| |
 |
Small-Sized and Medium-Sized
Business Employers
Important Facts About Health
Insurance
In addition to giving employees access to affordable
health services, purchasing group coverage helps business in other ways such as
tax benefits, increased employee productivity and morale, and reduced turnover.
Consider the following:
- There are tax benefits when you provide health
insurance for your employees:
- Health insurance premiums that
your company pays are fully tax
deductible
as a business expense and are non-taxable income for employees. These tax
deductions may be thought of as a discount to the cost of the
health
insurance.
- Health insurance
payments are excluded from base payroll when calculating an employer's Medicare
and Social Security payments. An equivalent amount paid in wages would be
subject to Medicare and Social Security taxes.
- Employees may make their
premium
contributions on a pre-tax basis through payroll deductions, which makes
coverage more affordable for workers.
- Alternative health benefit savings plans, such
as health savings accounts (HSAs) and
health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), have
added tax savings for employers and employees.
- Offering
health
insurance may help employers:
- Recruit high-quality workers.
- Reduce staff turnover.
- Reduce the cost of absenteeism.
- Limit disability and workers compensation
claims.
- Frequently
health
insurance costs are reduced when the employer buys a group plan rather an
individual ones.
- Health insurance
coverage gives businesses access to the price reductions that
health
insurance companies negotiate with health care providers.
- Even if an employee or dependent is in poor health,
federal law prohibits insurers from denying coverage to the company, the
employee, or the dependent based on health status. However, the cost of the
insurance could be higher.
- Besides the health benefits to employees that come
with better access to care, health coverage also means the costs for services
will be more manageable. Employees with health coverage are protected from
financially burdensome debts arising from major illnesses or injuries. Costs
associated with these medical expenses often exceed what most people can afford
or want to pay.
 |
Alabama's
ALL Kids offers a low-cost, comprehensive health care coverage for children
under age 19 who are in eligible lower-income working families. |
Back to top
|
