No legislation exists that demands small employers to offer health insurance to their eligible employees. However, the Affordable Care Act stipulates useful guidelines that small business owners need to embrace in case they decide to provide health care cover for their employees. Having a health insurance cover for employees provides several benefits to the company. Such an initiative contributes to healthy employer-employee understanding as well as enhanced employee work morale. This initiative ensures that employees efficiently meet their medical bills, thus, ensuring quality health. In addition, medical insurance increases customer satisfaction allowing the company to retain its talented employees (Small Business Majority, p. 2).
In regard to this situation, the most appropriate plan would be group medical coverage. This medical cover provides coverage to all eligible employees (and their dependants should the policy include them) of a given small business. Group coverage allows the employer and employees to contribute to the overall cost of insurance. The cover requires the employer to pay 50-80% of the total cost of insurance. However, some insurance providers allow employers to pay even lesser percentages. Group coverage occurs in several categories. Health Management Organization (HMO) category suits this business. HMO works well with businesses situated in urban centers. HMO allows patients to choose physicians who can recommend them to specialists. The patients can go for doctor visits, preventative care, and medical treatment from healthcare providers enlisted under HMO. The plan has several cost- sharing levels. A closer look at the available statistics of this business; 4 eligible employees and 4 dependants, HMO can be implemented. The group coverage (HMO) insurer will be the Regence Group. The employer will pay 60% of the total insurance cost for the 4 eligible employees and 40% percent for the 4 dependants. This will amount to $1,156 per month and $17,472 per year.
Studies conducted in 2007 have indicated that approximately 59% of small employers in the United States offer insurance cover to their patients. Such companies had three to one hundred employees. Apparently, those small employers who do not offer health cover to their patients fear the high cost of health insurance cover. The study also indicated that small businesses that have been in existence for a longer period strive to provide healthcare cover to their employees. On the contrary, younger businesses hesitate to offer insurance cover to their employees (Employer Health Benefits 2007 Annual Survey, p. 1).
The prevailing situation puts the employer under pressure. The eligible employees have threatened to quit in case the employer does not provide health care cover for them. The employer has got no other option but to provide some form of cover to the employees in order to retain them. In addition, the main competitor of this business seems to have a health cover in place for his employees. Therefore, the owner of this business has to come up with a proper health care cover that will persuade the employees to stay. If the business owner fails to do so, then the employees might quit and join the company of his/her main competition. The situation at hand challenges the business owner to at least come up with a workable plan that will inspire the employees to stay. Therefore, the employer has got no shortcut but to implement the demands of his employees. Thus, the employer will have to budget for the health cover of his patients.
The United States has an umbrella of standardized health care policies through which citizens can purchase health insurance cover that satisfies federal subsidy (Kaiser Health News, p. 2). The health insurance exchanges enable stakeholders from different states, federal governments and the private sector to work together and ensure health care plans become affordable and accessible to citizens. Exchanges select eligible insurers and make them available for citizens. This programs aim at ensuring accountability and transparency in the health insurance sector. This program also aims at ensuring that healthcare cost becomes shared amongst larger groups. The President Obama’s healthcare reform program led to the establishment of the patient protection and affordable care act. This plan strives to initiate vital reforms in the private and public health insurance programs. This legislation strives to broaden healthcare cover that in cooperates Americans of all walks of life and making healthcare affordable to all. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have a regulation that allows small businesses to get financial assistance. However, this only applies so long as they buy the insurance through an exchange. Group insurance enables the employees of a given company to pay standardized premium rates.
The group coverage program will provide a standardized healthcare cover to the employees (Kaiser Health News, p. 4). This will ensure equal contribution amongst the insured employees. This program works in accordance with the Patient and health exchange policies. This will ensure that the employees together with their dependants meet their healthcare goals. The plan works in line with the patient protection and affordable care act’s goal of ensuring affordable and accessible healthcare for American citizens. In addition, the cover gets some funding from the governed in case it passes through an exchange. Therefore, the plan will ensure cost sharing between the government, the employer and the employee.
Works Cited
- Employer Health Benefits 2007 Annual Survey. Kaiser Family Foundation, National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, and Health Research and Educational Trust, n.d. Web. 2012.
- Kaiser Health News. Kaiser State Health Facts. n.d. 2012.
- Small Business Majority.Small Business Majority.n.d. 2012.