For the self-employed & 1099

A $0 deductible.
On the Cigna network.

Not a discount card, not a gimmick. A real plan where coverage starts working on the first visit instead of after you've spent seven thousand dollars.

Cigna network

No specialist referrals

$0 generic prescriptions

Licensed in 28 states

Text me and I'll price it Or call 774-571-7487

Opens with the message already written. Straight to my phone, not a call center.

Want a ballpark first? Your age

Read this first

There are three routes. Here's the honest difference.

Almost everything sold to self-employed people is one of these three, or a mix of them. They are not the same thing, and the ads almost never tell you which one you're looking at.

Route

Is it insurance?

Who it fits

1. Major medicalUltimate EPO or PPO, Cigna network

Yes, insuranceThe same kind of coverage you had at a W-2 job. You pay a copay at the visit, and the plan pays its share of the real bill from there.

You want the coverage everybody already understands — predictable copays, a real network, and a cap on how bad a bad year can get. This is the default, and it's where most people should land.

2. Fixed indemnityHealth ProtectorGuard + AccidentWise + term life

Insurance, but limitedPays set cash amounts per event, not a share of your bill. Not major medical.

The monthly number is the constraint, you're generally healthy, and you understand you're covering events rather than everything.

3. Membership + sharingMightyWELL

Not insuranceA membership bundle plus a sharing community. Payment of a bill is not guaranteed.

No network to stay inside — you can go anywhere. The network here is a convenience that lowers the bill, not a fence that limits you. What members like is the flat, predictable copays and how quickly routine care gets handled without a deductible in the way. The right fit for a healthy household that wants that freedom and accepts that the backstop is a community guideline rather than a contract.

So which one is you?

You take medication regularly, have ongoing treatment, or doctors you won't leave. Usually staying on the marketplace is your answer. The private plans take an application with health questions, so ask me before you move anything. Routes 2 and 3 will let you down, and I'll tell you that on the call.

You're healthy, and what bothers you is paying for a deductible you never hit. Route 2 or 3, paired with an accident plan and a term policy that carries living benefits. Fixed benefit plans pay set amounts from day one with no deductible to work through. The accident plan pays cash straight to you when you get hurt, which is where most out-of-pocket damage actually comes from. And the term life isn't only there for if you die — the living benefits rider lets you pull money out of your own policy while you're alive on a qualifying illness, subject to the rider's terms. That's how you cover a max out of pocket without draining savings. That is the package I build most for healthy self-employed people. These are not major medical and they do not replace it, and I will say that on the call the same way I am saying it here. If you would rather have full coverage instead, Route 1 does that with a $0 deductible and I will price you both.

You're healthy and the monthly premium is the blocker. Route 2 or 3, or the capped MedMax and MedValue plans further down the page, and term life underneath whichever one you pick. All honest options once you know what they are. None of them replaces major medical.

Your income dropped, or you have a family and a mortgage. Check whether you qualify for a subsidized marketplace plan (healthcare.gov) first. If you do, that's usually the answer, and I'll help you enroll there. Don't go research it. Text me your household size and rough income and I'll check in two minutes.

Not sure which one you are? Most people aren't. Text me your situation and I'll tell you before you read another word.

Text me and I'll tell you which one

The part nobody explains

How a fixed benefit plan actually pays.

If you're looking at Route 2 or 3, this is the mechanic worth understanding before you decide. It works differently from major medical, and different is not the same as worse — but you should know which one you're buying.

You show your card and get treated. Same as any plan. The office bills the insurer, not you, at the visit.

The network rate comes off first. Because the provider is in network, the contracted PPO rate is applied first, and that alone typically takes 50 to 70 percent off the billed amount before anything else happens. This is the step most people never see, and it's doing more work than they realize.

Then your plan pays its set amount. A fixed benefit plan pays a stated dollar amount for that service, per the schedule in the plan documents. Not a percentage after a deductible, a defined amount.

Whatever is left after those two steps is yours. Run it in order: the PPO discount comes off first and knocks that 50 to 70 percent off the bill, then your plan's benefit pays against what's left of it. Sometimes those two steps cover the visit entirely and you pay nothing. Sometimes there's a balance and you pay it. Both happen, and any honest agent tells you that up front. You get an explanation of benefits in the mail showing exactly how it broke down.

The trade you are making: lower and more predictable monthly cost, in exchange for benefits that are capped rather than open-ended. A fixed benefit plan is not major medical and does not replace it. For a healthy household that wants the monthly under control, it can be the right call. For someone with ongoing treatment or expensive medication, it usually isn't, and I'll say so.

Ask me to walk you through a real explanation of benefits on the call. Seeing one actual example makes this land in about ninety seconds.

The problem

The marketplace plan you're on is built around a deductible you'll never hit.

Six to nine grand before it really pays. Most healthy self-employed people never get there, and the premium leaves every month anyway.

The other side of the market works the opposite way. Low or no deductible, flat copays, and no enrollment window locking you in. Some of it is real insurance, some of it isn't, and this page tells you plainly which is which.

Tier one, major medical

Real health insurance, zero deductible.

These are the Amerus Summit Ultimate plans. Both run on the Cigna network, both carry a $0 deductible in network, and both are real major medical coverage. The biggest difference between them is what happens if you go outside the network.

MY DEFAULT PICK

Ultimate EPO

Cigna EPO Network

Deductible, in network$0
Out-of-pocket max, in network$3,500 / $7,000 family
Primary care visit$40
Specialist, no referral needed$60
Preventive careNo charge
Urgent care$75
Emergency room$500, then 30%
Generic prescriptions$0
Preferred brand Rx$35 retail
Labs & imaging30%
Counts as real ACA-qualifying coverage (MEC)Yes

In network only. Emergency care, ambulance and urgent care are covered the same in or out of network, everything else out of network is not covered. Confirm your doctors participate at Cigna.com before you enroll.

Ultimate PPO

Cigna PPO Network

Deductible, in network$0
Out-of-pocket max, in network$6,000 / $12,000 family
Primary care visit$25
Specialist, no referral needed$50
Preventive careNo charge
Labs & imaging, in networkNo charge
Urgent care$50
Emergency room$500
Generic prescriptions$0
Mental health, outpatient office$50
Out-of-network deductible$7,000 / $14,000

You can go out of network, but it costs real money, 50% coinsurance after a separate deductible, and prescriptions and preventive care out of network are not covered at all. Advanced imaging needs pre-certification first; skipping it costs a $500 penalty. Worth it if you have doctors you refuse to leave.

Living in California or New York? Different plans serve those states better. Ask me and I'll point you at the right one.

Text me and I'll price it Or call 774-571-7487

Between the tiers

When the Amerus plans aren't the fit.

Different budget, different network, different situation. These get priced on the same call. Heads up on MedMax and MedValue: every benefit on them carries an annual cap, and neither one is major medical. I'll say that as many times as it takes.

Med Performance

Private PPO · not a marketplace plan

Deductible options$3,500 / $5,000 / $7,350
Out-of-pocket max, in network$7,350 individual
After the deductible, Classic plansPlan pays 80% in network
Primary care / specialist, Classic plans$45 / $90
Preventive careNo charge in network
Generic Rx, Classic plans$15 · preferred brand $65
Out-of-network coverageYes, higher deductible

Runs on the Cigna PPO network and is not insured by Cigna. The plan documents label it Classic Major Medical; whether it counts as ACA minimum essential coverage is not stated in them, so I treat it as private coverage, not a marketplace replacement. The $7,350 option works differently: deductible equals the out-of-pocket max, then the plan pays 100%. Specialty drugs run at 50% on the Classic plans, GLP-1 coverage is not confirmed in writing, and there's no dental or vision. Priced on the call.

MedMax

Capped benefits · not major medical

NetworkFirst Health national PPO
Deductible options$250 to $1,500
Out-of-pocket limit$9,200 / $18,400 family
Doctor visits after deductible$50, capped at 10 a year
Preventive care and telemedicine$0, no deductible first
Mental health, outpatient office$50 after deductible, 15 days a year
Emergency room$250, capped per year
Hospital staysCapped: 2 a year, 10 days each
PrescriptionsGeneric only, $0

Every benefit on this plan carries an annual cap, which is why the monthly number is smaller. Elective surgery isn't covered, maternity has a 12-month waiting period, brand and specialty drugs aren't addressed in the plan documents, and pre-existing condition terms aren't stated in them either. Not major medical. This is my price fallback when the budget rules, and I'll walk you through every cap before you sign anything.

MedValue

Capped benefits · not major medical

NetworkFirst Health national PPO
Deductible$4,000 or $6,000
Out-of-pocket limit$9,200 / $18,400 family
Doctor visits$50, capped at 4 a year
Emergency room$500, once a year
Hospital stays1 a year, 5-day limit
PrescriptionsGeneric only, $0
Preventive care$0

The bare-bones tier, and I sell it as just that. Same capped design as MedMax with tighter caps, and neither deductible version lists a maternity benefit at all. Not major medical. If this is the budget, we talk through what it will and won't do before anything gets signed.

Cigna Dental + GVS Vision

Dental & vision add-on

Cleanings and checkups$0, two cleanings a year
Everything elseSet copays on a published schedule
Porcelain crown, for example$225
Annual dollar maximumNone
Waiting periodsNone
Braces, child or adult$63 to $83 a month, 24 months
Vision exam and collection framesIncluded, every 12 months

Network dentist only: the dental plan doesn't pay outside its network except emergencies, and major work already in progress when you join is excluded (crowns, bridges, dentures, root canals, implants; California and Texas residents excepted). Otherwise pre-existing dental conditions aren't excluded when the procedure is on the schedule. It isn't offered in every state, so I'll confirm yours. Vision runs through GVS, with lenses included and a $150 allowance toward non-collection frames.

Tier two, the budget stack

If the priority is the monthly number.

Not everybody can carry a major medical premium right now. There is a way to stay protected on a much smaller monthly number, but you have to know what you're buying, because it doesn't work like the plans above.

Read this first. It's the whole point.

The two health products in this tier are fixed indemnity and limited benefit coverage. They are not major medical and they do not satisfy the Affordable Care Act coverage requirement.

Fixed indemnity means the plan pays a set dollar amount for a covered event, regardless of what your actual bill is. If a covered day in the hospital pays a fixed amount and your bill is larger than that, the difference is yours. These plans say "no deductible", but that's not the same thing as the $0 deductible above. The major medical plans start paying your actual bills on day one. These plans never look at your bill, they pay you a set cash amount, and everything past that is yours. That's the single most important distinction on this page.

Stacked right, this tier does real work on a small budget. Sold as a replacement for health insurance, it's a disaster. I won't do that.

This tier is three pieces that work as one package. Health ProtectorGuard handles sickness events, AccidentWise handles injuries, and the term life policy is the catastrophe layer. I price them together.

Health ProtectorGuard

Fixed indemnity · not major medical

Carrier / networkGolden Rule · UHC Choice Plus
Deductible, coinsurance, copaysNone
Doctor office visitSet cash amount, capped visits/yr
Emergency roomSet cash amount per day, day cap
Hospital confinementSet cash amount per day
SurgeryFixed schedule by procedure tier
TelemedicineUnlimited $0 virtual visits
PrescriptionsSet cash per fill, capped fills/yr
Health questions on the applicationYes, and you can be declined
Issue ages18 to 64, renewable to 65

          What it will not pay for
          Pre-existing conditions, for up to 12 months after the effective date
Mental health and substance abuse treatment, entirely
Pregnancy and childbirth, except complications
A hospital stay that begins on a Friday or Saturday, unless it is an emergency
Dental and vision

        

Benefit amounts differ by plan level, and the Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania version is a different plan with different numbers under the same name. California has its own separate edition with its own benefit schedule. Not available in every state, and New York is excluded. I'll confirm your state's edition and its exact benefit schedule on the call before anything is submitted.

AccidentWise

Accident only · not major medical

What it paysLump sum cash to you
Emergency room, within 72 hrsSet amount, 4 per year
Urgent care, within 72 hrsSet amount, 4 per year
Hospital admissionSet lump sum, 1 per year
Outpatient surgerySet lump sum, 1 per year
CT, MRI or EEGSet lump sum, 1 per year
Medical underwritingNone
Premiums increase with ageNo
Issue ages18 to 75

          The limit you have to understand
          It pays on accidental injury only. All sickness is excluded
Stroke is excluded, it is treated as sickness, not accident
Pregnancy, childbirth and disease are excluded
Workers' comp injuries, and a list of high-risk activities

        

The cash goes to you, not to a provider, so it can cover a deductible, a copay, rent, or the week of work you missed. That flexibility is the point of it.

Term life with living benefits

Life insurance

Term lengths10 to 30 years
Health questionsYes, simplified underwriting
Living benefitsIncluded where offered, no extra premium
Critical or terminal illnessUp to 90% of the benefit
Chronic illnessLower rate, paid over time
Qualifying eventsCritical, chronic, terminal
Exam or labs requiredOften none, depends on the case and carrier

This is the layer that catches the catastrophe. Certified with a qualifying critical illness, chronically ill, or certified terminal, and you can take a portion of the death benefit as cash while you're alive and put it toward whatever the illness is costing you. Qualifying conditions typically include life-threatening cancer, heart attack, stroke, end stage renal failure, major organ failure, ALS and advanced Alzheimer's. The exact acceleration percentage, the qualifying conditions and their definitions are set by the carrier's rider and vary by carrier and by state. Chronic illness accelerates at a materially lower rate than critical or terminal, and some carriers reduce the payment by an actuarial discount and an administrative fee. Before you sign anything I'll put the actual rider language in front of you.

Face amount maximums step down with age, and living benefit definitions differ state to state. I'll show you exactly what applies to you before you decide anything.

The Gold Package

Three layers that cover each other’s gaps.

This is the build I put together most, and it has a name because it comes up that often: the Gold Package. Any one of these three on its own has a hole in it. Stacked, each covers what the others leave exposed — and the whole thing usually costs less than one marketplace premium.

Health — your day-to-day care

Doctor visits, labs, imaging, prescriptions, and a structure for the big stuff. This is the layer everyone shops for, and on its own it leaves you exposed to the deductible or unshared amount you picked.

The gap it leaves The first $2,500 or $5,000 is on you. See how layer 02 fills it

Accident — cash that fills that gap

Broken bone. Car wreck. Off a ladder. Kid’s sports injury. AccidentWise pays a fixed cash benefit straight to you, not to a hospital — so you decide whether it covers the deductible, the copays, or the week of work you missed.

On the three levels: a hospital admission pays $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000. An ER trip pays $1,000 to $2,000. Outpatient surgery, or an MRI or CT after an accident, pays $1,000 to $2,000 each.

That admission benefit is bigger than any deductible on this page. If the cause was an accident, the money to clear it comes from the plan instead of your account. There is no medical underwriting, and the premium does not go up as you age.

The gap it leaves Accidents only. Sickness is not covered at all — illness, disease, pregnancy and stroke are excluded. It is not major medical. See how layer 03 fills it

Living benefits — life insurance you can use while alive

A term policy, but we are not buying it for the death benefit. If you are diagnosed with a qualifying critical illness, become chronically ill, or are certified terminal, you can access up to 90% of the death benefit as cash while you are still here.

That is the money that covers the deductible, the max out of pocket, the mortgage, and the income you stop earning while you are in treatment — the part a health plan was never designed to replace.

The 15 conditions that can trigger a critical illness claim

Invasive life-threatening cancer
Stroke
Major heart attack
End stage renal failure
Major organ transplant
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Blindness due to diabetes
Paralysis of two or more limbs
Major burns
Coma
Aplastic anemia
Benign brain tumor
Aortic aneurysm
Heart valve replacement
Coronary artery bypass graft surgery

In California the cancer condition is defined as invasive or metastatic cancer. Each condition has a precise definition in the policy rider, and the definition in your contract is what governs a claim — not this list and not any summary of it. I will put the actual rider language in front of you before you sign anything.

The catch worth knowing The rider’s own definitions decide whether a claim qualifies, the amounts vary by carrier and state, and accelerating a benefit reduces what your family receives later. Ask me how the rider reads on your case

Why it is put together this way

A sickness lands on layer one. An accident lands on layer two, in cash. A diagnosis that stops your income lands on layer three. Most people buy only the first one, then find out what it does not do at the worst possible moment.

Not everybody needs all three — that is a conversation, not a package I push on you. Tell me your situation and I will tell you which layers actually earn their keep for you.

Tier three, the membership route

MightyWELL, and what it actually is.

There is a third route people ask me about constantly, usually because they saw it advertised somewhere at a price that looked too good. It can work for the right household. But you have to understand what you're joining, because it's not insurance.

Its own documents say this, repeatedly. I'm quoting, not paraphrasing.

“MightyWELL is not a major medical insurance plan. It is a healthcare marketing platform that facilitates access to preventive services, copay-based care, and a health sharing community for larger medical events.”

“The health sharing component is not insurance, and sharing is subject to member guidelines and eligibility.”

“No individual component or combination of components is designed to function as comprehensive major medical insurance. This bundle is not insurance.”

That means nobody guarantees your bills get paid. Members voluntarily share eligible expenses under a set of guidelines. That's a fundamentally different promise from an insurance contract, and anyone who blurs the two is doing you harm.

MightyWELL bundle

Not insurance · membership + sharing

Primary care visit$20 copay · 6 per year

Specialist visit$50 copay · 4 per year

Urgent care$50 copay · 4 per year

Telemedicine$0 · 24/7, unlimited

Chiropractic$35 copay · 12 per year

X-ray$50 copay · 6 per year

Advanced imaging (MRI, CT)$200 copay · 2 per year

Preventive careCovered in full, up to an annual cap

Everyday generics$0 on the common list, $15 otherwise

Brand-name drugs$40 preferred · $65 non-preferred

Doctors you can seeAny provider you want

Large medical eventsShared by the member community

AvailabilityAll 50 states

“Unshared amount” — in plain English

It is the part of a big medical bill you cover yourself before the member community starts sharing the rest. On the plan I enroll people into, that is $5,000.

It behaves like a deductible, but it is not one, and the difference is the whole point: with insurance a company is contractually obliged to pay once you hit your deductible. Here, nobody is obliged. Members share eligible bills under a set of guidelines.

Your routine care does not touch it. The copays above are what you pay at the visit, and they work from day one — you do not have to spend $5,000 first to use them. The unshared amount only comes into play for something large, like a hospital stay or surgery.

What it costs

It depends on your age, your state and who is on it, so I am not going to put a number here that turns out to be wrong for you. The enrollment page shows you your exact monthly cost before you commit to anything — you can look without signing up.

For most self-employed households it lands well under a comparable major medical premium. Text me your age and ZIP and I will tell you the real number in a few minutes.

Understand before you join

A condition with symptoms, treatment or medication in the last 24 months (36 for cancer) is not eligible for sharing at all in your first year, then phases in over years two through five
Payment of a medical bill is not guaranteed. Sharing follows member guidelines
Visit counts are capped per year, not unlimited
Dental and vision are not included in the bundle
Manufacturer copay cards for expensive brand drugs generally will not work here, because those programs require major medical coverage
Each component is run by a different third-party administrator under its own rules

Enroll yourself, right now

You do not need me to get started. The whole thing takes about ten minutes on MightyWELL’s own page, and it shows you your exact monthly cost before you commit to anything — you can look without signing up.

Quick fit check first. Three questions, and most people answer no to all three:

Do you have a surgery, procedure or treatment already scheduled?
Have you been diagnosed with something serious in the last two years?
Do you rely on a manufacturer copay card for a brand-name drug?

All three a no? You are exactly who this is built for — go ahead and enroll.

Any of them a yes? Call me before you enroll and I will tell you straight whether this works for you, or point you at something that does.

Enroll online → Questions first · 774-571-7487

One thing after you enroll — important

Text me at 774-571-7487 as soon as you are done. I will confirm your enrollment actually went through and is finalized, walk you through how to use your card and your telemedicine, and be your point of contact from then on. It takes me two minutes and it means you are never on your own with a card you are not sure how to use.

You can also email kuckshealthllc@gmail.com if that is easier.

This is a health-sharing membership, not insurance. Payment of any medical bill is not guaranteed. Enrolling takes you to MightyWELL’s own secure enrollment page.

Where it fits: a healthy household that wants predictable routine-care copays and a community backstop for a large event, and who understands and accepts that the backstop is not a contract. Where it doesn't fit: anyone with ongoing treatment, expensive brand prescriptions, or who needs the certainty of an insurance contract.

Run the scenarios

What it costs when something happens.

Numbers below are the EPO plan, in network.

You wake up and can't swallow.

You see your primary doctor. $40. No deductible to meet first, because there isn't one.

Strep test comes back positive. If it bills as a lab, that's 30% of a small number.

Generic antibiotic at the pharmacy. $0.

Your total: about $40. On a $7,000-deductible marketplace plan, that same visit and prescription can come out of your pocket at full retail.

You blow out your knee playing basketball.

Urgent care that night. $75.

MRI to confirm the tear. 30% of the imaging cost, not the whole thing.

Orthopedic specialist. $60, and you don't need a referral to get in.

Surgery and physical therapy run at 30%, with rehab covered up to 35 visits a year.

Whatever it all adds up to, your share of covered in-network bills stops at $3,500 for the year. That's the ceiling.

Your physical comes back with a new diagnosis.

The physical itself was no charge. Preventive care is covered in full.

Follow-ups with your doctor. $40 each.

Metformin and most maintenance generics. $0. Every month, indefinitely.

Bloodwork to monitor it. 30%.

This is the case where a $0-deductible plan quietly outperforms a cheap premium every single year.

Everything goes wrong at once.

Hospital stay, surgery, specialists, imaging, the works.

Facility and physician charges run at 30% after pre-certification.

Your in-network out-of-pocket maximum is $3,500 for one person, $7,000 for the family. That's the worst case for covered in-network care.

Compare that to a marketplace plan where nothing meaningful is covered until you clear a $7,000 deductible. Here, coverage works from the first visit.

Straight talk

Who this is for, and who it isn't.

Worth a conversation if you

Are self-employed, 1099, or a small business owner with no group plan
Got hit when the enhanced subsidies expired
Are generally healthy and tired of paying for a plan you never touch
Are sick of a deductible you'll never realistically meet
Want to see your doctor without meeting a threshold first

Be honest, probably not if you

Qualify for a strong subsidized marketplace plan (healthcare.gov). I'll tell you, and I'll help you enroll there instead
Are Medicare eligible. Different conversation, and I'll point you to someone good
Have significant ongoing treatment that needs specific in-network continuity

If the marketplace wins, that's what I'll tell you. It costs you nothing to find out either way, the carrier pays me, you don't.

The marketplace

Yes, I write ACA plans too.

If the discount math says the marketplace (healthcare.gov) wins, I'll enroll you there myself. Same deal as everything else here: no fee to you, ever. Open enrollment starts November 1, and outside that window you need a qualifying life event, which I'll check for you.

Not sure where you stand? The discount checker on the home page takes ten seconds, or text me your household size and rough income and I'll run the real number.

Check your discount Text me instead

Next step

Let's price it for your household.

Fifteen minutes. I'll ask about your household, your doctors, your prescriptions and your budget, then show you exactly what it costs and how it compares to what you're paying now. There is an application with health questions, so let's find out where you land before you decide anything.

Or just text me. It's faster. Call 774-571-7487

Ryan Kucks · Kucks Health LLC · Pinellas Park, FL · kuckshealthllc@gmail.com

Text me and I'll price it

A $0 deductible.On the Cigna network.