Establishing a Group Health Insurance Plan

Note: The following blog post was written by Scott Stream, of Stream Benefits Group in Kirkwood.

The entrepreneur spirit is alive and well in Kirkwood. Due to a number of large corporations downsizing or closing, individuals are following their passion and starting their own business, and these business owners are looking at ways to hire and retain good employees.

One of the key vehicles in doing so is a group health insurance plan. Even if you have just two employees, you may be eligible to establish an affordable program. There are a number of items that need to be taken into consideration when putting a program in place.

Most insurance carriers would like the business to be in existence for a minimum of three months, and there needs to be an employer-employee relationship. This could be via a W-2 or 1099 format. In some cases, if the owners are a husband and wife, the insurance carrier may allow the establishment of a plan.

Major insurance carriers include Anthem Blue Cross, United Healthcare and Group Health Plan.

Once all applications and paperwork are submitted, the final rates for the group will be based on a few factors, including the type of industry, age and sex of the employees, medical conditions within the group and the plan design.

There are a number plan designs to choose from which range from a managed care product with office visit and prescription drug co-pays to a high deductible health savings account.  

Health insurance plans are established to begin on either the 1^st or the 15^th of a month.  Once the rates and plan is established, those rates are in place for 12 months. New employees will then be allowed into the insurance plan without a concern for their medical issues.

If you feel you may be interested in establishing a group health insurance program, don’t hesitate to contact an insurance broker that can assist not only in setting it up but then servicing the plan throughout the year.