Let’s face it, we live in a time of benefits demanding job seekers. Whether it’s an entry level position, or a career that requires four plus years of college education, one of the first questions asked to HR managers and owners is “what benefits do you offer?”. With the current high rate of inflation, it makes senses why this is important to employees when choosing employers.
Employees are not only looking at their annual income before taking a job anymore, but they’re also factoring in the benefits that meets them and their family's needs best.
If you’re an employer who doesn’t offer any type of group benefits, ask yourself this question, how hard has it been hiring and keeping employees in recent years?
Whether we’re talking about a 'mom-and-pop' store or a Fortune 500 company, employees typically want to feel secure at the job that they’re working at, Also, they want to feel appreciated. Employees who feel valued by their companies and employer tend to work harder and on top of that, because the employees are able to get the care that they need, they typically miss less work time, because they are able stay healthier for longer periods of time.
While I'm not an accountant, I do have the knowledge and experience to recommend speaking with one if you’re not sure how you could be offering group benefits. By offering medical benefits and other types of ancillary benefits, like dental, vision, and short-term disability, you may be able to save on payroll taxes and increase business expenses, that you may be able to write off.
Did you know that there’s a way to limit the amount of money that you would have to pay, if you needed major surgery or had very high medical bill? The out-of-pocket maximum on your group medical insurance policy is the maximum amount of money that you would have to spend on your medical expenses excluding premiums. Once you reach this amount, the insurance will cover the rest of your medical expenses until your policy is renewed. Let’s say your maximum out of pocket is $8,000 and God forbid, you got into a severe accident. Regardless of the amount of medical bills that you will receive from the hospitals and doctors, the maximum amount of money you would have to pay would be $8,000.
There is so much ore to learn about group medical insurance. Blogs like these do nothing but scratch the surface. Before you start a plan, you should always speak with an agent that understands you and your employees.