Affordable Small Business Health Insurance

Wondering where you can find small business health insurance that you can afford?

We're here to help you understand and sort out your small business health insurance options.

We'll even point you to several resources that could help you save on health insurance premiums.

Why Have Small Business Health Insurance?

Surveys show that employees consider employer-based health coverage as the most important of all their benefits.

More and more small businesses are losing their valuable employees to companies that have small business health insurance.

You realize that offering health insurance is key to attracting and retaining employees. It keeps them happy and productive. You want to protect your employees and their families, since you know how important their health is to the health of your own business, and you genuinely care about them.

So here you are, ready to shop around for small business health insurance.

Where do you start?

Follow this guide to help you navigate through the small business health insurance market and find a plan that best fits your budget and needs.

Specifically, we will help you understand the different types of health insurance options available to you, and give you tips on how to make the most out of your health insurance coverage.

Affordable Small Business Health Insurance Options

A) Fee-for-Service (FFS) or Indemnity Plan.

This is the traditional type of health insurance that provides the most flexibility to your employees.

With this plan, your employees can choose any doctor they wish to see in any part of the country, whenever they need to.

They can visit a specialist anytime without needing to secure a referral from a primary physician, or seek treatment without a need of authorization.

There are three (3) types of Fee-for-service plans.

Basic protection covers the cost of hospital room and care, other hospital services such as x-rays and prescription medicine. It also covers the cost of surgery whether in or out of the hospital, as well as some doctor visits.

Major medical insurance, on the other hand, covers only high-cost medical treatment for long and major illnesses and injuries. There are policies that offer both basic and major medical coverage in one plan. This is called a "comprehensive plan."

FFS requires members to track their medical expenses and fill out and submit claim forms to get reimbursed for medical expenses. In addition, Fee-for-service plan tends to be more expensive than other types of health insurance plans. Because of this higher cost, more companies have shifted from fee-for-service plans to managed care programs.

B) Managed Care Health Insurance Plans

These are types of health insurance plans that provide health care services at lower costs. Managed care plans are able to lower costs through financial arrangements and contracts with health care providers. In addition, these plans put great emphasis on preventive care (e.g. routine check-ups, well-child care), to avoid illnesses from becoming serious medical conditions.

There are three types of managed care:

HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) is a prepaid health care plan. With an HMO, employees can only go to specific groups of physicians who are within the HMO network.

HMOs require members to choose a primary care physician who will performs basic health checkups and manages the overall treatment of the patient. This physician acts as a gatekeeper and approves member’s visits to a specialist.

HMOs do not cover treatment outside of the network, except for emergencies or services that are deemed medically necessary. As such, members will have to pay for medical expenses if they choose to seek treatment outside the network. HMO handles all the payment

PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) is a combination of HMO and Traditional health insurance plan. Like an HMO, PPO uses a network of health care providers ("preferred" providers). When members use these providers, most of their medical bills will be covered. However, unlike HMO, PPO gives its members the option of seeking treatment outside the network. But these types of services bear higher co-insurance rates and therefore cost the members more.

POS (Point of Sale) Health Plan combines the lower cost of HMO and the freedom offered by PPO. Like an HMO, POS plans require that members choose a primary care physician who acts as a gatekeeper and who provides the necessary referrals to other physicians.

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