Small business (SMB) owners must be skilled at juggling multiple tasks at once. Between managing employees, sales, daily operations, and customer service, there’s hardly any time left in the day to worry about time-consuming HR tasks like finding and managing employee benefits.
Because they are usually not considered an Applicable Large Employer (ALE), it is optional for small businesses under 50 employees to offer health insurance coverage. Due to cost and complexity, many small employers choose to forgo it.
However, this might not always be the right choice financially. In fact, adding employee health insurance can prove to be a wise investment, especially if you choose to partner with a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) that may have plans available with better rates and features and can administer the plan for you.
Let’s discuss how SMB owners can determine if adding health coverage to their employee benefits offering is right for them, and how PEOs can streamline the process while offering potentially lower rates for the best coverage.
As your business scales, you’ll eventually need to decide whether it makes sense to begin offering health insurance benefits to your employees.
Health insurance is a critical piece of your benefits package for 4 reasons:
Despite the many benefits, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this decision. Aside from the number of employees you have, key factors to consider are:
As your SMB scales, there’s a good chance you’ll need professional HR services before you can devote the resources necessary to hire a dedicated HR department.
This is where a PEO comes into play.
Think of a PEO as a partner for your business that can help provide guidance in HR, payroll, and health insurance. They’ll be there to answer questions and complete important tasks when you need it, while allowing you to skip the process of hiring and training new HR employees just for these specific purposes.
Employers that choose to work with PEOs should expect both convenience and advantages when it comes to adding employee health insurance coverage to their list of benefits.
Competitive Rates: PEOs offer access to national coverage at competitive rates, even for small employers with less than 20 employees.
Larger Risk Pools: PEOs can pool all their client businesses into one large group, which presents a lower risk profile to insurers, potentially lowering premiums.
Strategic Partnerships: PEOs have more leverage to negotiate long-term partnerships with leading health insurance companies, enabling them to provide access to industry-leading provider networks at competitive rates.
Comprehensive Service Offering: The best PEOs offer comprehensive combinations of services, including payroll, workers’ comp, health insurance, risk management, and HR consulting. This can lead to better pricing for health insurance as part of a broader package of services.
Adding employee health insurance coverage to your list of benefits offerings is a forward-thinking strategy. It will improve your ability to compete for top talent, provide better employee health outcomes, and be more affordable than you might assume, thanks to generous tax incentives.
Plus, PEOs like BBSI are available to make health care plans available to you at competitive rates.
We can only do this thanks to our dedication to maintaining a local presence in Colorado and all 50 states nationwide. We work closely with clients and design solutions emphasizing flexibility, affordability, and comprehensive health plan administration.
If you’re looking to add health coverage for your employees and want to:
Get in touch with BBSI today. We’ll connect you with a personalized, local group of professionals to support your business’ healthcare needs.