If you're a one-man show in your business world, finding quality yet affordable health insurance could be a real challenge.

Roycroft master artisan Thomas Pafk knows which all too well. For nearly two decades, he had enjoyed an enviable reputation for creating fine furniture. Not nearly as enjoyable, however, is the feeling that he's now between a rock and a hard place when it comes to finding and financing a health plan.

"Oh god, it's a nightmare. It's the worst thing," says the owner of Thomas Pafk Design, whose studio/shop is located in East Aurora. "I have had all different types of insurance. I've done it all, and it costs a fortune. They make it so hard for small businesses to get any kind of insurance at all. It's ridiculous."

Affordability could be a big issue for self-proprietors, independent contractors and other small-business owners as well. They find themselves playing a numbers game when it comes to health-care costs, and then to it's a game that's no fun.

"If you're a one-man band, it costs an arm and a leg," says one local observer.

"It's like buying a Lexus without getting the Lexus," says Tom Kolveck of Buffalo Carpentry, referring to high monthly premiums he has paid in past years.

"The cost is real. It's a big nut," says Kolveck, a longtime carpenter/restoration specialist whose family currently receives benefits through his wife's job as a medical professional.

"It's an expense, and it's hard to pass that expense on to your customers."

"I know several sole proprietors who just don't have health insurance. There were even times when I went without it for a year or two. (But) you have to have it," says Pafk, who's now married and has a child. "Many self-employed people have a spouse who works and gets health insurance, but there are others out there who just don't have it. They don't know where to turn."