Group health insurance is a single policy that covers an entire group of people.  The most common group that purchases a group plan is a business with employees.  That’s not the only organization that can benefit from a group plan.  Other organizations can also purchase insurance for their members. This applies to California small businesses as well.

Group health insurance rates are based on general information for the members of the group.  The type of organization that purchases that policy can also affect the rates.   That’s because group plans are based on a pool of insured persons that can change.  As people leave a group, and others take their place, the makeup of the pool changes.

Other products include:

• Dental/Vision
• Life Insurance
• Disability
• Indemnity Plans
• Pet Insurance: Some companies offer this as a special perk                                                                                                                                                                                

With a few exceptions, when a small business offers group health insurance to any of its full-time employees, it must offer insurance to all full-time staff.  Employers can also extend coverage to part-time workers.  However, if they offer it to even one part-time employee, they have to offer it to all part-timers.
If an employee is eligible for the group health insurance plan, they can’t be refused due to preexisting medical conditions.  That also applies to members of their families. Some group health insurance policies allow spouses, children and other dependents to sign up for coverage as well as the employee.                                                                                                                                                                    

Many employers pay the entire cost of group insurance for their employees.  This isn’t required, however.  Some businesses make their employees pay part of their premiums.  The Affordable Care Act offers many tax credits for businesses to offset the cost of group insurance.  If employees pay at least half of the premiums for their employers, they may qualify for up to a 50 percent tax credit.  These tax credits are based on complicated rules, so it pays to ask your broker and your accountant for full details.                                                                                                                                                             

Not all businesses need to offer group health insurance to comply with federal and state laws.  However, small business health insurance is an important perk that employees value very highly.  If you’d like to offer health insurance to improve employee morale and retention rates, contact Bruno Health Insurance Services for more information.