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Independent Contracting - is it worth it? - MTwithquestions

Posted: Jan 04, 2013

I have a zillion questions; however, I am on unemployment, which I would probably get an extension and a grant to go to school only I am not really interested in coding/billing because well I am just not that keen on the healthcare field anymore. Not to start anything, but unem really only wants to give grants for a 3- to 6-month certificate mill, in which more than likely I would not get a job coding anyway. All it would do is buy me some more time to wait for something else, which in my state there is no more upward mobility - nor are there jobs that pay a living wage for normal working hours.

Guess my question is - I have an opportunity for an independent contracting job, only the contract is a bit overwhelming. Using your own laptop, is that safe, and I am not understanding the pay scale. It is a grid which I don't want to put on here but basically 7.25 is tops (I know, I used to make 12 cents/line years ago).

Thing is, I really do like working at home and no longer have transportation to go to and from work.

This company sounds kind of good, though, and it is straight typing, good schedule, etc. Everything I would like - (except working as an independent contractor) but what else is there really, for 10 to 12 years left of work?

Any tips or advice, would be appreciated. Either E me or on here -

Thanks so much MTStars

think I got my answer on the main board - MTwithquestions

[ In Reply To ..]
...think I will hold off and try to find a new career - something unrelated to healthcare. someone posted that all transcription will be VR in a few years so perhaps that is why there are not any employee jobs much left.

the writing (typing) is on the wall...

ic - mmt

[ In Reply To ..]
First, the person stating it will be all speech is wrong. So don't base your own life decisions on that (well unless you really want to, then by all means go ahead).

Second, the best thing about being a contractor is not having any taxes taken out of your check so every penny you earn is yours in your check. *IF* you are poor, married, or very low middle class, you will likely pay little to no taxes on what you earn.

If you're a true contractor, you are working hours to your liking and not the MTSO, or you have your own accounts, which means the buck stops with you and your schedule will be whatever it needs to be to keep the client happy.

I'm doing a lot of recommending PT or OT assistant. Both make decent money and are sometimes fun and interesting. Training is 2 years.

There will always be healthcare documentation jobs. They aren't going to look like (or likely pay like) the jobs of 10 years ago, but they will be there.

this is not true contractor, just for a company - MTwithquestions

[ In Reply To ..]
we would be expected to pay workers comp, general liability and something called errors and omissions insurance?

the taxes, aren't they due quarterly, and do you have to hire a tax person?

thank you - this is helpful stuff...

ic - ic

[ In Reply To ..]
Of course you could/should check with an accountant but seriously, if you are on the low income of life, you won't owe taxes on the money, so why send it in to the government? Put it in your own savings account.

And never take a job where someone is forcing you to pay WC (you can't collect WC because you are the principal of your own business; the same goes for UE insurance, although some MTs have been able to prove they are really employees and not contractors and have collected.)

Someone requiring you to pay that stuff has some whacked out view of thinking it proves to the IRS that you are not an employee. They're wrong. NONE of those would be an indicator as to whether you are an employee or not.

I work one job as an employee and contract other work. With the taxes taken out from my employee position, I owe no further taxes (get refunds in fact) so I don't sweat taking money out of my IC funds. If you have a spouse who is paying taxes, you can just wait and see where you land at tax time. (No I'm *not* an accountant, just someone who's been an IC for 35 years.)

IC info - me

[ In Reply To ..]
I work as an IC with my own clients and am definitely not required to provide errors and omissions insurance--I am covered under their blanket. It is the office's responsibility to check behind me, although I do have the expected 99.99% accuracy rate. Since I control the sound quality, this is not a problem.

You can provide yourself with disability insurance... wish I had but now too late. Any subcontractors I use are independent contractors and I am not responsible, although I do have group medical insurance available if I were to hire "an employee." This is completely tax deductible, as are all other work-related expenses and a percentage of your rent or home payments depending on your office size, etc.

Taxes are easy, and now Quick Books is offering it free online, but you can hire a tax specialist.

Not only am I paid more, but there is nothing more satisfying, in my opinion, as having your own clients and control over your work (I have it stated in my service contract land line only). You are able to directly address any issues, such as terrible dictators, etc. You are also treated better IMO. There are also financial advantages obviously of having the same dictators and work coming in.... pulling up and typing over prior reports saves time (depending on work type), which equals money, or templates... whatever. For example, I give physicians a slight discount for using normals and templates, saves us both time and money.

I also do not have to deal with cumbersome, time-consuming platforms and have my own dictation system (total control over sound quality).

I have never worked as an employee and only briefly for services.

I am an IC - ex-Nuance

[ In Reply To ..]
I just recently switched to being an independent contractor. It is working out great for me. I have a 24-hour TAT for my accounts, so as long as the work is done by then I can work whenver I want. I am paid almost 4 cpl more than your offer, so I am still making more than what I was at Nuance after paying my own taxes. There are no benefits, of course, but I wasn't getting them at Nuance either because they were too expensive. I know that my work won't turn into VR down the road as I am just typing in Word and submitting the files via FTP. I'm not sure if it will last forever, but for right now it works well for me. I would suggest talking to a career counselor before giving up on a grant to go back to school. There are so many more options out there than just coding or billing. There are other jobs that you can do at home if that is what you want to do. Anyway, my advice would be not to take the IC job that you mentioned in your posts but being an IC in general can be a really good thing.

IC vs employee - OHMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't think all jobs will be going to VR, so I wouldn't worry too much about that at the moment.

I don't understand why some of these posters are telling you that you won't have to pay taxes. I've been an IC for years (working for a company) and yes, I do pay taxes. I have a separate checking account, and when I get paid, I calculate 30% of my pay and transfer it over to the other account. That covers my taxes and health insurance (which I provide for myself).

If you have a room that you use solely as a home office, you can deduct part of your mortgage, utility payments, and cable. You'd need to figure out the square footage of your house, then figure out the square footage of your home office and deduct that percent. For example, the bedroom that I use is 13% of the square footage of my house, so I deduct 13% of my home expenses.

As an IC, you do use your own equipment, but if all you have is a laptop I would suggest plugging in a regular full size keyboard. I couldn't imagine typing on a laptop all day! You can also take tax deductions on equipment that you use for work... your computer, headphones, ink for your printer if you have to print stuff for work, etc.

If you have a job offer with a company as an IC, there's no reason not to give it a try. To me, the biggest difference is that they don't take any taxes out, so you are responsible for them. You might pay more, though, because an employee pays half of your Social Security tax, but as an IC, you would be paying for all of it. Probably the easiest way to figure it out is to look at how much was taken out when you were an employee, and add about 7% to that.

Feel free to email me if you have any other questions. I'd be happy to answer them if I can. Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

TY OHMT - MTwithquestions

[ In Reply To ..]
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