For many Americans, the freedom associated with running their own business or working independently as a consultant or freelancer can be very appealing. But with that freedom and independence also comes a lot of responsibility, and not just the day-to-day operations and accounting processes necessary to keep the business afloat. There are also things like small business health insurance to consider.
Here are some questions to keep in mind while looking for coverage:
As a business owner, it’s important to understand what type of healthcare consumer you are. If you are a self-employed solo entrepreneur, independent contractor, or freelancer, it is not a requirement to have health insurance coverage in 2019.
Here are a few alternative health insurance plans. These don’t provide all of the 10 essential benefits coverage that Affordable Care Act plans offer.
Additionally, if you quit your job, ridding of your current health insurance, then you qualify for a special open enrollment period to buy a health insurance plan. You have 60 days from the time you leave your employer plan to shop for a new healthcare plan. Also, try using your state exchange, the federal health insurance marketplace, or in the private marketplace.
Lastly, you could qualify for a financial subsidy to help lower the cost of your health insurance plan. When calculating your subsidy, you must include your total household taxable income for the year. Also, based on your need, you could potentially save hundreds of dollars on health insurance.
If your business retains 50 or more full-time employees—defined as working at least 30 hours per week—then you need to offer minimum value coverage to 95% of those employees and their children, age 25 or younger.
“Minimum value” refers to plans that cover 60% of the entire amount for healthcare expenses, such as standard medical examinations. In addition, the insurance plan must be considered affordable based on the employees’ wages. You can evaluate the affordability of the coverage by ensuring that the percentage deducted from their salaries for small business health insurance premiums does not exceed about 10% of their total income.
You could receive a penalty if you do not offer health insurance. This also applies if your company’s health benefits aren’t considered minimum value coverage based on the Affordable Care Act’s standards. The penalty is a tax payment called the employer shared responsibility payment (ESRP) employer mandate.
To conclude, if your employees are young and single, their insurance needs are going to be different. A parent with small children and elderly employees will be in more need of health care services. Taking this into account is critical to deciding what types of plans and the level of benefits you will provide.
Once you know what’s required of you, it’s time to shop and assess your costs. Think about which coverage is ideal for yourself, your household, or those on your payroll.
The National Federation of Independent Business indicates that providing health insurance for their staff is the top priority. There are lots of options for group health insurance and how they’re structured.
The two most common types of managed cares are PPOs (Preferred Provider Organizations) and HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations). POS (Point-Of-Service) medical plans are less common but offer some of the benefits of both PPOs and HMOs.
HMO – Health Insurance
PPO – Health Insurance
POS – Health Insurance
Group health plans can be structured as fully-insured, self-funded (self-insured), or level-funded.
Here are five tips on how to save money and secure health benefits for your business.
The best way to determine which small business health insurance is the most affordable, beneficial, and relevant to your specific needs is to contact a licensed health insurance agent. A good agent can help you compare all of your options. This includes whether you need help finding group health insurance or an individual marketplace plan. A licensed agent will help you and/or your staff enroll.
If you’re choosing an ACA plan, the Open Enrollment deadline was December 15. This was for coverage effective January 1, 2019. Group health plans and other individual coverage solutions, such as short-term health plans, don’t adhere to the same ACA Open Enrollment deadlines. Your agent can sign you up for types of plans.
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