Home  Health Insurance California Articles  Reduce Small Business Insurance Costs in Four Steps

Reduce Small Business Insurance Costs in Four Steps

For small companies, the business health insurance is a major cost of doing business. Many small business owners are asking their employees to shoulder more of the financial burden as the premiums are soaring. It may seem in the beginning that the small business health insurance is swallowing up a huge chunk of your revenue. But the truth is that they actually attract better employees and help in retaining the existing workers. Here are some tips that would reduce the small business health insurance plan costs if you are struggling with the lot.

           1. The first thing that you can accomplish would be keeping your employees healthy. Some companies have instituted comprehensive wellness program that includes disease management for conditions like asthma and diabetes. They also offer flu shots, cancer screenings, smoking cessation and 24/7 phone line staffed by nurses. Such companies have in turn saved many bucks for all the money they have invested in the prevention campaigns. If you have such wellness program, it would keep the company accountants happy. Moreover reports show that employees actually make use of such programs like fitness centers, physical therapy etc.

         2. The next step is cutting coverage by asking the employees to contribute more to the plan. Usually small businesses exclude the dental and vision insurance. But you have to discuss the proposal with the employees before taking action.

         3.  Thirdly you can consider some health savings accounts because the tax exempt accounts could in turn reduce the small business health insurance costs along with giving the employees tax breaks. Such health insurance plans would be used to pay for certain medical expenses for the employees.

         4.  The basic thing that you need to know is that there should be a high deductible health insurance plan to establish a health savings account. Earlier the plans were less deductible and you were forced to pay for health care expenses like doctor’s visits or prescriptions before you are reimbursed by the insurance company. But there were benefits like the employees were allowed to take their accounts with them if they leave that the funds do not expire. The health savings accounts surely benefit employees who do not regularly see doctors. However your employees can have specific health insurance plans which cover ailments accidents, dental and vision care.

Health insurance is a huge business and if you shop around for different providers you would get a better deal. Providers like Anthem Blue cross, Kaiser Permanente, Blue Shield, Health Net etc are popular Health insurance providers in California.