Putting health insurance benefits in place is a solid part of a small business’ long-term strategy to gain a valuable advantage in their marketplace. Small businesses that offer health insurance give themselves a huge competitive advantage to outperform their competitors with a valuable benefit that works to differentiate, sustain, and build your business every day.
Let’s take a look at how health insurance creates value for you over others in your marketplace.
Offering health insurance helps you hire and retain top talent
If you need employees with specialised knowledge and skills, the competitiveness of your benefits packages greatly influences your ability to hire and retain that top talent. Employees consider the benefits you offer before they decide to join your company. The most qualified employees can choose between jobs, and a great health benefits package will increase your chances of attracting the best talent out there. The lack of health insurance can be a deal-breaker when it comes to the decision to join your business.
High employee turnover damages your business’ competitiveness. If you want to build a successful business, you have to maintain a high employee retention rate. Why? Replacing an employee creates additional expenses for your business. You will pay more for recruitment. Your company will also spend more on training and managing new employees. To replace an entry-level employee, you might pay 30-50% of the annual salary. It is even more expensive to replace a mid-level employee which could cost over 150% of the annual salary.
Many employees will take a lower paying job with the possibility of advancement as long as the company offers a great health insurance package, and they will stay with you when they know they have a health plan safety guard against out-of-pocket healthcare costs for themselves and their families.
Health insurance helps keep your employees healthy
As a smaller business you likely don’t have the ability to target mass markets, and instead focus your business on meeting the needs of key customers. In fact, it may be your staff’s personal attention and expertise that contribute substantially to your success.
The fact is healthy employees perform better at their work – and deliver more consistent service and products to your customers.
If you are not offering health insurance, your employees will only seek medical care in case of emergency. Your employees with no insurance are going to avoid seeking medical help unless it is an emergency. The lack of health insurance makes it more difficult to get medications or vaccinations. The result is that they are more likely to spread illness throughout your company.
When you offer health insurance your staff is much more likely to take advantage of preventative care. They are less likely to get sick. A healthy staff means fewer sick days and greater productivity.
Health insurance is less expensive than you think
Offering clients better value with products or services at a lower cost can be a competitive strategy to pique the interest of consumers. That’s why some small business owners have been scared of offering health insurance in fear of needing to pay exorbitant costs.
The fact is that the cost of health insurance for small businesses can vary greatly. It will depend on the plan you go with, how many benefits you decide to offer and how many employees you have.
Your employee health plan with prescription drug coverage can also cover dental health benefits, or not. You can control how much you want to fund. The costs can be as little at $100 a month for three employees.
A portion of the health plan insurance premiums may be deductible as a business expense and may also be non-taxable to an employee. It is important to consult with a tax advisor to be certain.
You may also consider paying your employees a little more cash and letting them get an individual policy on their own. This option can be a more cost-effective way to provide benefits versus implementing a group plan. Plus, employees can choose the health insurance benefits they think they will need. That is flexibility they will appreciate.
SBIS works hard to find the best health insurance for your small business
SBIS has created a one-of-a-kind online shopping experience that simplifies the process of shopping for health insurance for your small business. The SBIS online shopping experience helps small businesses to:
- Shop for multiple insurance plans
- Compare multiple plans based on insurer
- Receive online quotes
- Purchase insurance plans online.
If you or your employees have never had to purchase health coverage before, the terminology, along with the many different options, may seem like another confusing obstacle. That’s why having opportunity to talk it over with an expert is valuable.
At SBIS we are experts in small business health insurance, and we have no shortage of options to fit your budget and needs, with almost 50 different health and dental plans to choose from.
Want us to work directly with your employees? You can let them know that SBIS is an expert they can trust. We can help your people figure out what plan to choose, what coverage they may need, and what their budget is, and then we can assist them in actually signing up for the new plan. You can save time and effort for entrepreneurs, so you can concentrate on growing your competitive advantage.
