If you already have a group plan in place for your business, then you know that getting group health insurance quotes isn’t a quick and easy process. Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as getting online, plugging in your zip code, email and phone number into some health insurance web site and getting instant insurance quotes.
Instead, you need to work with a reputable independent health insurance broker who can guide and advise you as you determine the best group health plan design for your business. A broker has access to multiple insurance carriers and knows the ins and outs of comparing group health insurance quotes. He or she helps with comparing your group health insurance quotes based on both benefits and cost and can help you decipher the various nuances of putting together an employee benefits package that is an ideal fit for your company’s needs.
Group Health Insurance Quotes
Your insurance broker will need to conduct a simple census of your group. This entails collecting general demographic and health history information on all of your full time employees who are currently eligible for participating in your group health insurance plan. Basically, to get the most accurate group health insurance quotes, the information required per employee is name, age, gender, job title, employment start date, how many additional family members will be added per employee, smoker status, and diagnosed health conditions. The required information may vary by carrier and by state. In addition, you’ll need to consider whether optional maternity coverage, dental coverage, and vision coverage will be made available to employees. Finally, you’ll need to think about how many group health insurance options you want to make available to employees (HMO, PPO, HSA, HRA, FSA, POS, or any combination of the aforementioned).
You can wait until you receive your group health insurance quotes from your broker before making a decision on plan design. If you already have group health insurance in place for your company and you are simply shopping quotes to see if there is something more affordable for your business, it’s highly likely that you won’t get an exact replica of your current plan (with all current options, deductible and coinsurance levels, etc.) for a cheaper rate. You can find group health insurance plans at lower rates but you’ll probably have to accept a slightly different (or less) options, higher out of pocket costs for your employees, or altogether offering the same group health insurance plan with increased employee contribution to the insurance premium.
Ultimately, the more informed you are regarding the various components of group health plans, the simpler it will be to work with your broker in comparing group health insurance quotes and ensuring that you get the best group benefits at the lowest rates.
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