Small Group Health Insurance Plans
One goal of the Affordable Care Act was to offer small group health insurance plans (typically 20 employees or less) on the upcoming health insurance exchanges. This difficult task has proved unobtainable and has been pushed back to 2015 at the earliest.
While it appears that most of the state and federal exchanges will be up and running for 2014, small group plans will not take part in these government offerings. For small group employers, this simply means that group health insurance will need to be obtained through an agent.
Comparing Small Group Health Insurance
It is good to know that most small group brokers are able to help businesses shop coverage with several different carriers simultaneously. Quotes can typically be obtained using one set of universal applications.
Businesses can always request generic quotes without the use of underwriting, but this will not provide accurate information. If a business wants real numbers, then submitting medically underwritten apps on all employees is the prudent thing to do.
The Affordable Care Act – Obamacare
The Affordable Care Act requires all companies with 100 or more full-time employees to offer group health insurance. A full time employee is one that works 30 hours or more weekly.
Comprehensive group health insurance can be expensive for groups this size that lack the means to self-insure. In response to the ACA, some insurance companies are offering so called “skinny” or mini-medical plans.
It is unclear whether these less comprehensive insurance plans will stand up to the regulations of the ACA as the rules have not yet been finalized. If mini-med plans are deemed credible, then groups can still offer less expensive, less comprehensive coverage to their employees while avoiding the fees, fines and taxes associated with the ACA.
Talk With An Independent Insurance Agent
There is quite a bit of conflicting information regarding the rules and regulation surrounding the Affordable Care Act. If you own or operate a business of any kind, it is important to know what to expect.
By speaking with a knowledgeable group health insurance agency like ours, you can be prepared for what lies ahead. Keeping your employees off the health insurance exchanges while offering credible coverage that satisfies the ACA regulations will go a long way to saving your business time, money and frustration.
Contact Us For More Information
Hyers and Associates is a full-service, independent health insurance agency. We offer group insurance policies of all kinds as well as sponsored and voluntarily ancillary benefits.
Contact us today to learn more about your options so that your business is Obamacare compliant for 2014.
Category: Group Health Insurance