What will the New Health Bill Mean for You?

A battle is raging in Congress over the future of your health care but what will the passage of that bill mean for the construction industry? That's yet to be seen.

If you're a self-employed contractor or a subcontractor, you will have to purchase your own health insurance policy, but no numbers are out on what that coverage will cost. If you can't afford the premiums, and that's likely, if you're between jobs or slow due to the economy, you'll have to pay a penalty. The amount of the penalty may be adjusted for your income, but it might be around $1500 per year, per family.

If you go that route, you will won't have insurance unless your income falls into a category where you qualify for a free policy.

Now, I'm all for helping out our fellow man but something seems a little fishy here. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the bill, but it seems that there may be a group of people above the poverty line, but below the income level that would allow them to freely purchase $20,000 per year policies.

And most self-employed construction workers appear to fall into that category. So, the bill bears watching.Alternately, this guy has some current info on how to get medical treatment without health insurance. And we offered some methods for avoiding construction injuries last month.

Keep building...keep happy.