Employee Health Insurance: A Guide for Small Businesses

As a small business owner, you may want to provide your employees with the option to participate in a group health insurance plan. Doing so can improve employee retention and loyalty while also providing your company with a potential tax break.

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To explore your options, consider working with a licensed insurance broker or learning more about choices on your own. This would also include being informed on insurance for Workers Compensation as well.

Another way to provide health benefits to your employees is by directly partnering up with medical experts. For example, you can inform your employees to check out this dentist in Pasadena for their dental care needs after you have finalized a collaboration with their dental practice. That said, group health insurance is still worth considering as it provides better coverage.

Do I Qualify for a Tax Break if I Provide My Employees with Health Insurance?

To qualify for a tax break by providing employees with health insurance, you must meet all of the following requirements:

Have 25 or fewer full-time employees
Offer insurance to all full-time employees
The average salaries of your full-time employees must be at least $50,000
You must pay at least 50% of the cost of the health care plan

In addition to meeting the criteria, you must also purchase a health insurance plan through the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Exchange that was set up by the Affordable Care Act. You may receive a tax credit of up to 50% of the health insurance premiums that you pay.

How Do I Select a Plan?

You should select a plan based on your needs and the needs of your employees. For example, if you have a relatively healthy staff, they may not need lots of health care benefits. In this case, it might make sense to go with a high-deductible plan.

These types of plans have relatively low monthly premiums. However, visiting a doctor may be more expensive than under other types of health insurance plans. You can investigate typical costs for more specific medical procedures, such as bunion surgery at Northwest Surgery Center, when selecting a plan.

For companies that have employees who require regular health care, a more traditional plan may be a better fit. These types of plans have higher monthly premiums, but co-pays for doctor’s visits are limited and more coverage may be provided for hospital stays.

If you’re not sure what type of plan to select, consult with a licensed insurance broker or health insurance billing consultants. They will seek to understand the needs of your company and help you select the plan that best fits those needs. In addition, they can assist with the paperwork required to set up appropriate coverage.

What Should I Ask When Selecting a Health Care Plan?

When selecting a plan, you should have full knowledge of the cost of the plan, the coverage that is provided, and the size of the health care network. Plans with a smaller network are typically cheaper, but employees will be limited in the doctors that they may visit when using their insurance. It’s also essential to consider health insurance savings options, such as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), which can help you set aside pre-tax dollars to cover out-of-pocket medical expenses.

Other good questions to ask involve the deductible amounts that must be met before coverage is provided, the size of the payment that will be required for co-pays, and the type of plan offered. Common plan types include HMOs and PPOs.

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