Often, people who do not have health insurance defer doctor visits until they are having major health problems. As a result, illnesses and conditions that can be addressed when they are minor concerns often become extremely expensive to treat. Instead of missing one or two days of work, the employee ends up missing more than a week or longer due to illness.
Employees who do not have health insurance for their families also lose work time if they need to stay home taking care of their children. Again, instead of being able to easily take their child to the doctor to get needed medications and treatment early in an illness, minor health conditions turn into major illnesses, requiring longer and more expensive recovery times.
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| The rewards for helping your employees is immesurable |
Employee Financial Distress
Whether you are considering insurance options for yourself or for your employees, one of the major factors to think about is the financial impact of not having health insurance. Unfortunately, medical care is expensive, especially for chronic or major health problems. Health care expenses are often one of the major factors behind bankruptcy, and can cause substantial distress for you and your employees.
Small business owners need employees to be focused on work priorities, and solopreneurs can rarely afford to lose valuable time growing their business. However, for those without health insurance options, the cost of routine checkups and doctor visits can become a major worry. Self-employed business owners may be challenged with the cost of medical care if they find themselves facing a major or chronic illness. Health care expenses are not limited to doctor visits. Other costs that can quickly escalate include medications, physical therapy, hospital stays and other needed medical treatment.
Improved Employee Performance
Healthier employees tend to also be more productive employees. Employees with access to quality health insurance are more likely to get regular checkups and undergo critical health screening procedures. When health problems are detected in early stages, they are often easier to treat and can prevent employees from necessary, lengthy absences due to a major illness.
Employees who believe that their company takes care of them by providing benefits also tend to be happier overall and more productive. Companies with benefits find more highly qualified employees and have better employee retention than those without. Without the need to worry about health care issues, you may find your employees more willing to extend themselves in other ways to provide you with the best efficiency and productivity possible.
Tax Credits
For many entrepreneurs, the tax impact of providing health insurance can be a significant factor in building a benefit package for themselves and their employees. With the new mandated Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) coming into effect, many small business owners are only now becoming aware of tax credits that can help pay for heath insurance benefits.
Already in effect, entrepreneurs with less than 25 full time employees can receive a tax credit of up to 35 percent of the premium cost for health insurance for their employees. In 2014, the tax credit rates increases up to 50 percent of health insurance premium costs. The goal is to increase the number of people covered by health insurance and small business owners are one major group who can provide access to health insurance for millions of people currently uninsured.
There are specific qualifications to receive the tax credit. Small businesses must have fewer than the equivalent of 25 full time employees. Additionally, they must pay annual average employee wages of less than $50,000 per employee and must assist with at least half of the cost of health insurance premiums for their employees to receive the credit.
While many small business entrepreneurs are deterred by the idea of spending money on healthcare benefits for their employees, the cost of not providing health insurance options can be substantial. With all of the benefits and the new tax credits available to help with the costs of health insurance, it is an option certainly worth considering for the smart business owner.
Just 1 Group understands the importance of quality healthcare for entrepreneurs, small business owners and their employees. Formed out of the desire to offer corporate-style benefits at a reasonable cost, Just 1 Group has provided a unique way obtain healthcare coverage by building a core membership of entrepreneurs, soloprenurs and small business owners who want to each other succeed.
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