The Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer mandate requires employers with 50 or more full-time and full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) to offer Health Insurance to employees and their children (up to age 26); those businesses that do not offer coverage face penalties. The amount of the penalty depends on the number of employees, whether coverage is considered “affordable” or not, and whether any employee elects to get coverage from an ACA public exchange. Biz Benefits is glad to help you determine whether a business is subject to the employer mandate.

Many factors influence the cost of insurance for employers. How many employees do they have? What type of coverage do they want (HMO, PPO, HSA-compatible, etc.)? What are the ages of those to be covered? Is coverage for employees only, employees and children, or employees and family (including spouses and dependent children)? Are there specific doctors and hospitals that need to be a part of the coverage offered? We can dial that number in for you, but for reference, check this out:

The Kaiser Family Foundation reported in 2023 that the annual premium for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $23,968. Another increase from 2022. Workers, on average, paid $8,722 toward the cost of their family coverage. 66% of small firms and 98% of large firms offered health benefits to at least some of their workers in 2023.

There are a handful of Health Insurance options available in the market today, including:

• Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans

• Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) plans

• Point of Service (POS) plans

• Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) plans

• Health Care Service Plans (HSPs)

• High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs), which can include some of the plan types above, and which are often paired with a Health Savings Account (HSA).

Not all carriers offer all the above plan types in all markets.

There is no easy answer here. Each employee has his or her own preferences, health care needs, and budget. Some employees who rarely visit the doctor may prefer a Silver metal tier HMO because it’s more affordable and includes the hospitals they are looking for. Older employees may prefer a Gold PPO because it includes the specialists they want for a chronic health condition (like asthma, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure). Finding what works best for your business is a big part of our consulting services. Getting to know about your business, workforce and the goals you want to achieve with your benefits program will direct our work.

Biz Benefits is licensed and appointed with all major, and most minor insurance carriers in the country. This enables us to present you with the most common core benefits offered by companies such as Health Insurance, Dental & Vision, and Life insurance; and we can certainly accommodate any interest in providing a wide variety of additional benefits like Worksite, Pet insurance, ID Theft protection, and Employee Assistance Programs for example.

Our clients range from blue collar construction to esteemed law groups, and we understand the dynamics of them all. If you are working in a specific industry that may require a more nuanced look into employee benefits, Biz Benefits can help.

Employee benefits are surrounded by ever-changing laws and regulations. What was acceptable last year, may not be in the years to come. We partner with the leading compliance organizations nationwide to stay abreast of the complex landscape and keep your benefits program compliant.

Even if your team is technologically driven, it is still important to have someone to directly reach out to if you have a specific question or an emergency that needs to be addressed. Our team shines in our personal contact with clients, who in addition to standard email and company phone access - many have our cell phone numbers as well!

We believe our track record of helping clients achieve their benefit program goals is a difference worth noting. Rather than showing you how busy we are on your behalf, that’s the focus of our business.

We are compensated by the insurance carriers for placing insurance, so there is no cost to you. While there may be “Fee for Service” agreements for service outside the scope of placing insurance, those costs will be clearly communicated and agreed upon up front.

For group benefits, employers select the plans for the benefit package presented to employees, and then each employee chooses which coverage they need.

Several factors go into that answer, but we are always ready to take your call or email and discuss those.

888-788-9BIZ or bizservice@biz-benefits.com

We are more than happy to assist you in that process. Just give us a call or email here:

888-788-9BIZ or bizservice@biz-benefits.com where a real person who cares and wants to help waits.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer mandate requires employers with 50 or more full-time and full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) to offer Health Insurance to employees and their children (up to age 26); those businesses that do not offer coverage face penalties. The amount of the penalty depends on the number of employees, whether coverage is considered “affordable” or not, and whether any employee elects to get coverage from an ACA public exchange. Biz Benefits is glad to help you determine whether a business is subject to the employer mandate.

Yes, we do! We will coordinate a benefits communication strategy with you based on the needs of your company. Whether that means paper forms, benefits guides, emailing, calling, texting, sending carrier pigeons, or creating smoke signals…. you get the idea. And we offer first in class benefits administration with Employee Navigator to take your benefits program digital with online onboarding and enrollment.