March 28, 2007 10:54 AM

Self-employed lose healthcare option
Posted by Douglas Eisenhartat 10:54 AM

Troubling news from today's Globe for you contractors and contract employees out there - and that is a growing number of you:

A major source of health insurance for people who work for themselves has all but disappeared, casting thousands of contractors, freelancers, and solo practitioners into the ranks of the uninsured, with little hope of obtaining new coverage.

Health plans offered by professional associations were once safe havens for millions of people who couldn't obtain coverage anywhere else. But as medical costs soar, groups representing professions as varied as law and golf have stopped offering the benefit or been dropped by insurers.