The Idea of Cheap Health Insurance for Your Employees

If you're a small business owner, then you already know the health insurance expenses involved for not only yourself, but also your employees.

Fortunately, there are ways you can reduce costs without cutting health insurance plans from the budget altogether.

As the following article looks at, when it comes to the health of your business, here are 5 places to find cheap health insurance and reduce costs for the New Year:

1. The ACA and Health Insurance Requirements for Small Businesses

In today's healthcare landscape, small businesses pay almost the same amount to cover their employees as large corporations. Fortunately, the new Affordable Care Act provides a number of tax incentives for small business owners like you.

If your business has 25 or fewer employees, then it is defined as "small" and is therefore eligible for tax credits and other cheaper forms of employee health insurance.

With that said, your small business is not required to provide health insurance coverage to its employees under the healthcare act.

When choosing to provide your employees with partial or total health insurance coverage, there are a number of affordable options to take.

2. Healthcare Tax Credits

One of the best ways to reduce the cost of employee healthcare coverage is to apply for a healthcare tax credit.

Under the new healthcare law, employers with 25 or fewer employees with annual wages less than $50,000 are eligible for tax credits as long as they contribute 50% toward their employees' premiums.

As for the credits, they come in the form of tax rebates and depend on the number of employees and the amount the employer contributes to the healthcare plan.

The more you contribute to your employees' healthcare plans, the larger the rebate at the end of the year.

3. Small Business Health Options Program

The Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, gives small business owners like you purchasing power when it comes to choosing a healthcare provider.

Available for employers with less than 50 full-time employees, SHOP allows your small business to obtain lower health insurance rates by letting you shop and compare coverage in a competitive healthcare marketplace.

4. Workplace Wellness

Sometimes finding cheap healthcare for your employees is as easy as starting a workplace wellness program within your small business. The Affordable Care Act provides unique incentives to employers who encourage health and wellness in the workplace.

Your small business can receive up to a 50 percent discount on employee healthcare costs by implementing a tobacco free wellness program that promotes a low cholesterol diet and exercise.

Before beginning a wellness program for your small business, it's important to make sure your employees are healthy enough for exercise.

5. Group Health Insurance

By combining the cost of your employees' insurance plans, you can reduce insurance rates for your small business.

When applying for group coverage, insurers will look at your company as a whole as well as the location of your business when determining rates. Fortunately, under the ACA, the pre-existing conditions of your employees no longer affect group rates, which can result in major savings.

When it comes to the idea of cheap health insurance for your small business, keep in mind the options above.