I'd be shocked if it's only $400.
My wife's insurance skyrocketed last year, so I can only imagine what folks are paying out of pocket. Of course, as we have discussed here before, spending that money in insurance beats the alternative.
The $10K comment is spot on as well. I didn't have that in the bank when I started, but I was fortunate in that I didn't need it right away. But I really needed it in October 2000. I'm still in debt from that awful dry stretch from October 2000-post 9/11.
My big thing about putting off the freelancing career was once I started it I knew I wouldn't want to go back to a traditional job. Once you get a taste of working in your Underoos pajamas, you never want to stop.