OT: health insurance and chicago freelance advice

[viaspiaggia]

hi all. i was lucky enough to start my audio career as a full time employee. now i've been freelance for over a year but since my wife was employed full time we were on HER health insurance. well now that she is moving to the parttime/freelance world as well, we are shopping for coverage. a few questions:

- what do most of you do for health insurance, generally speaking? do you just not have it? do you have an individual policy? do you have a group policy through an association or a union? which ones?

- i know union membership is a big deal for voice talent in chicago, and slightly less of a big deal for musicians, but i don't know how big a deal it is for engineers like myself. i know there is c.a.s. -- is there any other union or professional organization i should consider? any that offers health / financial benefits? someone told me they thought some of the engineers in chicago were associate members of aftra and were getting their health coverage through them - is that possible?

thanks for any advice. i'm not a novice engineer but it has just occured to me that i am TOTALLY green when it comes to this side of my profession.

-adam-

[soundthinker]

Adam-

I've got Select Blue from BCBS(Blue cross). At 150 a month for slightly better than bare bones coverage. No dental/vision. But only a 20$ co-pay for office visits.

/jim

PS: Did you use to work at Big Idea?

[viaspiaggia]

PS: Did you use to work at Big Idea?

yes, indeed. and thanks for the info.

-adam-