Do you have small businesses in your portfolio or community? Do you want to help them employ the best talent in a competitive job market? If you fit this profile, you must understand that employees value their compensation and job benefits. To maintain the top talent, companies must provide competitive benefits such as health insurance, retirement plan benefits, wellness programs, and flexible working hours. Providing these benefits is expensive, especially for small businesses that were significantly impacted by the pandemic. However, with the help of brokers or other benefits providers, companies can find affordable benefit packages. Here are two ways benefits providers can help small business recovery:
Help Businesses Find Affordable Medical Benefit Packages
The Affordable Care Act’s Employer Mandate mandates that all businesses with more than 50 employees provide affordable health insurance. If a business has more than 50 employees, there is no choice but to provide health insurance benefits for employees.
Providing competitive medical, vision, and dental benefits can help employers attract and keep talent, but they can be costly. We recommend that all businesses, including those with less than 50 employees, provide health insurance benefits for their employees. It would be unfortunate to lose talented, reliable employees to a competitor because of a lack of quality health insurance.
Employers Benefit From the Peace of Mind That Brokers Provide
Health insurance brokers are knowledgeable and educate small business owners on health insurance matters. They help employers weigh different options for offering benefits to their employees to help small business recovery. For example, they advise employers on the available tax-free accounts such as Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), Health Savings Accounts (HSA), and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA).
Employees pay for medical bills and health, dental, and vision insurance using the money saved in the accounts.
Flexible Savings Accounts
Small business owners are encouraged to form FSAs for their employees. The employees contribute untaxed money to these accounts, which pay for qualified medical, dental, or vision expenditures for themselves, their spouse, and entitled dependents.
When an employee registers for the FSA, the money (up to $2,750 per year) is available that same day.
Health Savings Accounts (HSA) to Help Small Business Recovery
An HSA account is an individual account used to save employee contributions to pay for their health insurance. The employee creates it, and for them to be eligible, they must have cover under a high deductible health plan (HDHP).
One of the advantages of an HSA account is that employees can take the funds with them if they leave an employer.
Health Insurance Reimbursement Arrangement to Help Small Business Recovery
A good broker advises a small business owner on the two available Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) options. This plan allows employees to pick their plan at affordable costs and keep their current doctors with an HRA. Additionally, if they depart, they can take their savings with them.
1) The Individual Coverage HRA (ICHRA)
Companies of any size can use the Individual Coverage HRA to reimburse employees for health insurance with no contribution restrictions. ICHRA also provides budget control, predictable costs, and a flexible and efficient strategy for business owners.
Brokers have a vast knowledge of the ICHRA available. Share information with company leaderships and address concerns about increasing premiums or contribution rates.
2) The Qualified Small Employer HRA (QSEHRA)
It is similar to the ICHRA, but it only allows small firms with less than 50 employees to reimburse their employees for health-related tax-free expenses. While ICHRA has no contribution limit, QSEHRA has contribution restrictions.
Using Benefits to Help the Small Business Recovery
Employees value good treatment and employment benefits regardless of their company size. Employers value satisfied employees that work hard and stick around. Help small businesses in your portfolio retain their employees while recovering from the pandemic. Reach out to us to find out how.
