If you work for yourself in Washington, health insurance is one of those things that has no obvious starting point. There is no HR department to hand you a packet, no open-enrollment email from a benefits team, and no payroll deduction that quietly takes care of it. It is just you, a set of unfamiliar websites, and a lot of terms that were clearly written for someone with a benefits coordinator.
This guide is here to make the first step less murky. It will not tell you which plan to pick or what anything will cost, that depends entirely on your own situation, and those are questions for a licensed person. What it can do is show you where to start, what the official Washington resources are, and how to prepare so that when you do talk to someone licensed, the conversation is short and useful.
Who this is for
If any of these describe you, you are in the right place:
- 1099 workers and independent contractors
- Freelancers and consultants
- Gig and app-based workers
- Real estate agents and other commission-based workers
- Self-employed trade workers
- Sole proprietors and single-member businesses
- Small business owners without a group health plan
- Anyone leaving a job and losing employer coverage
The common thread is simple: no employer is handling health insurance for you, so the work of understanding your options falls to you.
Where to start: the official Washington resources
Washington runs its own resources for this, and they are the right first stop. Start with the official sites rather than a general search, they are the source of truth, and a licensed person will point you back to them anyway.
- Washington Healthplanfinder, the state's official marketplace for individual and family coverage: wahealthplanfinder.org
- Healthplanfinder, Self-Employed People, a page written specifically for people in your situation: Self-Employed People
- Healthplanfinder, Steps to Apply, what the application process actually looks like: Steps to Apply
- WA Office of the Insurance Commissioner, Individuals & families, neutral, official guidance on how individual coverage works: Individuals & families
- OIC, Individual & family health plans & premiums, how the state reviews plans and premiums: Plans & premiums
- OIC, When you can buy an individual health plan, when individual coverage can be purchased: When you can buy
These pages are thorough, which is good, but it is also exactly why a lot of self-employed people open them, feel overwhelmed, and close the tab. That is normal. You do not have to absorb all of it before you ask for help.
What to gather before you talk to a licensed person
A licensed professional can review your specific situation and explain what options may be available, but the conversation goes much faster if you walk in with a few things in hand. Before you reach out, try to gather:
- Your ZIP code and county
- Your household size, who would be on the coverage
- An estimate of your annual household income (more on this below)
- Your current coverage status, what you have now, if anything
- Whether any employer coverage is ending soon
- Whether you need individual or family coverage
- Your work status, 1099, freelancer, contractor, consultant, sole proprietor, or small business owner
- Whether you have employees
- Any doctors, prescriptions, or specific concerns you want to raise
None of this commits you to anything. It just means the licensed person is not spending your time gathering basics.
A note on self-employed income
Income is the part that trips up most self-employed people, because it is rarely the same two months in a row. You do not need a perfect number. Gather what you have, recent records of what you have earned, and a reasonable estimate for the year, and let the licensed person walk you through how Washington looks at it. Washington Healthplanfinder is the official place to review how income is handled, so start there and bring your questions to the conversation rather than trying to solve it alone.
How licensed help works
The goal of this site is not to sell you anything or to tell you what to buy. It is to help you understand where to start and, when you are ready, to connect you with licensed health insurance guidance. If you request help, your information may be routed to a licensed person who can review your situation and explain what options may be available to you. You stay in control of the conversation, and you decide what to do next.
This page is for general information only. It does not promise eligibility, pricing, subsidies, plan availability, enrollment, or coverage. Health insurance options depend on your personal situation, location, income, household, and available plans. If you request help, your information may be routed to a licensed person who can review your situation and explain what options may be available.