Sunnyvale Group Health Insurance & Employee Benefit Plans

Administering benefits and healthcare coverage for employees can be a time consuming job and many small and medium sized companies don’t have the HR staffing to properly address the concerns of their employees. That’s where we come in.

Sunnyvale CA Large Group Health Insurance Plans

Large employers are more likely than small companies to offer their employees health insurance. This was true even before the Affordable Care Act required all companies with fifty or more workers to provide health insurance. Big businesses also typically offer a choice between plans and some support for the premiums. The ACA’s affordability standard ensures that subscribers don’t have to pay more than 9.61 percent of their income for the monthly premium for individual coverage. Employers often find that their workforce looks at the upfront costs of insurance (premiums) more closely than the usage costs, like copayments and deductibles.

Also, subscribers still seem to prefer PPO structures over HMO systems, even if the cost is higher. When asked, employees say this preference is because the HMO doesn't include their doctor or prefer not to go through a primary care physician to access a specialist. Also, while a PPO subscriber may pay more for service they get outside the network, with an HMO, the patient may not be entitled to any out-of-network care unless it's an emergency.

Sunnyvale CA Small Business Health Insurance Plans

Small companies on tight budgets may hesitate to commit to providing health insurance for their workers since the ACA doesn't require it if the business has fewer than fifty employees. With health insurance prices high and rising, it may seem unrealistic. One option for these companies to consider instead is to offer an ICHRA (individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement) for their teams. With an ICHRA, the employer facilitates the employee’s ability to direct pre-tax funds to pay for personal insurance coverage through a marketplace plan or purchased from a broker. The insurance must meet ACA standards, and employers can't offer health insurance and the ICHRA. If they provide an ICHRA, it must be available for every employee—not just specific groups within the company. Still, as long as all employees are treated equally, the company can decide how much to contribute.

Sunnyvale CA Employee Benefit Plans and Employee Benefit Packages

Health insurance coverage and paid time off are the most common employee benefits and among the most requested. Both are more likely with bigger firms than smaller ones. Even though small companies may not provide health insurance, they usually have some paid time off. In Sunnyvale, like all California cities, workers get at least three paid sick days and partially paid family leave. In addition, it's typical to allow paid time for holidays, and vacation time, often depending on how long the worker has been working for the business. Larger companies may add bereavement leave and paid time off for jury duty.

In California, many companies offer short-term disability insurance to their employees on top of the legally mandated workers' compensation program. Some allow the employee to purchase long-term disability coverage at their own cost. Long-term disability is one of the so-called "voluntary" benefits that employees sometimes can buy at a group rate through their employer but that the company isn’t paying for. Other examples of voluntary benefits include life insurance, pet insurance, specific illness coverage, long-term care insurance, and legal plans.