Sunday, January 25, 2009

Health Insurance For Small Business Employers

By Jordan FeRoss

In discussions of group health insurance and employer-provided health insurance in Texas, it is important to include some of the parameters for defining what a "small" business is according to state and federal guidelines. This is especially important because a company's size can have a direct impact on whether insurance must be offered to employees or not. By definition, a small business is one with no more than 50 full-time staff members. This number only includes those employees who work a minimum of 30 hours a week. Temporary and contract employees are not part of these head counts.

With small employers, they are protected by some legal statutes. Some of them include coverage levels and increases in insurance rates. The thing with small employers is that with the health insurance law in Texas, they have to have the right amount of employees that are eligible for health insurance. It is not based on the number of total employees per say. With health insurance for small employers, it is mandatory that those eligible are offered health insurance coverage for themselves and their immediate families.

To help make it profitable when working with small companies, insurers will often require a certain percentage of employee participation before they'll agree to cover the organization (usually 75% or greater). Depending on the frequently-changing regulations, there are not always minimum participation requirements before an insurer must cover small business and provide its employees with health insurance in Texas.

Or if the number of employees is low, require them to have total participation of 100%, no exceptions. If the small employer includes spouses and maybe a few others, then the spouses must each get separate health insurance coverage. There would be no dependent sharing for either spouse. This applies to health insurance in Texas as well.

When a small business has a small number of employees participating in a group health insurance plan in Texas, they are usually all required to have the exact same plan. Larger companies can offer employees choices as far as co-pays and deductibles, but the smaller business may have to require everyone to be on the exact same plan.

No matter what size the company is, it is against the law for any employer to require an employee to participate in a health insurance plan in Texas in order to keep their job. It is also illegal to disqualify an employee for insurance coverage due to their age, gender or health conditions they may have.

The laws regarding health insurance for small businesses are detailed and complex. Health insurance in Texas must be offered to all eligible employees as dictated by the law. Because employees covered by health insurance are healthier and less financially stressed, employers should think of health insurance in Texas as an investment in their company's fiscal health. - 15246

About the Author: