The availability of medical care insurance benefits is one key thing potential employees of your company tend to look into before accepting your job offer or even submitting an application for an opening in your company. And this is rightly so, as quality health care is rapidly becoming more and more expensive.
If you own a business and want to provide medical care insurance benefits, it’s important to know what your options are. In this article, we’ll help you figure out whether or not your business is legally obligated to provide medical care insurance benefits for your employees, the best way to find coverage for your employees’ medical needs, and how much those plans will cost. We’ll also discuss whether or not there are any federal laws that require businesses to provide any form of health care coverage for their employees through COBRA (the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act).
Find Out What the Law Says and What Your Options Are
Before you start offering medical care insurance benefits, find out what the law says. Check with your state and federal government, as well as with your insurance company to determine if they require employers to provide a certain level of coverage. If an employer doesn’t offer any type of medical care insurance plan, it may be time for a business review—and possibly an audit—to ensure that all paperwork is up-to-date and accurate.
Once you’ve determined whether or not you need to offer employees coverage under federal law (which requires only that employers reimburse employees on a cost basis), then it’s time for another step: determining what kind of plan makes sense for your company’s needs. If there isn’t already one in place but you have employees who would like access to better medical care options through their jobs (such as dental benefits), consider providing these services through an employee benefit program rather than paying out-of-pocket costs each year when necessary treatment is performed outside office hours or during holidays such as Christmas Eve/New Year’s Eve.
Employee vs. Independent Contractor
As a business owner, you would often time work with a mix of both full-time employees and independent contractors. It is very important that you understand whether you are to provide medical care insurance benefits for all your employee types.
Here, it helps to first properly define the type of work that each person does for your company. While employees are hired to perform specific duties and are paid wages or salary, an independent contractor is hired when they are needed to perform certain tasks without being directly supervised by the company’s managers and employees alike (or even having direct contact with them).
If you’re working with an independent contractor, you have more freedom in assigning responsibilities without having legal obligations like providing medical care insurance benefits either for them or for their workers’ dependents if something happens during their time working for them.
The Number of Full-time Employees
When it comes to figuring out whether or not your business is obligated to provide medical care insurance benefits, one of the most important factors to keep in mind is the number of full-time employees your business has. If you’re looking to buy someone’s business or start your own, you’ll want to make sure that it has enough employees who meet these requirements:
- The number of employees must be equal to or greater than the minimum amount required by law (for example, if there are only three people working for an employer who requires five people on staff, then this company may not qualify).
- The number of hours worked per week by each employee must also be equal to or greater than what’s required by law (for example, if an employer has four part-time workers who each work 35 hours per week but none of them are full-timers—they’re only paid hourly rates—then this company still needs five employees).
Small Business Insurance Plans
A small business insurance plan is a type of health insurance that provides coverage for you and your employees. It’s designed to fit the needs of new businesses with fewer than 50 employees, who have relatively low annual incomes.
If you’re curious about whether or not your business is eligible for the small business insurance plans, you will need to first review the number of full-time employees that you have, as small businesses with more than 50 workers are typically better off purchasing an employer-sponsored group health plan through their place of employment.
From here, you can then go on to look into the healthcare solutions that you can provide for your employees, including a provision for womens health care.
Medical Malpractice Attorneys
If you do not have proper clarity on whether or not your business is obligated to provide medical care insurance benefits, this means that you are running your business on incomplete information. The implication of this is that you are liable for committing a legal offense that can have real-time consequences on your business.
Medical malpractice is the term used to describe a healthcare provider’s error or misconduct. Even though you have been injured by an unprofessional act, it can be difficult to determine who caused your injury and whether they are legally obligated to compensate you for all damages incurred as a result of their actions.
A medical malpractice attorney will be able to assess your case, identify any potential defenses against liability, and provide legal advice on how best to proceed with legal action against negligent doctors or hospitals in order for them to pay compensation for injuries sustained from carelessness on behalf of doctors/doctors’ staff members who provided treatment services during those times when patients were admitted into the hospital.
Finding a reputable medical malpractice attorney is easy, since many of them use attorney SEO services. You can search for local law firms online and browse through websites and reviews to find a good fit for your business.
Orthopedic Doctors
Orthopedic doctors specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the musculoskeletal system. They treat problems with bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Some orthopedic doctors also treat fractures, dislocations, and injuries to the spine.
If you run a business that requires physical exertion of energy from your employees, such as lifting heavy weights most of the time, you should definitely make a plan in your employee insurance to accommodate orthopedic doctors. You can also visit the chiropractor office during this process as a highly manual labor job can cause back aches, neck pain, and so on.
In some other cases, your employees could have seasonal allergies, popularly known as hayfever. This can cause sneezing, itching, watery eyes, runny nose, and congestion. It’s caused by pollen from grasses and weeds such as ragweed or goldenrod. So it helps to make provision for this in the medical care insurance plan.
Eye Exams
A yearly eye exam is a must for all adults, and it’s especially important if you wear glasses or contact lenses.
If you run a business where your employees need to stare at the screen for a long time, the best thing to do is to include eye exams in their provision for medical care insurance benefits. This goes on to show how very well concerned and invested you are in their health.
Primary Care Physicians
Primary care physicians are the first line of defense for many people, including those working in the medical field. They’re the doctors who see you when you’re sick or injured.
Primary care physicians can help you take good care of yourself and your family by keeping track of your health and making sure that any problems are addressed quickly. If a problem develops, it will be easier for them to treat since they’ve already been familiar with your body from previous visits.
If you find that your business is obligated to provide medical care insurance benefits, you can include primary care physicians in the plan. This may also cover exam table upholstery.
What Does Your Business Ecosystem Look Like?
A business ecosystem is simply all of the channels that your activities that your business operates in, including the products or services of your business, the supply channels, and the organizations it directly interacts with such as outsourced businesses.
The ecosystem of your business is a very easy way to tell if your business is growing or shrinking.
If your business is growing and expanding, it may be able to provide medical care insurance benefits. On the other hand, if your business is shrinking and cutting back on the payroll, it may not be able to provide medical care insurance benefits.
If you’re considering offering medical care insurance benefits for employees but aren’t sure where the funding will come from (or what kind of coverage), consider expanding into other areas like
- Offer 401(k) accounts instead of just traditional pensions. These have become quite popular over recent years because they allow employees more flexibility in their retirement plans—as well as provide tax advantages for both employers and employees
- Offer flexible spending accounts (FSA). These are essentially prepaid debit cards that can be used for qualifying expenses such as prescription drugs or dental work
- Offer paid time off (PTO) programs so that employees can take vacations during slower times at work and cater to their health
- Provide health savings accounts (HSAs) with high deductibles. These allow people who don’t qualify for traditional health coverage under Obamacare to save money on premiums while saving tax dollars too
How Do I Know If My Business Can Provide Medical Care Insurance Benefits?
One sure way to find out is by checking with your state’s department of insurance, accountant, lawyer, and HR department to find out if you are legally obligated to provide medical care insurance benefits for employees.
If there is no requirement by law that a business provides health care coverage for its employees, then it is possible that offering such coverage could be considered an illegal act under federal or state law. In addition, some states require businesses with 50 or more employees to provide certain types of employee benefits like dental plans and life insurance plans.
If you are unsure whether or not it’s appropriate for your company to offer medical care insurance benefits but want to do so anyway because they make good business sense then be sure to speak with your lawyer first to confirm if there would be any legal implications.
Who Is Covered by COBRA?
COBRA is a continuation of health insurance coverage that employees pay for directly, even if they’re not covered by an employer-sponsored plan. If you work for a company with more than 50 employees and your employment is terminated, covered workers can receive COBRA benefits for up to 18 months after their termination date.
In order to qualify for COBRA benefits:
- You must have been employed by the same employer continuously since April 1, 2015 (or earlier) through the date you leave employment; or
- The company where you worked must have received notice from another entity before dropping its coverage in order for those types of situations not to be considered “layoff” under federal law
Parting Thoughts
There are a number of things to look into when figuring out whether or not your business is legally obligated to provide medical care insurance benefits. This article is, however, a good enough start for the key things that you need to get cleared.
While setting up medical care insurance may cost you money, it’s important to know that this can be achieved on a good enough budget too. It may seem like a big expense at first, but if the cost of medical care is high enough – and especially if it’s not covered by insurance – it could take away from other costs that are a higher priority.
You’ll also want to consider whether or not providing this coverage will help attract new customers by making them feel more secure about their healthcare needs while they’re working with your company.
