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Providing a sound health insurance plan to employees is a great hiring and retention tool for Ohio employers. However, it’s becoming increasingly difficult today to balance the desire to provide health insurance for your employees with the need to manage costs in a perpetually evolving health care landscape. This is especially true for small business health insurance plans, since the costs paid for monthly premiums are more affordable for larger groups of employees.
Health care and the resulting employee health insurance plans designed to pay for medical expenses and stays in hospitals are affected by a wide array of social, economic, and medical factors. Moreover, these factors continually shift and evolve among insurance companies, government, and families. You may think you have a handle on health insurance procedures, but within a short time everything changes. Many situations influence the costs, benefits, resources, and coverage requirements of group health insurance:
Helping navigate changes and determining what type of plan works for your Columbus, Ohio-based employees is what we do at Haughn & Associates (H&A). Our knowledgeable advisors work hard to help you find the most affordable group coverage for your employees from a wide range of reputable insurance companies, such as a health plan from Medical Mutual, Anthem, or United Healthcare.
Several specific programs have been developed with small businesses in mind that let employees choose appropriate group plans, including family plans, to meet their needs.
Employers with no more than 50 employees can participate in the Small Business Health Options Program, also known as SHOP insurance. Through this federal initiative, small businesses can offer a variety of flexible health insurance or dental plans to their employees. One of the great things about this option is that employees can enroll anytime since there is no special enrollment period.
Employers who take part in SHOP may also qualify for a tax credit that pays 50% of the premiums for the health plans of company employees. To qualify for this tax break for the employer contribution, the small business must have 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees.
Groups of employers can band together in a multiple employer welfare arrangement, often referred to as a MEWA, to pool their resources to obtain more health insurance options and gain price breaks on small business health insurance premiums. By sharing risk and combining the employees covered, the self-funded MEWA provides members with cost-efficient group health insurance.
Companies that join the Ohio Chamber of Commerce can receive a more competitive rate on self-funded group medical plans. Participation depends on how many employees work for a small business, since a Chamber of Commerce member must have at least two but no more than 50 employees to benefit from the discount.
Smaller companies in Ohio may also enjoy savings by bundling their health coverage with dental, vision, disability, life, and Medicare Advantage or supplement plans. Monthly savings add up, and employees appreciate being covered for dental, vision, and life insurance services and having access to Medicare supplements.
Our experienced employee benefits team has worked for three decades with small and large businesses alike, serving fully insured clients as well as those who are self-funded.
Many small businesses prefer fully insured medical plans, including Preferred Provider Organizations and Health Maintenance Organizations.
PPO plans create a network by negotiating contracts with individual providers of medical services to give discounts to members who use the hospitals and physicians within this network. Employees enrolled in PPO plans can still use providers outside of the network as long as they are willing to make higher payments to non-network doctors or other providers.
Employees who enroll in an HMO plan, however, are only covered for medical services performed by caregivers within the HMO network. If an employee in a group HMO plan decides to see a physician or other provider outside the network, the employee will have to pay the entire cost for the medical services received.
Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts or arrangements are two possible options small business employers may provide for eligible employees. These plans can offer the employees who enroll alternative ways to set aside savings to cover health emergencies.
By using non-traditional health plan designs, such as self-insured plans and captives, our insurance specialists can devise programs for small businesses that balance every key health benefit within the financial parameters of the employer.
Although self-funded group health plans carry more risks, they often save on administrative expenses charged by insurance company group plans. This makes self-funded plans worth considering along with fully funded plans.
From a health plan with minimum essential coverage for a small business just starting out to group plans with affordable coverage for more established employers, our carrier partners furnish excellence, value, and a wide choice of medical plans for Ohio businesses. Not only do they offer group coverage with cost-effective premiums, but they also provide quick and responsive customer services and claims assistance.
Our programs are available through a large and prestigious list of insurance providers, including Anthem, United Healthcare, and Medical Mutual. Their insurance plans are renowned for offering comprehensive employer group health insurance and quality service.
You can also rely on H&A to conduct annual reviews of your group health and medical plan that take the latest industry trends into consideration, along with how current issues can affect your health benefit offering. Since medical underwriting constantly changes with legislative initiatives and economic developments, reviewing your current group health plan every year is a necessity to provide adequate employee coverage and keep costs in line.
We’ll also look to see if you qualify for cost-effective alternatives and offer you innovative solutions to help you save even more.
Implementing wellness programs as part of the benefits for employees may even qualify groups for premium reductions. Although we believe the prescription for rising health care costs is not as simple as negotiating a lower premium, the medical benefits of reducing health risks and maintaining a healthy lifestyle through wellness endeavors pay lasting dividends.
Employee engagement, health and productivity improvement, and responding to variances in the cost and quality of care contribute to improved medical resources and health care coverage. These critical components of designing a successful environment offer a keen understanding of the ins and outs of health care.
At Haughn & Associates (H&A), our core values and principles of integrity, honesty, dependability, innovation, and collaboration shape who we are and guide us; they ultimately allow our team to provide our clients with high-quality insurance products and an unparalleled level of superior service. Each business, family, and individual is given the personalized attention needed to design the right fit of insurance and risk management protection for your insurance package.
