small business insurance

How Much Is Your Business Required To Pay In The State Of Ohio For Employee Health Insurance?

Building a sustainable business takes a lot of hard work. In today’s competitive labor marketplace, employers have to offer certain benefits to potential employees to join their organizations. A big incentive that most employees commonly expect is health insurance. Getting the right insurance plan may seem difficult to some

The purpose of this guide is to provide a general overview of Ohio small business health insurance. The guide reviews small business health insurance options for Ohio small businesses.

Building a successful business is hard work. Finding affordable small business health insurance doesn’t have to be. All small businesses face special challenges when it comes to finding and getting health insurance coverage. Luckily, recent health care reform legislation provides small businesses with special opportunities to secure affordable health insurance.

Ohio Core Small Business Health Insurance Options

When evaluating your small business health insurance options in Ohio, you should immediately compare the costs and benefits of the following three options:

  • Offering Traditional Small Business Health Insurance Coverage
  • Offering a Defined Contribution Health Plan that Reimburses Employees for Individual Health Insurance Coverage, and
  • Offering Nothing

Ohio Small Business Health Insurance Overview

There are two primary categories of health insurance for small businesses to choose from:

  • Individual health insurance,
  • Group health insurance.

 Individual Health Insurance

Individual health insurance plans are health insurance plans purchased by individuals to cover themselves or their families. Anyone can apply for individual health insurance. Small business owners who can’t offer group coverage due minimum contribution (or minimum participation) requirements typically purchase individual and family plans for themselves and their families. In 2014, insurance companies will no longer be able to decline individuals for individual health insurance based on a pre-existing medical condition. Also, starting in 2014, there are new special tax incentives available to businesses and employees when employees purchase individual health insurance. In some cases, self-employed persons who purchase their own health insurance may be able to deduct the cost of their monthly premiums. When small businesses decide on the individual health insurance route, they often create a “Pure” Defined Contribution Health Plan to reimburse employees tax-free for individual premiums.

Group Health Insurance

Group health insurance plans are a form of employer-sponsored health coverage. Costs are typically shared between the employer and the employee, and coverage may also be extended to dependents. In certain states, self-employed persons without other employees may qualify for group health insurance plans.

Four Types of Ohio Small Business Health Insurance Plans

Whether you’re looking at individual health insurance or group health insurance, there are several different types of health plans available. The four you should absolutely know are:.

  • PPO Health Insurance Plans,
  • HMO Health Insurance Plans,
  • HSA-Qualified Health Insurance Plans, and
  • Indemnity Health Insurance Plans.

The plan type that is best for you and your employees depends on what you and your employees want, and how much you are willing to spend. Here’s a brief review of the four popular types of health insurance plans:

PPO Health Insurance Plans

PPO or “Preferred Provider Organization” plans are the most common. Employees covered under a PPO plan need to get their medical care from doctors or hospitals on the insurance company’s list of preferred providers in order for claims to be paid at the highest level.

HMO Health Insurance Plans

HMO stands for “Health Maintenance Organization.” HMO plans offer a wide range of health care services through a network of providers that contract exclusively with the HMO, or who agree to provide services to members. Employees participating in HMO plans will typically need to select a primary care physician (“PCP”) to provide most of their health care and refer them on to HMO specialists as needed.

HSA-Qualified Health Insurance Plans

HSA-qualified plans are typically PPO plans designed specifically for use with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). An HSA is a special bank account that allows participants to save money – pre-tax – to be used specifically for medical expenses in the future. Section 105 Healthcare Reimbursement Plans (HRPs) are often used in place of HSAs due to their advantages for employers.

Indemnity Health Insurance Plans

Indemnity plans allow members to direct their own health care and generally visit any doctor or hospital. The insurance company then pays a set portion of the total charges. Employees may be required to pay for some services up front and then apply to the insurance company for reimbursement.

Humana

A Brief Overview of Humana Health Insurance

HumanaHumana Health Insurance is one of the most popular options for businesses that offer health insurance options to their employers. Group and small business insurance options are available, with unique offers that are personalized to meet the needs of employers.

Traditional group plans include the following:

Medical Plans

Humana’s medical plans offer options built to meet the needs of employees and business owners. All plans come with:

• Go365 wellness

• Doctor on demand

• Preventative care

• Full-service, mail-delivery pharmacy

Employers can choose between multiple plans: Canopy, Simplicity, HDHP, Efficiency and more. Plans have a wide range of options, which include varying deductible ranges, health savings accounts, spending account options and copayments.

There are plans to match the health and age of your workforce, too.

If your workforce is younger and healthier, their plan will look significantly different than a plan for older workers who may have greater healthcare needs. Affordable self-funding options are also available.

Plans are available for businesses with fewer than or more than 100 employees.

Level-funded premiums offer affordable solutions to small businesses that have to overcome the challenge of healthcare costs.

Dental Plans

Much like the medical plans offered by Humana, there are dental plans that allow employees to visit any dentist, have dental work performed and fit into the budget of employers. Prepaid dental health maintenance options are also available in select states.

Vision Plans

Vision plans are available, with a nationwide set of practitioners ready to assist. Plans offer great options of $0 to $10 for preventative eye exams, free diabetic eye exams and many options for low-cost frames, too.

Material-only plans are available that pay for contacts and glasses but do not offer eye exam benefits.

Personalize and Enhance Plans

Employers can also choose to enhance the plans and options available to their workers. A few of the additions that can be added include:

• Group life insurance. Life insurance policies can be added to health insurance options that allow employers to provide these benefits to their employees in the event of their death.

• Group Medicare. Add Medicare Part A, B or D to a plan to improve the health of retirees, too.

• Go365. Offer rewards to employees that work hard to stay healthy. For example, verified workouts or getting the flu shot are healthy options that offer rewards to employees.

• Employee assistance programs. The EAP program offers support and guidance on any core issues that can take up the time and attention of your employees.

Humana Health Insurance has multiple affordable opportunities for employers to begin offering group plans that meet the needs of their workforce. Group plans take a whole-person approach to health, including eye and dental care as well as wellness incentives.

In today’s competitive workforce, offering the best in personalization can keep employees happy and healthy while attracting top-tier talent. Additionally, personalizing Humana Health Insurance to meet employee health and wellness needs is crucial when trying to retain staff.

Contact us today to learn how we can help you find the best health insurance options.

 

Top-Health-Benefits-That-Employers-Can-Offer-Health-Insurance-Claimlinx

Top Health Benefits That Employers Can Offer

From an uninsured worker’s perspective, any healthcare benefits offer financial coverage and peace of mind essential to satisfactory work life. Now that the majority of companies must offer employer benefits to comply with government regulations, the more important question involves figuring out what the top healthcare benefits to offer are and how your organization can afford them.

 

Options in Healthcare Benefits for Employees

 

Different insurance options offer employers the chance to provide different levels of care at different price points for their workers.

 

HMOs – Health maintenance organizations allow workers to choose their doctor freely. They are responsible for copayments for appointments, procedures, prescription medications, and more.

 

PPOs – Preferred provider organizations have a set list of physicians to choose from. Appointments with outside network specialists or visits to off-plan hospitals will cost more.

 

Healthcare Savings – The money in these accounts is protected from federal income tax and can be used for a variety of medical deductibles or bill payment purposes.

 

Reimbursement Arrangements – These employer-funded benefit plans pay workers back for healthcare expenses they had to pay for themselves. A MERP (medical expense reimbursement plan) is a tax code provision that allows employers to save money on covering their workers.

 

What Employer Benefits Do Workers Want Most?

 

Without a doubt, more people want health insurance from their employers than any other type of benefit possible. The percentage of importance goes up based on the employee’s age. When it comes to the specific benefits offered under a worker policy, however, many options exist. In general, people prefer lower deductibles, minimal co-pays, and coverage for everything from a wellness visit to the family doctor to full coverage for hospital stays and long-term debilitating injuries.

 

Some of the specific healthcare benefits people want include:

 

  • Health savings accounts to save up for unexpected expenses
  • Reimbursement accounts for medical bills
  • Insurance for dental and vision coverage
  • Full disability insurance (often covered by worker’s compensation laws)
  • Coverage for preventative treatments or wellness programs

 

Discover Affordable Ways to Offer Top Healthcare Benefits

 

There are many excellent reasons to offer healthcare benefits to employees. While you may want to include every type possible with the widest range of providers at the lowest costs, you must temper your generosity with affordability. After all, if the business does not turn a sufficient profit, you will not be able to employ people at all.

 

While maintaining full compliance with all current Affordable Care Act regulations, you can discover ways to satisfy the people who need medical, dental, and vision coverage without compromising your ability to succeed in whatever industry or niche you represent.

 

Saving money on top healthcare benefits starts with knowledge and understanding of all the options and how things like tax benefits and group health insurance discounts can work for your company. A ClaimLinx options consultant provides these services for small, medium, and large businesses that need to find affordable ways to give their workers what they want and need.