So, what do you think about the DS health plan?

For my needs- far better than other options. The absolute lowest price I've found for my family size is $776 a month and less coverage. Not saying I can afford to take it yet, though.

It all depends upon your needs and what you have available to you. For me, since I write full-time now it is great. It provides the benefit my wife and I need at a reasonable rate. I stated before, the least expensive comp plan I found was over $600. That was with a $5000 deductible.

How much is the cost a month for a single person?

Cassiopeia said:

How much is the cost a month for a single person?

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$91 1st level
$123 second
$156 third

It's not perfect, but no plan is--and it's definitely better than what I have now (which is nothing)! It's a good step forward for freelance writers.

I like that there's a dental option, but sadly there are no participating dentists in my area. It's great for people who can participate.

* i posted a lot more, but it vanished when i hit 'submit'. in a nutshell? after reading more on this so-called coverage, i'm mad as hell.


I don't know what the costs for the plans are without going through DS, but I'm going to find out. If it's only a little more, why would I care about an article average? You can purchase this without an employer. Hell, if they give discounts to groups, all of us here could band together and get the plans we need without needing to 'qualify'.

I know my friend was able to get an insurance plan on his own for around $60-80 I believe, for 1 person, and not through any group. I need to peek at the details again for what they are offering to see how it's any different than what he already gets.

$10,000 for critical illness? Is that all? That will be gone in 10 minutes, depending on the problem. This is good for prevention I suppose (which is a key), but I think you'd be in just as much trouble financially if you got hit with an accident or major disease. Still trying to read through all the plan.

SouthernFriedJulie said:

* i posted a lot more, but it vanished when i hit 'submit'. in a nutshell? after reading more on this so-called coverage, i'm mad as hell.


I don't know what the costs for the plans are without going through DS, but I'm going to find out. If it's only a little more, why would I care about an article average? You can purchase this without an employer. Hell, if they give discounts to groups, all of us here could band together and get the plans we need without needing to 'qualify'.

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that might not be a bad idea, ya know, girl.

For me, this is a moot point since we have national health insurance here in Israel (one of the biggest reasons I think why I'd rather stay here than go back to the States -- there are many other reasons also, but I've always said, if nothing else, at least I have health insurance here).

But, I wanted to point out that while this is one of crappiest plans I've ever seen, it is technically insurance. A discount plan doesn't pay you back anything at all toward covered expenses (i.e. $50 toward your doctor bills or $5 toward your prescription drugs).

While it may as well be purely a discount plan since those numbers are a joke, technically once they start to offer any kind of reimbursements (no matter how small) it is considered insurance. Just very, very crappy insurance.

Eric

Does anybody know if this will affect freelancers' ability to deduct the cost of their current (non DS) insurance from their taxes? Isn't the rule that you can deduct insurance unless you become eligible for insurance through an employer?

Or doesn't that apply, because technically DS isn't an employer?

I respect Deb, a lot. I get very irate when I see people (not on this forum) accuse her of supporting DS because she is financially connected with them.

We've spoken quite a bit via Skype and I can honestly say that her defense of DS and writers in general has nothing to do with that connection. She's just like that. She sees into the intentions of others and tries to see the good. I like and respect that. She handles herself with class, something I wish I could do when things get heated.

In this situation, I think a few things happened. None have a thing to do with Deb- I just wanted to say what I just did- because you may see me around the 'net being vocal when she's been thrown on. I can feel a bad moon risin' ;-)

1. DS had a lot of bad publicity. They need to do something to help rid people of the bad image.

2. They really do care about their workers. Keep them happy- give them what others do not- you have really happy writers and word of mouth advertising.

3. Draw in more writers- get more content out- more revenue to share. Become the largest and best. Hand in hand with #2.

4. They were duped. Do you notice how information on the DS page differs from the actual manual? I think this is the equivalent of getting a lemon from a car-dealership. Nothing about pregnancy in the manual, conflicting info, and some DS Upper Employees not too sure what to say.

I honestly think they thought this WAS real, honest to goodness insurance. I think it was sold to them that way, now they're going to have to figure out how to say- "Um, we were taken."

SouthernFriedJulie said:

I respect Deb, a lot. I get very irate when I see people (not on this forum) accuse her of supporting DS because she is financially connected with them.

I can feel a bad moon risin' ;-)

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First let me say... I come in Peace..

Deb is taking a beating and quite frankly it is senseless. A lot of people are jumping on a anti-Ds bandwagon without any clear knowledge of what they are talking about. (Nobody here, just speaking in general) And I agree, that there is going to be more negativity brought forth because of misunderstanding.

The Health Care Plan is not a comprehensive insurance plan, however it is very basic insurance. It is more than just a discount plan. But it is very basic. All of the information is not out yet because I we really have to go on is a cover letter overview. The remaining fine print info is yet to come out. I believe it will be later this week for those qualified.

Half of what I am reading on the internet is from people who either don't do any writing for DS or just want to join in on the negativity train. The health plan is not going to make everybody happy, no one single plan will. And to expect a major comprehensive plan to freelancers without a payroll deduction is just not going to happen in the near future.

I strongly believe, just as I think Julie pointed out earlier (I have been reading so many posts), you have to do the research yourself for your situation.

http://www.freelancersunion.org/insurance/explore/

Input your zip code. Find the lowest plan and compare.

The deductible is crazy high, but from experience: you can hit that threshold in less than a week. I said this on DS, but for $100 more my family can get full coverage without needing to meet any article minimum. I can write for anyone. DS does fill in gaps, it offers a steady income when waiting for payments from other clients- but with a plan like this I (or anyone else) does not need to keep bouncing back to DS to make sure they keep up a minimum of articles.

I started freelancing to bring in money while I worked on my fiction. I kept working from home because I did not want to be tied to any ONE employer. This plan defeats the purpose.

Someone stated the $91 individual plan would only take them 7 articles to cover. That's great. That is wonderful for them. But, let's just say you've taken on a large project from a client. You don't have time to write for DS that month. Will you lose your access? I'm wondering and would like to know the clarification on that.

@Angie- You hit the nail on the head. I may not agree with her all of the time, but I respect her stance and actions. It takes a lot of guts to hold to what you believe no matter the situation. I'm not just saying that because I consider her a friend and I (in interest of full disclosure) - work for her now on the newsletter. I trust in her enough to know that I can respectfully disagree and not need to worry that she'll say, "Oh, I don't need you to work on this anymore"

I can't fire you, Julie. Otherwise I'd have to figure out that damn newsletter thingy on my own and that's not happening.

Seriously...

I appreciate the support more than you know.

I want to say this though, I'm very upset by accusations that Demand Studios misled their freelancers. This is not the case at all. The plan may not have been what was expected but no one set out to mislead anyone.

SouthernFriedJulie said:

http://www.freelancersunion.org/insurance/explore/

Input your zip code. Find the lowest plan and compare.

The deductible is crazy high, but from experience: you can hit that threshold in less than a week. I said this on DS, but for $100 more my family can get full coverage without needing to meet any article minimum. I can write for anyone. DS does fill in gaps, it offers a steady income when waiting for payments from other clients- but with a plan like this I (or anyone else) does not need to keep bouncing back to DS to make sure they keep up a minimum of articles.

I started freelancing to bring in money while I worked on my fiction. I kept working from home because I did not want to be tied to any ONE employer. This plan defeats the purpose.

Someone stated the $91 individual plan would only take them 7 articles to cover. That's great. That is wonderful for them. But, let's just say you've taken on a large project from a client. You don't have time to write for DS that month. Will you lose your access? I'm wondering and would like to know the clarification on that.

@Angie- You hit the nail on the head. I may not agree with her all of the time, but I respect her stance and actions. It takes a lot of guts to hold to what you believe no matter the situation. I'm not just saying that because I consider her a friend and I (in interest of full disclosure) - work for her now on the newsletter. I trust in her enough to know that I can respectfully disagree and not need to worry that she'll say, "Oh, I don't need you to work on this anymore"

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From what I read, once you're on the plan, you're on. Doesn't matter about your articles anymore and it's between you and the plan company.