If you own a business, you may have to offer health insurance to your employees. However, choosing what plan to offer often varies widely from business to business.
Taking care of your employees means offering a strong health insurance plan. But, you often have to make sure you balance coverage with the right cost benefits. Research how to structure health insurance plans to better protect your employees.
Follow the Law
Insurance law dictates that certain businesses have to offer health insurance to employees. In most cases, if a business has more than a certain number of workers, it has to offer benefits. If you don't offer these benefits, you could face penalties.
Also, the law states that health insurance plans have to fully cover certain services. These may include services like blood tests, vaccinations and certain health screenings. Make sure you take proper care to implement plans that follow insurance law. Generally, this isn't a problem, as most insurance plans automatically include these services.
Determining the Correct Coverage
Outside of requirements, companies often have wide choices in choosing employee benefits. When you assemble a benefits package, carefully consider the needs of employees.
Do proper research of plan providers in your area. Choose an insurance plan offering that is affordable to the company. Remember, you business does bear a cost to cover employees.
Also make sure the plan covers a network of doctors in your area. You want to offer a comprehensive plan that meets the general health needs of your employees. This includes making sure they have access to doctors.
You can also often choose certain aspects of coverage to offer employees. Standard health plans usually cover general health risks related to illness or injury. They should also cover emergency services like major surgery and illness.
You might also offer added health benefits in your insurance coverage. These may include:
- Extra mental health services
Many standard insurance plans don't include these services. However, employees can benefit from the added benefits. They are important parts of overall wellness. If you can include or add these services, consider doing so.
Lastly, choose how much of the cost the company can shoulder, and how much is the responsibility of the employee. Doing so helps you balance costs.
Other Health Benefits
Some companies offer additional health resources to help employees stay healthy. Companies may discount gym, nutrition and fitness services as incentives to their employees. These investments help both employers and employees in the long run. A healthier workforce means more efficiency for businesses.
If you can incentivize employees to stay healthy, you can improve insurance risks. A healthy lifestyle means that an employee won't pose as much of a risk to insure. That way, health cost benefits might improve for both employees and the company.
Stalwart Insurance Agency can help you set up an Pennsylvania group benefit plan to meet your needs. Call us at (844) 220-6047 for more information.