San Bernardino Group Insurance and Benefit Plans

When it comes to the supply and demand of your employees, you’re probably used to hearing them refer to their group health insurance and benefit plans. This is one of the biggest benefits to come with a full-time job and many people depend on the insurance plans they provided through their place of employment. That is why Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency works with some of the most reputable insurance companies in the San Bernardino area.

San Bernardino CA Large Group Health Insurance Plans

Large employers have an obligation to provide health insurance for their staff, but they can choose among programs to do so. Companies with fifty or more workers must offer a plan to their employees that complies with the ACA’s established minimum affordability and coverage requirements. The coverage standard applies to any health insurance and delineates benefits that must be included:

1. Ambulatory patient services (outpatient care)
2. Emergency services
3. Hospitalization, including surgical and medical
4. Maternity and newborn care, including delivery
5. Mental health and substance use disorder services
6. Prescription drugs
7. Rehabilitative services and devices
8. Laboratory services
9. Preventative and wellness services, including chronic disease management
10. Pediatric services, including dental and vision care for children under the age of 19

The affordability rules only apply to the premiums for employees, not dependents. A worker’s share of the cost must be equal to or less than 9.61 percent of their gross income for individual coverage. Employers who do not offer health insurance may be assessed an employer shared responsibility payment.

The penalty can be imposed if a large business doesn’t offer insurance to at least 95 percent of its workers and their dependents. Children up to age 26 are dependents, but spouses and foster or stepchildren are not.

San Bernardino CA Small Business Health Insurance Plans

Small companies may struggle to afford health insurance for their employees. However, many still cover some of the expenses for workers and sometimes for dependents. For some companies, it’s one way to stay competitive. For others, it’s part of their culture. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation survey, nearly one-third of small companies that offer insurance pay the total cost for individual coverage for their workers, and almost all the rest subsidize more than half. In addition, the business size significantly affects whether employees are eligible for health insurance coverage. Only half of the smallest companies (those with less than ten workers) offer a program.

For small companies trying to include the benefit, one option is to evaluate plans through SHOP, which you can investigate with the help of your Taylor Benefits Insurance consultant. SHOP is the ACA-created Small Business Health Options Program, which helps smaller companies get access to health resources. Employers with fifty or fewer workers can use SHOP for insurance, and those with 25 or fewer full-time workers may qualify for tax credits.

San Bernardino CA Employee Benefit Plans and Employee Benefit Packages

Health insurance and paid time off are the most pervasive employee benefits, although both are more common as the employer’s size increases. While smaller companies may not offer health insurance coverage, they almost always provide at least some paid time off for full-time workers. The most common PTO is for holidays, followed by vacation time, illness, and personal days. Larger companies typically include bereavement leave and paid time for jury duty, while small businesses may not or may take an informal approach to the subject.

Many companies offer company-paid short-term disability insurance to their workforce. Some add an option for the employee to purchase long-term coverage at their own cost. Long-term disability is one of the typical “voluntary” benefits that employees may gain access to at a group rate through their employer but without a subsidy from the company. Other examples include life insurance, pet insurance, specific illness coverage, long-term care insurance, and legal plans.