If you are a small business owner, you know that most employers expect to be offered some type of health insurance as an employment benefit. Employers who offer health benefits will be able to obtain and keep the most skilled employees. Health insurance is complicated at best and you may get confused trying to figure out which plan is best for your company and your employees. You should talk with your insurance agent about what options are available and how much health insurance you will need to buy in a plan. Plans are generally offered using PPOs, HMOs or as a traditional insurance plan. Here is more information about each of these options.
Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs)
One type of Health Insurance For Businesses Asheville NC that you can offer your employees is a plan through a Preferred Provider Organization or PPO. With a PPO, the employee is given a list of preferred providers where he may receive health care treatment. The network is made up of doctor’s offices, hospitals, physicians and other health care professionals who are “preferred” by the insurance company. This means that as long as the employee chooses one of these preferred providers, most of the expense of medical treatments are covered by his insurance policy, If, however, the employee chooses to use a health care professional or facility that is “out-of-network” or not on the preferred provider list, he may be responsible for all or part of his medical bill. If you own a small business in a large metropolitan community, this plan may be an excellent choice for your employees as it is likely that many of the preferred providers will be local facilities that are conveniently located for your employees.
Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs)
HMO plans are similar to PPO small business health insurance plans. With an HMO, the patients are covered at lower premiums for health care provided by doctors, hospitals, or other health care facilities who have agreed to provide their services to the insurance company at a lower rate. The primary care physician coordinates the employee’s health care and only uses a specialist after receiving approval from the insurance company. The employee can only use health care providers that are included in the HMO plan unless he is referred to a specialist by his primary care physician. This plan limits your employees’ health care choices, but may be an affordable option for you to provide health care insurance to your employees. Your insurance agent can explain more about the specifics of health care plans that use HMO providers.
Traditional Insurance Plan
A traditional health insurance plan is one where the employee is allowed to choose who he will use for his health care needs. These plans are not as common as they once were. While this plan gives greater freedom to your employees, it is also a more expensive health care plan option. For most small businesses, this type of health insurance plan is not economically feasible.
If you are unsure about what type of small business health insurance plan is right for your company, you should schedule a consultation with your Integrative Family Medicine who can sit down with you and go over all of your options.
