Health Insurance for Consultants and Fractional Executives
High income, no employer plan, and a choice: marketplace, spouse, or S-corp strategies.
Consultants often out-earn subsidy thresholds, which changes the marketplace question from "how big is my credit" to "what's the smartest full-price buy." The answer usually involves taxes as much as premiums.
Above the subsidy line
The self-employed health insurance deduction takes premiums off your taxable income even with zero subsidy — at consultant tax brackets, that's an effective discount of a third or more. Gold plans start making sense when you actually use care, because their higher premium buys down deductibles you'd pay with post-deduction dollars anyway.
S-corp owners: premiums must run through the corporation and hit your W-2 to preserve the deduction — a payroll detail that trips up many first-year consultants. Your CPA and your licensed agent should agree on the setup.
Household math
A spouse's employer plan is often the benchmark to beat. Compare its employee-plus-family price against a marketplace Gold — and remember the marketplace plan is yours regardless of either career's next move.
Educational content, not legal, tax, or benefits advice. FindGroupHealth.com is not affiliated with HealthCare.gov or CMS. Legislation statuses reflect the last-updated date above; see the official Congress.gov record for real-time status.