Small medical offices, including small family practices, chiropractic, naturopathic, and specialists’ offices may be having a difficult time finding healthcare benefits that fit within their budgets. Since many small medical offices have limited capital, the cost of traditional group health insurance is a significant challenge. In addition, the offices may not have enough employees to meet the minimum participation requirements.
Nonetheless, healthcare benefits are an important part of recruiting and retaining the best nurses, nursing assistants, and office managers. While many medical offices are tempted to forgo health insurance, this leaves the employees at risk of incurring large medical bills in the case of an accident or expensive medical procedure.
A more ideal solution is for small medical offices to send their employees to the individual health insurance market. The office can still help their employees with their individual health insurance costs while remaining within the confines of their budget. Here’s why employer-funded individual health insurance is an ideal solution for small medical offices.
Employer-funded individual health insurance is ideal for small medical offices because the solution allows them to offer healthcare benefits for employee recruiting and retention, while still controlling their benefits costs. The solution is affordable, 100 percent paperless, and flexible enough to fit the needs of a busy medical office. In addition, by utilizing employee classes, the practice can set up different healthcare allowances for the different employee roles. Here are the benefits of individual health insurance and why they fit well with small medical offices:
1. Controllable Costs: Being able to set, control, and predict all health benefits costs is revolutionary for many small medical offices. Reimbursing employees’ individual health insurance gives the medical office controllable costs by:
Defining their budget by setting any contribution amount to employees’ healthcare
Giving employees access to monthly healthcare allowances
Allocating different allowances to certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, physicians assistants, and office managers
Allowing employees to select their own individual health insurance policies
Reimbursing employees only for eligible health insurance premiums up to the amount in their healthcare allowance
2. More Time for Serving Patients: With a credible reimbursement software provider, the reimbursements take less than 5 minutes per month to administer online. Some small medical offices consider grossing up salaries for their employees’ health insurance without a formal plan or compliant software. However, remaining in compliance with federal regulations and health reform can be costly, time-consuming, and an administrative hassle.
A credible reimbursement software provider eliminates the time, costs, and administrative hassle of offering health benefits. Offices that select a reimbursement software provider can expect to:
Spend less than five minutes per month administering their reimbursement plan
Have access to their reimbursement plan online 24/7
Incorporate reimbursements with their existing payroll system and HR process
1. Familiarity with Health Insurance: The nursing and office staff are likely to be very comfortable working directly with insurance companies. They are often more familiar with health insurance terms than other employees in non-medical industries.
2. Employee Choice: Individual health insurance offers more choice and control to employees by allowing them to choose a plan that fits their own needs, including coverage level and network. Employees can choose their own plans to work with their budget. These plans can be customized to individual circumstances and age.
For example, if a young employee is relatively healthy and on a tight budget, a plan with a lower premium and higher deductible may be the right choice. On the other hand, for employees with more healthcare needs, a plan with a higher premium and lower deductible may be the better plan.
3. Lower Costs: Individual health insurance costs up to 60% less than group health insurance coverage. Additionally, employees may qualify for premium tax credits, depending upon their income level, household size, and eligibility for other government subsidized programs.
What kind of healthcare benefits does you small medical office offer?