Healthcare can be bought now on your dime and your dime only.
Let's not confuse "healthcare" with "health insurance." Sure, anyone with the money can go to the doc or the hospital as a private pay patient, and the providers absolutely love those folks. But if you actually try to purchase an individual health insurance policy, you are likely to be very disappointed. The insurance companies are not accepting any risks, and the only way you can get underwritten is to be young and in PERFECT health. Underwriting has gotten much tighter since Obama got his plan passed, because the insurers will be forced to take all risks come 2014. So, they are now taking no risks, to maximize their short term profitability between now and 2014.
And, going the independent contractor route may sound easy. It's only easy if you don't get caught. The IRS has pretty specific guidelines about who qualifies as an IC rather than as a statutory employee. Most people working as IC's do not meet the IRS guidelines, and the penalties if you get caught fall on both the IC/employee and the employer. You can expect the IRS to step up enforcement come 2014, because they want as much of your money as they can get, and they know violations will become more common as Obamacare phases in and as the economy improves.
