Getting health insurance for small companies can be a difficult task. There are, however, many options that can be considered while opting for health insurance and they depend on a number of factors mainly including the business size. Small companies and startups can get their insurance coverage from the following sources:
Health insurance can be provided by Medicare to seniors after checking for your eligibility through your tax history and age.
Insurance plans can also be bought through trade associations or individual plans (private/public). Private plans don’t provide you with eligibility for the subsidies offered by government health insurance. Trade association can be more advantageous than these.
The individual plans can also be bought through the individual market. You can buy them from healthcare.gov and gain eligibility for premium tax credits according to the requirements of income and locations.
Other ways of getting health insurance are through Small business Health Insurance Program (SHOP) or Qualified Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA). In the first plan, there must be around 50 full-time employees in your business and almost 70% of them should be enrolled in the coverage. Also, your business should be operating in the same location where you want to offer this plan. In the second one, every employee is allocated with a monthly allowance for insurance and reimbursed for all expenses relating to health care on the submission of all relevant evidence and documentation. There is a requirement for businesses to having less than 50 employees in order to be eligible for the QSEHRA plan.
Getting insurance for your company can be costly. They depend on factors such as the location, age and the number of employees you want insurance for. You can reduce these costs by getting into a cost-sharing arrangement with your workforce.
Monetary costs
How much insurance costs you is dependent on the benefits that you are providing to your employees through it. Usually, employers contribute 80% of the premium and the remaining 20% is provided by the employees of the company. However, if you use an agent, a middle man like a broker, you will also need to fund their fees. It is usually best to charge these costs from your payroll on a monthly basis.
Time costs
Finding and evaluating the best option takes a lot of time. You will need to first analyze your workforce, discuss with them their needs, consult advisors, and evaluate all the options and alternatives, compare health insurance and pick the best plan for your company. Obviously, this is not something that can be done in a day, it will take your time and energy and once you find the perfect plan, you’ll need to monitor it every year for any changes needed.
Some of the things that will be needed when opting for a health insurance plan are:
- Business name and address
- Employee and payroll records
- Tax information and code of industry