When Should I Offer Group Health Insurance img

When Should I Offer Group Health Insurance?

Businesses come in all sizes and with varying numbers of employees. And the classification of small businesses and large businesses differ widely depending on the agency or purpose. For example, small to mid-sized businesses fall into three distinct categories

  • Businesses with less than 50 employees
  • Businesses with 50-99 employees
  • Businesses with 100 or more employees

Small businesses make up 99.9 percent of US businesses and employ 47.1 percent of US employees.

According to the US Census Bureau, the SBA defines small business by firm revenue (ranging from $1 million to over $40 million) and employment (from 100 to over 1,500 employees).

Small business employers often struggle with the question of when they should (or can afford to) start offering health insurance to their employees, and size matters.

Scaling Benefits to Business Growth

Out of the small businesses in the US that have staff members, more than 5,000,000 only have between 1 and 19 employees. As an employer, if your business has ten employees, you may want to offer health insurance benefits for them even though your company is not required to do so by the ACA. 

But as a business with just ten employees, can you afford to start offering health insurance?

Remember that you will be required to cover at least 50 percent of your worker’s monthly premiums, ranging from over $7,800 for individuals to more than $22,000 per month for family coverage.

As an employer, you want to provide your staff with the best employee benefits that your company can offer. For example, in addition to health insurance, you will likely want to offer good dental and vision insurance.

You are likely counting on continued business growth that will ease the financial strain of funding your health insurance costs and obligations. And being able to attract quality employees and retain those you already have are key elements to maintaining that business growth. But the prospect of significant upfront costs may also keep you from deciding.

The easiest way to find the best health insurance plans for your company and employees is to submit work with a health insurance broker who can guide you through the process. There are no obligations for you or your company, and it only takes a few minutes to fill out the group detail information and submit the proposal request.

Group Health Insurance Plans for Larger Companies

A larger employer has at least 50 full-time employees. A large employer may be a single entity or a group of related entities under a large group umbrella. It would be best if you offered health insurance as an employer with 50 or more employees. There is a penalty assessed by the IRS of $2,570 per full-time employee minus the first 30 workers if you do not offer health insurance.

A simple scenario would be an employer with 50 employees who have chosen not to take on the expense of providing employee health insurance and opts to pay the penalties instead. So, for the 20 employees above the first 30, that employer could be looking at $51,400 in fines.

Most reasonable employers agree that employee health benefits would be far more cost-effective and productive.

Contact Insurance Enterprise for Group Health Insurance

If you have questions about group health insurance and need health insurance quotes, contact Insurance Enterprise at 888-350-6605. Speak to a licensed agent and find out more about how you can get an affordable health insurance plan.