Health care insurance costs are continuously rising, putting pressure on insurance carriers to develop insurance plans that cover all risks and at the same time remain affordable to all sizes of businesses. Similarly, business owners are forced to look at options with lesser benefits and higher cost sharing. They are now looking at the possibility of reducing the benefits they offer to be able to reduce the cost and keep health benefits in place.

There are a few very important things to know about group health insurance CA.

- Groups a classified as either small group or large group. Small groups are groups with 2-49 employees while large groups have 50+ employees. Underwriting requirements differ between the two.

- AB1672 is a law that was past that makes small groups guaranteed issue. This means that no matter how poor the health status of the group may be they are still guaranteed the insurance plan their choice.

- Employers cannot discriminate and if they choose to offer health insurance to their employees they must offer to all eligible employees. Full time employee’s are eligible and in the state of CA full time is considered 30 hours a week or more. Employers can offer health insurance to part time employees working at least 20 hours a week more if they choose.

- Each health insurance carrier requires employers to contribute a minimum of 50% toward the lowest cost HMO or a flat rate that is designated by the health insurance company. An example flat rate might be $100 per employee per month.

Employers have many options of plans to offer their employees. HMO plans are generally more comprehensive with an emphasis on preventative care and limited co-insurance. PPO’s in most cases cost more to use but give the insured the freedom to travel outside of the given network.

As health insurance prices climb it is important to offer a full cocktail of plans to employees. This is beneficial to both the business and the employees. This way the business owner can choose plan that he/she feels comfortable contributing a percentage of and allow the employee the choice to either buy up from there to a richer plan and pay the difference or buy down and take a plan with lesser benefits but pay less as well. Some employer’s are now finding it less costly to offer HSA plans with higher deductibles and help contribute to the employee’s HSA. Visit our HSA article to learn more about HSA’s.

Contact Us

With our experience in the California group health insurance market and our contacts with all major insurance service providers, we are able to put a strategy in place to ensure a plan that fits the needs of your company and make sure you have the right group health insurance CA. Contact us at toll free at 888-202-9441 or email us at admin@ezhealthinsuranceca.com.

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