Group Health Insurance in NJ: 5 Primary Coverages

Your business is known for a lot.

It’s known for the products you sell and/or make.

It’s known for the branding that resonates with your target audience.

It’s known for the standard of service your customers expect.

…But all of that means nothing without the people who make your business great.

Your employees’ hard work and endeavors make your business what it is.

Protecting them at work can help to show them how much you value them while helping them to remain productive.

This starts with the right group health insurance policy.

Here we’ll discuss all things group health insurance, why you need it, its primary coverages and how to get the most cost-efficacy out of your policy year-on-year.

What is Group Health Insurance?

Group health insurance is coverage that workplaces can put in place to make healthcare more affordable for their employees.

This is because risk is spread across a group of employees, and insurance providers have a better idea of whom they are covering, allowing them to provide better rates than they could offer for individual policies.

However, group policies need at least 70% participation in the plan for the coverage to be valid.

Group health insurance has been around since the Great Depression when healthcare costs were exceeding most patients’ ability to pay.

Employer-sponsored group health insurance plans came about in the 1940s when wartime legislation demanded flat wages yet employers needed attractive benefits to offer their workforces to make themselves more appealing to new candidates.

What Does it Cover?

Group health insurance covers a range of healthcare needs, including pre-existing or chronic health conditions such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and cancer, although coverage may vary depending on the individual policy and provider.

Some policies may also cover the healthcare needs of employees’ spouses.

Not everyone is covered under a group health insurance plan and the Affordable Care Act is designed to provide healthcare for those who are unable to take advantage of group coverage.

There are several different plan types including;

• Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) – These use a primary care doctor as a main point of contact who refers the patients to specialists within the insurance company’s care network as needed.
• Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO) – These plans do not require policyholders to pick a primary care doctor and allow them to choose healthcare providers outside of the insurer’s network (usually at extra cost).
• Exclusive Provider Organizations (EPO) – These plans are a combination of HMO and PPO plans.
• Other Options – There is a huge range of other plan types that are often eligible to use alongside Health Savings Accounts. Point of Service (POS) plans are a good example of this and also combine elements of PPO and HMO plans.

Levels of Coverage

Within each plan, there are different levels of coverage that dictate the proportion of healthcare costs that are subsumed by the insurer.

• Platinum – Covers 90% of projected healthcare expenses for the average enrollee. You pay the remaining 10%.
• Gold – Coverage drops to 80% of projected healthcare expenses for gold policies. You pay the remaining 20%.
• Silver – 70% of projected healthcare expenses. You pay the other 30%.
• Bronze – 60% of projected healthcare expenses. You pay the other 40%.

More comprehensive policies will come at a higher premium, but out-of-pocket expenses will be significantly reduced.

It’s up to businesses to decide which level of coverage strikes the right balance between meeting the needs of the workforce and maintaining healthy cash flow.

Remember that the portion of the coverage that you bear can be supplemented by your employees.

Why Your Business Benefits from Group Health Coverage?

Believe it or not, small businesses (those with 50 employees or fewer) have no legal requirement to offer group health insurance.

The law requires very little from you, aside from allowing your employees time off for military service, voting or carrying out jury duty.

Still, just because you aren’t legally required to provide group health insurance doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t.

Companies who provide group health insurance are more attractive to top-tier candidates, and if you don’t offer it, you may lose a promising candidate to a competitor who does.

You’ll also save money because you’ll retain employees for longer and won’t have to pay out the expenses associated with recruiting and onboarding new team members when employees leave you for companies with better healthcare coverage.

Group healthcare insurance shouldn’t be viewed as just another overhead.

It has the potential to increase employee productivity, reduce turnaround and improve your bottom line in the long term.

Additional Benefits

With the right partners, you can also gain access to a range of other employee benefits that are not covered under group health insurance policies.

These include dental, disability, life and vision insurance.

You can offer your workforce and their dependants assurances in every aspect of their health and wellbeing!

Why Work With a Broker?

Businesses face a daily battle to stay cost-effective and keep their overheads manageable.

Insurance companies know this, and will rarely reward businesses for turning over and renewing their policies.

An insurance broker can keep your business cost-effective in ways that don’t come at the expense of the coverage your employees need and value.

A broker can get access to the best deals on the market, including deals that may not be available to you without them.

They work with a wide range of carriers to get you the best deal year on year.

Protecting your workforce without impinging on your profitability.

Who Are We?

We are Keller Insurance Services, and we strive to bring clients the best value for money on their group health insurance policies in and around West Deptford, NJ.

We have great relationships with a wide range of carriers to ensure that you get a great deal that’s suited to the needs of your workforce.

Give Your Workforce the Gift of Benefits

We also work with a trusted partner, Alliance Benefit Solutions to provide even greater value for employers.

With assistance for everything from disability insurance to retirement planning their portfolio of services combined with our own ensures that your employees always get the best deal and your business gets the most attractive portfolio of employee benefits at manageable costs.