It’s absolutely possible to keep health insurance costs to a minimum for you, as the owner of a business, and your employees, while still ensuring that everyone gets the coverage they deserve. Here are 6 money saving health insurance tips for small businesses:
- Go shopping!
With the price of health insurance changing every year, it pays to shop around when it comes to purchasing coverage for a new period.
- Offer your employees an HAS-compatible plan:
Only able to be used with specific HAS-compatible insurance plans with high annual deductibles and lower monthly premiums, a health savings account is a long-term account held by an employee to cover the costs of their health care expenses. With these plans, you can save money on premium contributions and still provide your employees with adequate health coverage.
- Offer your employees several options:
Every employer will have employees who rarely visit a doctor or get sick, and whom could undoubtedly benefit from a lower premium, higher deductible plan. For those who have ongoing health needs, they could save some money by opting for a higher premium, lower deductible plan. With a selection of plans to choose from, your employees can get the coverage that works best for them.
- Make sure your employees truly understand health insurance:
Not knowing how health insurance works can lead to employees making expensive errors when choosing and using an insurance plan, so educate them and make sure they understand how health insurance actually works. You can achieve this by setting up in-office training, having plans that are easy to understand in the first place, sending out monthly or bi-monthly emails with content about health insurance or arranging for an insurance specialist to talk to employees about their options.
- Get up to speed with FSA’s:
Flexible spending accounts, set up by employers, enable employees to set money aside to pay for health care; they can deposit money pre-tax from their paycheck and decide what healthcare bills they want to pay from their account during the year.
- Search for virtual solutions:
Nowadays, a lot of health plans include virtual care solutions, such as telemedicine, that are cheaper or even offered at no additional cost for you, and they give employees the ability to speak to a health professional over the phone instead of attending a healthcare facility in person.
Whatever health insurance options you give to your employees, be sure that you understand them yourself, before you offer them to anyone else, and for the latest advice and guidance on healthcare coverage, seek help from a healthcare insurance specialist.