reduce the amount of your April 15th refund, since you’re getting it in your paycheck. Personally, I think the peace of mind that comes with health insurance is worth it.

1 comment

The Abundance Concept, personalized

  • Posted on June 20, 2008 at 2:33 pm

When I first read MMND’s post about abundance I felt a ring of WOOHOO! through my soul. The original post had her spending a dollar amount (that multiplies exponentially until by day 30 we’re spending 50 *billion*) and combining her spree with gratitude for three things.

And then she kicked it up a notch by adding in a third element a few days later: how she could generate that amount of money in order to make her “wished for” thing happen.

My jaw dropped.

The first thing that came to mind was the message boards that I no longer participate in; the ones where oneupmanship was de rigeur. A mama would post that she’d given birth in a hospital without drugs; another piped up that she’d delivered in the ER; #3 birthed in the parking lot…all the way down to the ultimate Hippier-Than-Thou mama who squatted down in the backyard and delivered, then went back to hanging up the laundry before chopping firewood for her cookstove.

Then I thought of Y’s post about seeking her own relationship with God – where she says

I need to know that there is a higher purpose in life because there are days where I think “Is this all there is?”

The whole point of the exercise is to enjoy the abundance of the universe, why in the world would you want to limit that abundance by adding a “ways I can make it happen” element?

For me, that isn’t an option. In order to receive my abundance, the “I” has to be removed. Otherwise you’ll find me curled up in a chair sucking my thumb and saying “can’t do that. can’t.”

And now, without further ado, my $12,800 will be spent on a new car and insurance for my daughter.

I’m participating in The Millionaire Mommy Next Door’s abundant life spending spree

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