Health insurance for freelancers can be expensive. When employed by a company, health insurance is generally covered, but strike out on your own and you find yourself paying several hundred dollars or more per month for minimal coverage. As freelancers are expected to make up fifty percent of the U.S. workforce by 2020, one can’t help but think there has to be a better way—and there is.

The Coworking Health Insurance Plan (COHIP) is a progressive program in Ontario, Canada that offers health and dental insurance, term life insurance, disability insurance, travel insurance and more to freelancers. To be eligible for coverage, you simply need to be a member of a coworking space that is part of Coworking Ontario, a collective of coworking spaces from across the province of Ontario.

Created in 2013, COHIP is the first of its kind in the world and was born of a personal experience of its creator, Ashley Proctor, who, among other things, is founder of Creative Blueprint and Foundery, two coworking spaces in Toronto, and executive producer of the Global Coworking Unconference […]