Making Health Insurance Easier
The skyrocketing cost of major medical plans makes it difficult for small
business owners to afford health insurance, let alone provide it for their employees. It’s not at all unusual to see the cost of traditional plans increase by 15-20% each year.
Taken from the employee’s point of view, it makes long-term employment at a small business difficult unless a spouse has access to group benefits. We’d be lying if we said that we could make health insurance cheap….. but we can make it more affordable and help you retain more key employees.
The first option would be to consider a limited benefit health plan. Traditional major medical insurance has deductibles, coinsurance and copays for office visits. By contrast, a limited benefit plan reimburses your employees a predetermined amount of money whenever they access health care. Common reimbursements could be something like:
- $50 per office visit
- $75 for preventative care
- $500 per accident
- $600 daily for hospital stays
Limited plans are far from perfect, but they do help. A key advantage for small business owners is that employees can opt in or out, and groups as small as 2-3 people are often eligible. The premiums for the above plan are typically around $80 per person per month. Of that amount, the employer is required to pay $40.
On the other hand, if you are interested in a true major medical plan for yourself or your employees, but are concerned about cost, consider an HSA plan. HSAs are high-deductible health plans that have only one deductible. In other words, there is no benefit until you’ve spent at least $1,100 in health care expenses. But typically once that level has been attained, the insurer pays 100% of health expenses each year.
These types of plans are much less expensive than traditional plans, and you have the added benefit of an HSA Account. An HSA Account is similar to an IRA. Any money (up to $2,900 annually for individuals and $5,800 for families) contributed to your HSA is directly deductible from your income taxes in the year contributed. The money earns interest on a tax-deffered basis, and it is never taxed if used for a wide variety of health-related expenses.
Through our partnership with Southeastern Brokerage in Athens, Ohio we have access to all of the leading health carriers in Ohio and West Virginia. Give us a chance to make health insurance easier for you.
Use our free individual quoting program (HealthCare for 1) at www.dcmusser.com or call Steve Musser at 740.992.3381 or 800.454.1096 to schedule an appointment.