January 15, 2014
While many businesses are enjoying a one-year grace period from the rate increases under Obamacare, it's important to remember that this is only temporary. Come October 2014, many hard working business owners and human resource directors will have some very tough decisions to make. Moreover, and depending on their size and annual sales, they could be staring at healthcare premiums that leave very little left in the profit column.
An Unconvetional Solution to Rising Business Insurance Premiums
In a direct to response to the coming changes for businesses under the Affordable Care Act, an increasing number of companies are doing something that smaller firms and self-employed contractors have been doing for years - converting their traditional group health plan to multiple individual plans.
Not only does this offer a sound way to cut your healthcare expenses, sometimes quite drastically, it also provides more flexibility in coverage based on the real needs of each employee. Here are just a few of the advantages of allowing employees to buy their own health plan.
Can Significantly Reduce Your Monthly & Annual Savings
By now we've all been made aware that many employees are eligible for healthcare subsidies, government tax credits, and significantly discounted health insurance options. What some employers have not considered, is that you may have employees on staff right now who could be benefiting from these discounts. By allowing your staff to choose their own plan, you may be able to reduce your group premiums substantially. Going this route still has a "group feel" to it, though each person is essentially responsible for their own healthcare policy.
The Health of One Won't Affect the Rates of Many
Every company has an employee (or several employees) who are constantly sick, injured, or dealing with some various health issue. This, over time, does nothing but increase the amounts that the entire staff pays--which ultimately ends up coming right out of the owner's pocket. By offering your team the option of purchasing an individual healthcare plan, they and they alone are the only ones who will have to pay the steep price for running to the doctor twice a month for poor lifestyle choices, or any number of non-threatening aches, pains, colds and scrapes.
Increased Plan & Coverage Flexibility
Under conventional plans, the type of coverage available is generally limited to two, maybe three options… be it an HMO, PPO or HSA/HRA, this is primarily done as a way to keep the account more easily managed. When each employee has their own plan, the options are far more diverse. Each employee gets the coverage they need at rates that are the same or lower, to you and them. Again, many will be able to qualify for Obamacare tax credits, which tends to make the process more appealing to all those involved. Additionally, they will also feel a stronger sense of privacy when the policy is 100% in their control.
Get a FREE Group Insurance Analysis to See What You Could be Saving
If you're in charge of the health benefits for your staff, you owe it to yourself to find out how much money you could be saving monthly and annually. Premier is one of the leading and top-rated health insurance agencies in Illinois, and located in the Lisle/Naperville area. We have a high success rate with businesses of all sizes, and have traditionally been able to help businesses lower their premiums by up to 40%.
Call Premier today for a free review of your current group health plan. If we can help you save, we'll let you know. If not, you won't need to worry about months of high-pressure follow up calls. But you won't know until you speak with one of our licensed staff agents. Give us a call today at 800-369-0287 and find out for yourself.