The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act mandates that employers of a certain size offer health insurance to individuals. For employers with more than 100 employees, that means purchasing a group plan this year and enrolling employees, if they didn’t have that before.

What about employers with fewer employees? Employers with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees aren’t required under healthcare reform to offer a group plan to their employees.

As discussed last week, in 3 Reasons Group Plans Don’t Work for Small Buisnesses, group plans have high renewals, they don’t fit all your employees’ needs, and they disqualify the for premium tax credits. But now, you’re wondering what does work then? Our answer is offering individual health plans. These plans paired with a bit of technology offer valuable options that aren’t afforded to those with group plans. We have three reasons why individual plans simply work:

1. More Control for Employees
With individual plans, employees have the control to choose their own plan, including options of copay, deductible, premium, and networks. They can even take it with them if they leave. Individual plans are portable, and under healthcare reform, it cannot be cancelled as long as they continue to pay the premium. Employees truly have more control over an individual plan, unlike a group plan.

2. Much Less Hassle for Employers
Ultimately, the employer doesn’t have to worry about finding one group plan for everyone. Employees get to shop, while employers don’t have to stress. Even better, the employer is the good guy, because individual plans can be even more affordable with the premium tax credits that they now qualify for because their employer doesn’t offer a group plan. And, employers can use a technology system, such as Benefit Credits to help employees pay for their premiums while fixing their costs.

3. Fixed Costs and Affordable Options
Using a technology system like Benefit Credits, employers can fix their monthly costs, while still offering employees a valuable benefit. The employer sets a specific amount for each employee to spend all their benefits including their health plan. With Benefit Credits, the employer has a marketplace for voluntary employee benefits where employees have voluntary options and may enroll in an individual health plan from a private or public exchange. Everybody wins.

 

Benefit Credits is an employee benefits solution for small and large employers alike. For employers with fewer than 50 employees, individual plans make more sense, but for employers that are required to have a group plan (50+ employees), group plans can be built into the marketplace. Benefit Credits leads to happier employees who value their benefits even more, less hassle for employers with consolidated billing and fixed costs, and better benefit administration system than ever before.
To learn more about how Benefit Credits can benefit you and your company, you can watch a short video overview here or contact a Benefit Credits expert today at [email protected].