How to Choose the Best Small Business Health Insurance in Utah
As a business owner, you probably understand the benefits that a small business health insurance plan can provide your company, employees, and even your own family. You may also have concerns that you lack the resources of larger organizations, so you might wonder how the costs of buying and administering health insurance will impact your business. This guide to selecting the best small business health insurance will give you the information and resources you need to make good decisions for yourself and your company.
Most important, you should not make choices regarding group health insurance and employee benefit plans before taking a few minutes to explore all of your options. These will vary by your location, business situation, and even the industry your in competing for talent. At any time you can also call to speak with a licensed business health insurance broker in Utah.
Small Business Health Insurance Facts
Before you explore small business health insurance options for your own company, you may benefit from some facts about small business health insurance in Utah.
For instance:
- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, eighty to ninety percent of small and medium-sized employers provide health plans for employees and their families.
- In contrast, only about half of companies with less than 50 employees offered small business health insurance.
- Since small businesses employ such a large portion of Americans, only about 60 percent of all adults and 49 percent of children rely upon group coverage in the United States, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Small businesses might struggle with the idea of offering group plans for a variety of reasons. Business owners commonly cite concerns over small business insurance costs for their company and for their employees. Since small businesses often lack a dedicated human resources department, owners also wonder if administering the plan will take too much time away from other activities.
You should know that none of these problems are inherent to small business health insurance. The licensed health insurance brokers at Blackrock Benefits can answer questions, alleviate worries, and best of all, help you develop the right strategy to compare, buy, and implement group health insurance for your unique organization.
Why Offer Small Business Health Insurance?
As noted above, small and mid-sized organizations usually do offer group health plans. At the same time, only about half of all small businesses provide employees with these benefits. Rather than focusing upon companies that don’t offer group medical benefits, you might find it helpful to learn why other small employers have chosen to provide their employees with these plans.
In a recent survey from Kaiser Health Foundation they asked small business and mid-sized business owners why they decided to provide their employees with health insurance:
- Over 60 percent said that group coverage helped them compete for and keep good workers.
- About 40 percent of small employers felt a sense of responsibility towards their people.
- Almost 30 percent worried that employees and their families could not afford health insurance without help.
- Over half of the surveyed companies also offer such additional benefits as dental and vision plans or contributions to health savings accounts. They found that adding extra benefits made their company more and not less competitive.
The “war for talent” is real, this is the tightest labor market we’ve seen.
You’ll win more talent and retain more employees when you provide exceptional employee benefits that don’t break the bank. We help small and mid-size businesses gain buying power to lower benefit costs. Through our alliance plan, we have lowered costs and improved employee benefit packages.
Employee Benefits Save you Taxes vs. Increasing Employees Salary
As the job market tightens, companies competing for talent must offer not only competitive pay but also a menu of benefits. Benefits can help attract and retain good employees and can potentially cut down on the costs of finding and training new workers. These benefits can also help you save on taxes.
Overview of tax savings on benefits
Just like wages, salary, commissions, and bonuses you pay to your staff, the cost of employee benefits is tax-deductible. In addition, there can be employment tax savings. If instead of offering benefits, you raise employees' compensation, the additional compensation costs you employment taxes.
More specifically, you pay 6.2% for Social Security taxes on compensation up to the annual wage base ($137,000 in 2020). And you pay 1.45% in Medicare taxes on all compensation. But many types of employee benefits are treated as tax-free compensation and are exempt from Social Security and Medicare (FICA) taxes.
How Can Blackrock Benefits Help Your Business. We Provide the Following Services:
- Employee Benefits - Adept expertise working with software and technology companies
- Executive & Management Carve-out Plans - Ensuring you attract & retain the best talent
- Self-Funded Health Plans – Get-off the annual rate renewal roller coaster
- Utah Technology Alliance - Founded the Utah Technology Alliance to help companies cut medical cost using a captive insurance strategy
- Key Man Life Insurance Policies
- Business Buy-Sell Agreements
- Alliance Health Plans
- Reference Based Pricing (RBP) – Transparent pricing for managing the healthcare value chain like you manage all other aspects of your business.
- Cost Reduction & Containment Strategies
- Self-Funded Plan Consultant - Financial hedging strategies through risk management
- Benefits Consulting - Don't want to change your Broker, but need new proven strategies?
- Outsourced Benefits Administration
- Human Capital Management
- Outsourced HR
Contact Blackrock Benefits today to receive world-class, customized solutions for your business situation.
Bret Harding
Blackrock Benefits
Ph. 801-372-2647
E. Bret@BlackrockBenefits.com
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