Mississippi Group Health Insurance & Employee Benefit Plans

As you work to expand your company and enhance profits, it might be in your company’s best interest to offer group health insurance and employee benefits. This decision has been proven to help businesses of all sizes attract and retain qualified employees. If you engage an insurance broker, you can find exactly what you need in a group health and benefits plan.

At Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency, we’ve been creating group insurance plans for nearly 30 years. Our history in the industry has helped us form relationships with some of the top insurance carriers in the nation. This extensive network allows us to modify plans as necessary and even to negotiate the costs. We strive to get our clients the best possible insurance package for their employees at the lowest rates and premiums.

Mississippi Large Group Health Insurance Plans

Large employers in Mississippi can choose how they want to structure large group insurance for their employees to comply with the ACA and provide valued coverage. Since insurance is a significant expense for many businesses, holding the line on costs can be an incentive to consider nontraditional options like an HMO (health maintenance organization) or PPO (preferred provider organization.) These programs require subscribers to obtain service from a specific group of medical providers, usually called a network. In the case of an HMO, the subscriber must choose a primary care coordinator to manage their access to specialists. Also, suppose the subscriber seeks care using a provider outside the network. In that case, the plan won’t pay for it unless it’s an emergency. With a PPO, the patient may not need a primary care physician and can usually obtain out-of-network care, but at a higher cost.

Some businesses offer POS (point of service) plans, which are considered a hybrid model, combining aspects of other service structures with greater flexibility.

Mississippi Small Business Health Insurance Plans

Small Mississippi companies are not required to offer health insurance to their employees (if they have fifty or fewer). However, if they want to provide coverage as a benefit, the ACA has some resources to help. If they do, they must follow the ACA rules. One requirement is for minimum essential coverage, which is the same as large companies must provide. The required components are:

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 insurance program must be offered to all workers in the company (not just managers or highly compensated staff). Finally, to receive the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit, the employer must pay at least half of the premium cost for employees. However, they don’t have to pay toward the expense of dependents.

Small business owners may want to consult a broker like Taylor Benefits Insurance to evaluate plans. Policy options are categorized as different tiers with metal name identifiers to help identify the value. Bronze plans, for example, have a lower premium but higher costs for service. In contrast, a platinum plan will have the highest premium but a lower price when the subscriber needs to use the coverage. In between are silver and gold.

Mississippi Employee Benefits Plans and Employee Benefits Packages

Employee benefits are sometimes thought of as the optional part of employee compensation. Benefits can include crucial components such as health insurance, life insurance, disability coverage, paid time off, and assistance with retirement savings. However, benefits can incorporate less tangible elements like flexible scheduling, office culture, and personal support. Perks sometimes include things that workers take for granted, like free lunch and snacks, remote work, flexible schedules, a casual dress policy, or informal policies like a dog-friendly environment.

Often, workers prioritize tangible items like health insurance, paid time off, and retirement plans when evaluating benefits. But as many companies learned during the pandemic, employees also want the company to be flexible. Workers who adapted to less-than-ideal working conditions may now expect leeway as they adjust to return-to-office requests. Resuming the commute while dealing with the renewed demands of school schedules and other commitments can be stressful. Large and small companies will benefit from offering flexibility and support if possible.

Our Employee Benefit Plan Options