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Small business owners weigh many factors when deciding whether to invest in a group health insurance plan, but oftentimes the decision comes down to dollars and cents. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey notes that the high costs of insurance premiums are the primary reason why firms won’t offer health benefits. Even for business owners who do offer plans, rising insurance premiums can create a lot of stress and confusion, especially if the owner doesn’t know how these premiums are calculated and how they can manage them.

Employers can have many questions for group health providers, and that includes exactly how much they can expect to spend. Here’s a rundown on what the insurance industry uses to calculate your group health insurance coverage premium, as well as some strategies that can lead to lower costs.

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It’s always a good idea to get more information. For a small business owner, that extra information can be the difference between finding the right group health coverage for your business.

Even if you have a good grasp on the basics of group health insurance, it doesn’t hurt to ask a provider a few important questions before you purchase a plan for your business. Here are some key things that you should ask a provider about group health insurance coverage.

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Managing health insurance for a business can get complex in a hurry, especially if you’ve never dealt with group plans before. When it comes to offering healthcare coverage, you’ll quickly find that not all health insurance plans work the same way. 

Instead of getting overwhelmed, it’s a good idea to step back, take a breath, and start with the basics. Let’s go over what you should know about group health insurance before you start offering plans  to your employees.

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Towards the end of July, the Republican Party made a couple of attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. When the Senate couldn’t pull together a consensus on a replacement bill, they moved forward with a straight repeal bill. Both attempts failed.

Where does that leave a business owner who’s trying to figure what to do about healthcare? Two recent articles help shed a little light on what to expect.

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One of the largest contributors to mental health problems in the workplace is stress. Not only are mental health issues difficult to recognize, we also cannot assume an employee’s stresses from everyday life are checked at the door when they arrive at work every morning.

Everyday life stresses coupled with the pressures that work brings could be detrimental to both the employee and the business. This can have serious impact on an employee’s overall health and employers must take the appropriate steps to protect both the employees and the business.

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It can be very difficult for small business owners to compete with big companies when it comes to 401(k) plans. Due to their size, large corporations can use economy of scale to their advantage and offer attractive retirement plans that are more affordable due to the size of their employee base. 

Small business owners don’t have hundreds of employees to their name, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t have access to economies of scale through other resources. 

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There are growing signs that the economy is improving. Perhaps the most notable marker is that more people are starting to come back to the workforce. The unemployment rate is continuing a downward trend, meaning that more employers are starting to hire again.

Of course, finding good employees is important to a company’s growth, but keeping their best employees is vital to an employer’s productivity. Keeping your best employees ensures a smoother transition for newer employees and keeps the job environment stable with their most seasoned employees.

Of course, with a growing job market, sometimes a company’s best employees begin looking at this as an opportunity to “test the waters” of their own value and see if there are better options. How does a small business owner retain good employees while attracting qualified candidates? By offering benefits.

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The cost of prescription drugs in the United states continues to rise which has become a source of concern for everyone from patients to policymakers.  According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), “Prescription medications now comprise an estimated 17% of overall personal health care services in the U.S.”  

We don’t want to think that we overpay for any goods or services. Taking time to do some research can help you save substantially on your prescriptions. Here are some tips to help save on costs.

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Over the years while working in the field of Workplace Wellness we have seen many programs succeed… and fail.

Throughout these successes and failures, we have come to realize there are a few key components that make or break a Workplace Wellness Program.

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The 21st Century Cures Act allows small employers to offer Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) to their workforce to help cover the cost of medical expenses and health insurance premiums for themselves and their families. Previously, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibited businesses from offering HRAs for individual insurance premiums.

With the passage of the new law, employers and workers alike have questions about how a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA) will affect them. Legal experts are in the process of interpreting the law, below are a few of the QSEHRA FAQs and their answers that are generally agreed upon.

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