The next few weeks we will be getting the long anticipated 4th quarter small group rates. Great news for most employers is there are decreases this year in rates!
It amazes me that insurance carriers are so willing to decrease small group rates yet drastically increase individual health rates. The small group rates were designed to be no different than individual plans, except the employers owned the policies and could add/remove employees according to hire dates and terminations.
This is just a good sign that those who purchase individual health insurance are typically the sickest part of our population.
Makes me wonder what this data will do and how the government and health insurers will react. Or will everyone just ignore it?
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Year of the small group in Nevada
Why would a small group want to offer health insurance to its employees anyways? There is no mandate to offer coverage and employees can go to the marketplace and get subsidies.
Well, not every employee can get subsidies, especially if you pay them a decent wage. A lot of small businesses have owners who are already paying the full price of their insurance and many of their employees are doing the same. The problem is the business cannot write off any individual insurance policy premiums and they are subject to employees getting their own benefits that are tied to the individual enrollment periods.
The other important news is that individual health insurance rates are going to be seeing as much as 30% rate increases! Those employers who currently have a Gold or Platinum plan on their own are going to be getting a big shocker when they see their renewal in a few months and wonder what happened to their awesome Cadillac plan.
Good news is small group plans are not changing. rates are actually going down and the Gold and Platinum plans are widely available. To top it off groups get even more choices when it comes to plan choice.
If you have a small business with at least 2 employees, it might be a good time to start looking at group health benefits again. If not for your employees, but for yourself.
Well, not every employee can get subsidies, especially if you pay them a decent wage. A lot of small businesses have owners who are already paying the full price of their insurance and many of their employees are doing the same. The problem is the business cannot write off any individual insurance policy premiums and they are subject to employees getting their own benefits that are tied to the individual enrollment periods.
The other important news is that individual health insurance rates are going to be seeing as much as 30% rate increases! Those employers who currently have a Gold or Platinum plan on their own are going to be getting a big shocker when they see their renewal in a few months and wonder what happened to their awesome Cadillac plan.
Good news is small group plans are not changing. rates are actually going down and the Gold and Platinum plans are widely available. To top it off groups get even more choices when it comes to plan choice.
If you have a small business with at least 2 employees, it might be a good time to start looking at group health benefits again. If not for your employees, but for yourself.
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