Small Group Health Insurance. Self employed help

Small Group Health Insurance. Self Employed Individuals

We saw in another article, the difficultly of getting medical insurance for the self employed. In that, we looked at the various avenues open to small business owners, and one of them was to get small group health insurance. Self employed individuals can get themselves a group policy that suits their needs. This article examines this option in detail and looks at how small business health plans differ from regular health plans.

Small group health insurance - The benefits

Your business can qualify for small group health insurance even if there are just two people in your organization including yourself. Insurance plans vary greatly from state to state, but there are a few federal laws that are universally appliacable as well. For example, the concept of guaranteed issue is one that is almost universal. It means that no insurance company that is in the business of providing group health insurance can refuse your business group health care regardless of the circumstances.

Image Credit:  Berd Whitlock

In addition, group health insurance costs significantly less for your employees compared to purchasing health care individually. The main reason for this is the loss of adverse selection. The employees of a company don't take the job for the purpose of receiving health care, and therefore the insurance company has less reason to be suspicious of them and can lower the premiums as it believes the risk will be lower as well.

Also, the contributions that you as an employer make towards the premiums payed to the insurance comany are not taxable. The premiums paid by the employees are not taxable either. This of course is assuming that the money you give your employees is earmarked only for insurance coverage and can't be spent anywhere else.

You are more likely to get better talent if your business provides group health insurance since it will prove more attractive. If your competitor is providing a similar coverage, then you will do well to provide the same.

Selecting various options for small group health insurance

Small firms that offer health insurance typically offer very restricted choices. This is due to the insurance company not having the motivaion to sit down and create a custom plan. That privilege is for the large groups only. If you've got this far in the article, it's a fair bet to say that your business doesn't qualify as a large group. There will be several options to consider when choosing small group health coverage. Here are some of them.

Should you make your insurance cover mandatory for all employees? This will reduce your costs per person but will create problems if some of your employees are already insured elsewhere. For example, they may already possess insurance through their spouses.

Second, you need to consider what percentage of the premiums you are willing to pay. In addition, does your insurance plan cover the employee's family as well? And will you be paying a percentage of the premiums for their coverage?

Since there are so many options, a thorough research is in order. Use this site to it's full potential by stating your requirements and finding a quote that suits you. Best of luck with finding your coverage!

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Michael Horvat is a health insurance expert and broker with HealthQuotes.com in Colorado Springs, CO. If you are searching for Colorado health insurance plans or quotes, please give Michael a call anytime at 800-345-0789.

http://www.healthquotes.com