Thinking about getting health insurance for your small business employees, but don’t know where to start?

After all, we’re just regular people ourselves … parents, business owners, consumers … and like anyone else, we could all use a little relief here and there (especially those of us who don’t qualify for subsidies under the overly-controlling mandates of “Obamacare”).

If your business has fewer than 50 employees, then you are not required to offer health insurance. But as many small business owners recommend, it can be difficult to grow a young company without a competitive benefits package. On the other hand, sometimes the smarter financial move is to not offer health benefits. For example, some low-income employees might qualify for an ACA subsidy on the individual market, making it the cheaper option. Or perhaps some of your employees are already covered by a spouse’s group plan. As you’ll find out in this guide, health insurance for small businesses is more affordable than you think. It also creates access to several valuable tax benefits for employer and employee alike.

SMALL GROUP HEALTH 2INSURANCE

Group health insurance is perhaps the most common form of employment benefit. With small group health insurance, the employer chooses a plan or selection of plans to offer their employees. The employer can also decide how much they want to contribute to the cost of the plan. The employee pays the rest of the premium out of their paycheck with pre-tax dollars.

 The employer chooses a plan, or a selection of plans

This is the most difficult part of the whole process but can be easy when working with an advisor. Choosing a plan means considering the needs of your employees and dependents. What kind of benefits will they need, and who will be covered? Will the plan cover dependents? 

The employer decides how much to contribute This can be a number that makes sense for your company’s financial needs. Usually, premiums for small group coverage are split in some way between the company and the employer.

Enrolled employees will have a monthly premium, a set deductible, and an out-of-pocket maximum This information is all available beforehand and can help convince an employee to enroll.

The cost of the premium is a shared, pre-tax deduction from the employee paycheck After the plan is chosen and the employees are enrolled, administration is a piece of cake. As long as the employee continues earning a paycheck, they will remain covered. Payments are automatic and handled via payroll.

How do I set up a group health insurance plan for small business?

How much can the company afford to pay for group insurance?

What kind of plan is best suited for my employees?

What benefits and plan options will help attract top talent? What kind of group plans are available in my state?

The first step is creating an overview of your company and employee needs. You should begin by asking questions like: Once you have a general view of your needs, reach out to us and we can help you with what’s best for your company and its employees

HEALTH SHARING PLANS FOR  EMPLOYEES

For businesses and employees alike, health sharing for employees can save a bundle on monthly premiums. In fact, the average health sharing plan is about half the cost of unsubsidized health insurance. Health care sharing is not actually health insurance. Instead, it is a membership-based cost sharing program. In exchange for a monthly contribution, members can have their medical expenses shared according to a fixed-price reimbursement model. But like any health care strategy, health sharing isn’t for everyone. These plans come with waiting periods for pre-existing conditions, and coverage is usually less comprehensive

The employer chooses a medical cost sharing organization like Imapct Health Sharing The employee signs a statement of principles or an equivalent member agreement. Medical cost-sharing organizations ask members to agree to live by a set of moral, ethical, and health-conscious principles. For faith-based health share organizations, this is referre to as a statement of faith.

The employer and the employee share the cost of the monthly member contribution. Like with insurance or an HRA, the employer decides how much they want to contribute. The remainder is paid by the employee, usually directly from payroll. Unlike HRAs and group insurance, health share contributions are not tax deductible.

The employee provides the medical provider with their membership card or submits bills for review after an expense is incurred. Many health sharing plans work very similarly to health insurance, with a PPO network. Others allow you to see any provider and then require that the member submit their medical receipts for approval.

The health sharing organization determines how much of the cost will be shared. After the receipts have been received, the health sharing organization decides how much of the cost will be shared. This takes into account any amount the member is responsible for (like a deductible) as well as whether or not the incurred costs are qualified according to the membership guidelines.

How do I set up a health sharing plan for my employees? How often do my employees seek medical care?

What kind of options would be popular?

Would my employees benefit more from lower premiums or more options?

Make a list of your company’s standard medical needs. This means seeking out the answers to questions like: Also determine the amount that the company can contribute towards health benefits.

Once decided, reach out to us and we can help you with what’s best for your company and its employees.

Important point to note is the difference between Health Sharing and Health Insurance Healthcare cost sharing for employees is an alternative to health insurance, but it is not insurance. This allows health sharing to be more flexible.