Group Health Insurance:
Group Health Insurance provides employees with support for medical expenses. This can include items such as:
-prescriptions
-eye care
-dental care
-physiotherapy
-acupuncture
-massage therapy
Group Health Insurance is provided by the employer for a company’s employees. It may provide coverage for the employee’s family members as well.
The employer will choose the coverage options. There may be different coverage for different employee categories. Managers may have one level of coverage while plant workers may other coverage. In the case of prescriptions, the percentage paid back to the employee may vary between 50% and 80%. A lower coverage amount will lower the employer’s costs for Group Health Insurance.
A company who has a group health insurance plan will benefit when they are looking to hire. Companies with insurance plans have a competitive advantage attracting and retaining quality people. There are other advantages to providing a group health insurance plan:
Lower costs for training due to lower turnover of employees
Employees will have access to lower cost insurance and will generally be healthier. Employees without coverage may not be able to afford medications or services. This can lead to more sick days.
Employees with health coverage tend to have a higher morale and greater productivity.
Most health insurance premiums paid by the employer are a tax deductible business expense.
Employers may also choose to offer other coverage to their employees as well. This may include:
disability insurance
life insurance
dependent life insurance
travel insurance
accidental death insurance (accidental dismemberment is often included)
Benefits from certain types of insurance may be taxable at the time of the benefit. An excellent example of this is disability insurance. It is more beneficial for an employee to contribute to the cost of these types of coverage. When the employee pays these premiums up front, the benefit now becomes a tax-free benefit.
Contact us today to discuss your Group Health Insurance options.