Whether you are a small business owner or run a nonprofit organization, you’re probably well aware of how vital it is to keep employees insured. Given the current global health crisis, health insurance is recognized as something of a rare commodity, one that not everyone can have access to. Not only does providing solid health insurance plans help you retain a competent workforce, but it also ensures that everyone working with you is safe, happy, and healthy.

Perhaps you’re still not sure which kind of health benefits to offer your staff - after all, the world of health insurance is rather complicated and unwieldy. Either way, if you’re curious to learn more about group health insurance policies specifically and the ways in which they can be beneficial, then the following article is for you. 

What Are Group Health Insurance Policies?

First off, let’s start with the basics. You’re probably not sure what group health insurance policies entail, or how they differ from general health insurance plans. Basically, group insurance helps to provide coverage to a group of members within an organization, typically employees. These group members receive insurance at a reduced cost because the insurer’s risk is diffuse and not centralized: it is spread across evenly amongst all policyholders. These plans are incredibly popular in both Canada but also the United States, wherein employer-mandated insurance can be seen as the norm. 

How Does it Work?

As you can probably infer by now, these policies are purchased by an employer or organization. These plans are only offered for groups, so they cannot be purchased for individual use. As the policies and information packets from GroupEnroll.ca reveal, these plans offer coverage to groups that can pay the fees pertaining to at least 70% of the membership pool in order to remain up to date. As straightforward as this may seem, you should take note of the fact that not all group insurance policies are the same. In fact, they all differ tremendously, with variations running the gamut, from the insurance providers and the plan types to the terms and conditions attached, and ultimately, the cost. This is precisely why consulting a health insurance broker can help clarify matters - this is a big pool to wade through, and it’s not easy to arrive at a decision without expert hands leading the way.

Benefits of Group Health Insurance

Perhaps the first and most obvious benefit afforded by group health insurance policies is that they are relatively affordable. Given that a group plan helps to minimize risk by spreading it across a slew of insured individuals, this helps to keep premiums low. This in turn allows insurers to manage their risk better since they begin to study who they are covering and how the policies are relevant to their everyday life. Group insurance policies tend to fall into two major camps: HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) and PPOs (Preferred Provider Organizations. 

Both of these plans allow providers to exercise control over the cost of premiums and deductibles for members. HMOs are cheaper, primarily because they come with many restrictions as to how members can obtain medical care. PPOs offer many more choices in terms of the kinds of doctors patients can see, and can enhance their access to specialists, but of course, this also makes it more expensive.  You can use https://insurancebrokersusa.com/ to compare insurance plans as well.

Who Can Purchase These Plans?

Of course, employers usually purchase these plans for their employees, whether we are talking about a non-profit organization, major corporation, and so on. However, there are different associations that offer plans for their members, such as the Screen Actors Guild, the Freelancers Union, and so on. Paying membership dues to these associations comes with the benefit of allowing members to buy into their health insurance plans. This is great since it does help to take some of the pressure off of employers or the federal government being the sole providers of health insurance to the public. 

A Note to Consider

As an employer, it is tempting to focus primarily on the bottom line, and purchasing group plans with a lower premium. However, more cost analysis should be at work here. There are things to consider such as deductibles, copayments, and so on. For things to be more equitable all around, it is advisable to account for how much you as the employer will pay, as well as your employee out of pocket to help cover different costs. 

Offering health insurance coverage to employees or members of your organization is a good move for a number of reasons. For one, you would be doing your due diligence to retain a safe and well-functioning staff. You will also be making your business or organization something that everyone would want to be a part of, which is not a bad way to win people over to your side.