People rarely leave their job for trivial reasons. There can be significant reasons for why someone may quit or not take a job in the first place, not the least of which being the lack of health coverage.
Indeed, one of the biggest benefits that employees evaluate with a job is health insurance. We don’t have to tell you how difficult it can be to retain your best employees or attract new ones when such an important element as health benefits isn’t provided in a company.
While there are several individual health insurance plans available, a group health plan might be the better choice for a company. It can offer more benefits than other types of plans, making it better for the employer and employees.
In this article, we’ll dissect with you what a group health insurance plan is, the options available under it, and why it might be a suitable solution for your company.
What is a group health insurance plan?
As its name suggests, this type of plan provides health coverage over a group. It must be purchased by a company or group; individuals cannot purchase it on their own. To be able to purchase it, there needs to be at least 70% participation: meaning that at least 70% of the company should be on the plan to be valid.
As an employee, you have the right to either enroll in the plan or decline it. The premiums of this plan are split between employer and employee.
Most common plans
- Health Maintenance Organization (HMO): It’s a restrictive plan where you can only use the services of a doctor who is also in the same plan.
- Preferred Provider Organization (PPO): In this plan, you have the basics of the HMO plan, and pay extra if you want a physician out of the network.
- Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO): It includes a specific network of healthcare professionals, and only in-network costs are covered.
You can enroll in a plan that suits the size of your company. Now that you have a clearer idea about how it works, you’ll want to know the advantages.
Why invest in group health coverage?
1] Less costly
Being cheaper than an individual health plan is by far its biggest benefit. Simply put, since the coverage is spread over a group of people, the premiums are cheaper.
Employers have the opportunity to decrease their premium payments by around 10% to 15%. This is a very attractive option, especially for smaller businesses that can’t afford to pay high premiums.
At the same time, with the larger pool of people, you’d be offered coverage that you normally wouldn’t be offered in other types of plans.
Your employees will get better insurance at a lower cost as well as coverage for pre-existing health conditions. From the employee’s and the employer’s viewpoint, it’s quite clear that this offer would be a win-win situation for both sides.
2] Tax advantage
Employers who offer health insurance receive tax benefits in return. As an employer, you might be eligible for receiving credit back on your taxes for paying the health insurance premium throughout the year.
3] Relocation issues
As businesses expand across different geographical locations more than ever before, the opportunities to relocate are increasing. Often times, neither employers, nor employees know exactly what happens in the healthcare system during relocation, and how it will work for the employee as well as their families.
The clash between relocation and healthcare policies is a complicated area in healthcare, but with NowHealth group plans you can immediately address this issue and clarify it with employees.
Whether an employee is being relocated to your state or out of state, they will be able to access their healthcare easier with group coverage; minimizing any time and effort used in the process.
4] Additional protection
You might already have a healthcare policy in place, and group health coverage is an additional scheme that will give you more protection.
As you grow older, have a family, and more responsibility, you will begin to realize the importance of having a healthcare system not just for you but for your family as well. This extra coverage is a feature that employees can take advantage of.
5] Positive work environment
Employers will foster a positive environment within their workplace when employees know they are covered. Feeling protected by the employer makes employees feel appreciated. They can then feel more motivated to work and support their company because their mind is more at peace.
Having group health insurance won’t solve every little problem there is at the workplace, but it will certainly go a long way. Many employees are already familiar with this plan, and they want and appreciate an employer who offers it to them.
