Do Small Businesses Need Health Insurance?

While it is mandatory for big companies to provide health insurance to their employees, small businesses are often exempt from this regulation. However, insuring your employees will help you when accidents at work happens, and of course it will increase their satisfaction towards your company. Before getting an insurance plan for your small business, here are some questions you need to consider.

How much will it cost your business?
Since a health insurance plan is not mandatory for small businesses, there’s no requirement towards how much of the total premium that you need to pay for your employees. However, your employees would most likely expect you to pay for over 50 percent of their premium. Make sure you can handle the costs before signing your employees up for group insurance.

Will the same policy suit all the employees?
Depending on the age and health condition of your employees, the same policy may not suit them. If most of your employees are around the same age and has no major health problems, then a group insurance would benefit them well. If there is a lot of diversity in age and health care needs, then it’s better for them to get insurance that are well-tailored to their needs.

Are your employees eligible for government subsidies?
The government provides subsidies to health insurance cost for people who have a low income. This regulation doesn’t apply to employees who has health insurance provided by their employer. So, if your employees are eligible for subsidies, it may be cheaper to make use of it rather than buying a group health insurance.

Do your employees want to be insured?
Your employees may already have a health insurance plan that they are comfortable with, so you have to ask them whether they are interested in a group health insurance provided by the company. Explain the benefits of both individual and company-provided insurance so they can decide which is better for them.

What if your employees prefer getting insurance on their own?
In a lot of cases, health insurance provided by the company won’t be suited for their employees. Aside from that, your employees may want to make use of government subsidies available like previously mentioned. If this is the case, it’s better for you to give an extra allowance for them to get a plan on their own.

After asking those questions to yourself and your employees, you can decide whether you would want to have your employees insured by your company. If you decide that it would be best for your company to purchase a plan for them, selecting the right insurer will be the next step towards getting a policy that would satisfy everyone.

At Roper Insurance Services, we do our best in making sure that our clients are well-protected with affordable and comprehensive policies. To learn more about how we can help you, please contact our agency at (828) 697-6709 or Click Here to request a free quote.

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