Sorry, if this seems like it has an obvious answer, but What are healthcare options for musicians?
I have always worked for a company that provided insurance as a benefit, with them sharing the cost. I am able to work less at the day job now & gigging is becoming more of my income to the point where I can play full time in the coming year. This thread has given me some insight on things I need to do that are normally provided by work but may not be there for awhile.
If you go back over the thread, there has been some discussion of this. I'm partly responsible for the ongoing sidetracks due to a flippant remark I made about "civilised countries" and the existence or lack of public healthcare. That one seems to stir the hornets' nest every time. I know better, but I do it anyway...
The point is that your options are going to be different depending on your location and what sort of work you're doing. For instance, in the UK we have the National Health Service as a service provided to all and sundry. For musicians specifically, the union offers certain base-level coverage and access to a corporate rate for extended coverage based on membership. However, they don't "co-pay" like a big corporation might, which leaves most the cost of extended coverage to the individual. Of course, there are also plenty of private firms - i.e. Blue Cross, etc. - offering private healthcare coverage.
You'll need to research what's available to you where you're at. Depending on the kind of work you do, it might be possible to organise a group rate with other musicians if you were all - for instance - working for the same record company or studio or production company, though that could be difficult. You may simply need to bite the bullet and fork out the cost of individual private coverage at whatever level you can afford, and factor that into your living costs.
If you're young, single, reasonably healthy and don't have dependents or mortgages and that sort of thing, the rates can be fairly reasonable, because you may just want a policy that covers certain aspects of healthcare in the event of accident or illness stopping you working. If you don't have to take care of beneficiaries, there's really no need to go out and spend a tonne on life insurance, etc. The more responsibilities you have, the more insurance you'll need to ensure things keep ticking over in the event of a problem. And remember that insurance is basically the insurance company betting on the odds of you having something terrible happen, so costs are always lower for young, healthy people because of the obvious statistics.
There are companies that have specific plans set up for musicians that are a package of health, accident/indemnity and instrument theft/loss cover. Some might even throw travel and car insurance in. Luckily, it looks as though you're internet-capable, and there is plenty of information/comparison shopping to be done via the web. Or, you can simply call up an insurance company, tell them your situation and see what they can offer you.