The locum tenens job market has doubled since 2002. You may already know how working freelance positions can improve your lifestyle (flexibility, travel, control over your time), but there are also financial benefits that come hand in hand with kissing your 9 to 5 job goodbye! We interviewed Indipop's Founder, Melissa Blatt, to discover ways locum physicians can better control and lower their healthcare costs, while capitalizing on the financial benefits of freelance work.
What is Indipop, and why did you start this company?
I launched indipop from my own personal struggle to find affordable healthcare when I left the corporate world to go out on my own. The COBRA plan that was offered was so expensive, and the marketplace options had high deductibles. I was approaching 50 and it seemed I literally could not afford to get sick. I spent a lot of time researching and did find a solution, although not mainstream heathshares offer a different approach to managing medical needs with lower monthly cost, concierge care and more benefits than what traditional health insurance offered.
I knew I wasn’t alone, 57 million are in what I call the Independent Population of self-employed and struggle to find simple and affordable plans. I wanted to bring the solutions I found to the freelancers, solopreneurs and small business owners who either pay 3x’s the rates or go without healthcare. Now I have curated 4 plans that all go through the Melissa test. If I wouldn’t enroll in them they do not go on my site.
How can freelance professionals save money on their healthcare expenses and take better control of their healthcare in general?
When I guide people to see if a healthshare is a fit we compare the quotes of traditional health care and the multiple healthshares I offer. Each one has a unique feature. For example: One plan, in addition to the major medical and 24/7 telemedicine, offers an HSA, an electronic medical records vault for accessibility for yourself and your doctors and a lifecare plan, assisting you from mental health to creating a will. A second plan has a max of 3k out of pocket, great for families and also offers vision/dental discounts. A third plan you can pick a direct virtual care doctor and combine it with major medical. Do you like the way traditional insurance works with co-pays, the last plan offers this type of option. Depending on what the greatest importance is in your healthcare needs we can then decide if one of these plans works for you.
All the plans offer concierge care, meaning they help guide you in managing your health needs and help you understand what the fair medical price is for a visit or a procedure, in most cases your out of pocket for a surgery or a hospital visit is $1000, that is a big difference from traditional healthcare.
What things do locum physicians need to evaluate if they have traditional healthcare?
Explore what is covered by your insurance.
Are your primary care visits covered?
Do you have to reach your deductible before an Emergency Room visit is covered?
What about labs, xrays and prescription drugs?
Add it up.
We have a health calculator on the indipop website if you’d like to do a side by side comparison of a plan.
How easy is it to switch their current healthcare plan, and where can they find out more information?
In many cases with traditional insurance you provide a 30 day cancellation. Check with your carrier. Because the plans on the indipop site are healthshares and not insurance there is no set enrollment dates so everyday is Open Enrollment! It takes minutes to enroll and typically if you enroll by mid month you will be active for the upcoming month.
Indipop offers Simple and Affordable healthcare for the Independent Population, Freelancers, Solopreneurs and Independent Contractors.
Indipop curates healthshares, an alternative approach to managing healthcare needs. It differs from traditional insurance with no premiums or deductibles, open network to choose your own doctor, fair medical pricing and typically a lower monthly payment.
Visit www.indipop.co to learn more.