Health Insurance Options For Small Business Owners – There are 3 options for small business health insurance benefits. You can take out an insurance plan, pay medical bills yourself, or use a Health Expense Account. Here is a cost comparison of the three options. 1. Traditional Health Insurance Traditional health insurance benefits for small businesses are likely to be a familiar option. You pay a monthly premium to an insurance company in exchange for health and dental coverage. Typically, the insurer earns a margin of about 40% on your premiums, which means you get $600 in benefits for every $1,000 in premiums. In some cases, it can reach 65%. Did you know that many of the “insurable” events in a traditional health insurance plan are simply administrative events that do not require insurance? You are basically paying a 40% markup for a planned administration event. It is advisable to insure your home against fire (an unplanned event). But does it make sense to buy dental insurance when you plan to visit the dentist twice in the next year? Not to mention most of the big expenses that you pay yourself, out of pocket anyway. In addition to being expensive (deductibles, out-of-pocket costs, high deductibles), traditional health insurance is full of exclusions for pre-existing conditions, burdensome application procedures, and waiting times. If you are a sole proprietorship, traditional health insurance may not be an option because many insurance companies require at least 3 employees to qualify for a group plan. Unfortunately, most business owners/operators rely on a spousal insurance plan or pay their medical bills out of pocket. 2. Pay medical expenses out of pocket Because traditional health insurance is expensive and limited, small business owners in Canada often choose to self-insure and cover their medical expenses. pay out of pocket. While this can certainly be more cost-effective than a traditional insurance plan, the cost of paying medical bills with after-tax dollars can be heavy. Check the total cost of $1,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses for your small business. Assuming you live in Ontario, earn $100,000 a year, and have a marginal tax rate of 43%, the total cost to your business for a $1,000 medical bill is $1,750. In other words, you would need to earn $1,750 to pay a $1,000 medical bill because an additional 43% ($750) is needed to pay income taxes. People don’t usually associate taxes with the actual cost of an after-tax expense, but at the end of the year, $1,000 will cost a business $1,750. Now, imagine that you have traditional health and dental insurance for you and your family. Monthly premiums are $350. After two years in the plan and $8,400 in premiums later, you find out your teenage daughter needs orthodontics for $6,000 (small price). His Cadillac insurance plan has $1,500 lifetime coverage for orthodontics. Now you have to pay a $4,500 billafter taxes. This represents a total cost to your business of $7,800 before tax. Add in the undiscovered parts of your insurance plan, and you can begin to see the frustration small business owners have with health insurance. 3. Health Expense Account Enter the third option. When using a health expense account as a small business owner, you will recognize several vital facts with health insurance. The first is that it makes no logical sense to take out insurance for a planned event. You understand that most expenses listed on a health insurance plan are administrative and planned events. Paying a 40% premium on these events makes no sense. Second, realize that exceptional and unplanned events (laser eye surgery, orthodontics, MRI) are mostly covered by traditional health insurance AND most of the cost comes out of your pocket himself. Third, you can see that it is not profitable to pay medical expenses out of pocket because you pay a lot of income tax on these expenses. Fourth, you understand that the cost associated with a catastrophic life-threatening accident will be largely covered by your regional plan. If you are concerned about the catastrophic drug costs associated with the disease, contact a specialty non-group drug plan in your province (Alberta Non Group, Trillium Ontario, BC Fair Pharmacare, Saksatchewan Drug Plan, Manitoba Pharmacare). paying out-of-pocket expenses is not cost-effective, the best solution is to pay medical expenses through your company with a Health Expense Account. Health care expense accounting is one of Canada’s best-kept secrets for small business owners—it converts after-tax medical expenses to pre-tax business expenses. Since you’re going to be insuring yourself for routine, planned medical events, why not pay for them in the most cost-effective way? The cost of an HSA is usually a small annual fee to the trustee or a small administrative fee on top of your claims amount. HSA provides greater cost control, flexibility and ease of use. Are you a small business owner in Canada? Discover the Health Cost Calculator and learn how to be economical with your medical expenses.
Are you a corporate business owner with no employees? Learn how to use a Health Expense Account to pay your medical expenses through your business:
Health Insurance Options For Small Business Owners
Do you have a corporation with employees? Discover a tax-deductible health and dental plan that has no premiums:
Business Owner Policy (bop): Definition, Coverage, Exclusions
What is a health expense account? Health Care Spending Accounts help business owners save on medical expenses by turning after-tax expenses into…
What is covered in the Health Cost Account? One of the great benefits of a Health Expense Account is the freedom it provides through…
The 7 Best Health Spending Account Rules You Should Know A Health Spending Account (HSA) is a tax-free benefit that allows small business owners and their… Small Business Owners: You Can Do It! You took the initiative to start your own business. You are a self-taught master of hiring, firing, negotiating, inventory, accounting, and everything in between because, as a small business owner, you have to be. But there is one constant every year that you are a little uncomfortable with – choosing a health plan. Your corporate friends complain about health insurance, but they don’t know what it’s like to be alone like you. The reality is that shopping in the individual market can be overwhelming: Am I getting the coverage my family needs? Will my doctor I’ve seen for 20 years accept my new insurance? What about my medications? Am I selling something I don’t need or am I missing out on something I really need? And my employees? At Take Command Health, our job is to empower you to make smart health insurance decisions and make your busy life a little easier. A smart decision not only gives you peace of mind, but it also saves you money. Research shows that more than 85% of self-purchasers choose the wrong health plan each year, costing them more than $500 in unnecessary health care costs. Let’s do it. We found an amazing plan in this header-free open registry that has just what you need. We’ve created this guide and 7 Simple Rules of Health Insurance Shopping to give you the inside information you need to make a smart decision for you and your family. If you want to skip reading, just click this “Let’s Go” button and trust our step-by-step guide to walk you through the process. If you’re the analytical type, scroll down and read on as we use data science to help people make better plan choices: 8 Rules for Buying a Health Plan 1. Always buy every year It’s tempting to want to stick to a plan for convenience, and the idea of trying something new can be scary. This is not something that can be on autopilot. Plans, medical networks, prescription coverage and your family’s health needs change every year. Not to mention, the market is changing a lot due to several emerging trends (click here to learn more). . Here are some things to keep in mind: DO NOT allow yourself to automatically renew a plan: 80% of plans change significantly every year and you may not be aware of it. If you are leaving a company and COBRA is an option, COBRA is a bad deal 99% of the time. Don’t take it just because it’s easy. Here’s why. Plan to set aside 20 minutes to review and redeem your plan each year during the open enrollment period. Worst case scenario, you’ll have peace of mind knowing your current plan still works. At the
Group health insurance for small business owners, affordable health insurance for small business owners, health insurance for small business owners, best health insurance for small business owners, health insurance options for small business, health care insurance for small business owners, best health insurance options for small business, health insurance coverage for small business owners, insurance options for small business owners, health care options for small business owners, 401k options for small business owners, health insurance for small business owners california