Group Health Insurance
Purchasing health insurance for yourself and for your family, co-workers, and employees is one of the most important decisions you will end up making in your life, short of marriage, career, and buying a house. And like never before, the debate over adequate health care coverage and the proper form it should take is a hot topic in boardrooms as well as town halls across the country. One thing that can be reasonably assured, however, is that health care costs are not likely to decrease anytime in the near future. With that in mind, it?s important to consider the best possible options for reliable, quality health insurance, and which choice makes the most sense.
Most Americans get their health insurance protection through their employer, whether they are a large corporation or a small business. This is where group health insurance comes into play. If you work for IBM or General Electric, chances are you?re fully covered, with a minimal deductible and co-pay as one of the perks of your job. Large firms can generally afford to be somewhat generous in this department. If you work for a smaller independent enterprise, your options may not be so cut and dry and more in-depth thought has to be given to plans for medical care.
Group health insurance is generally used by any organization such as a union, society, or business for the benefit of it?s members so that risk is dispersed evenly and any extraneous circumstances or misfortunes related to health care are affordable for those involved. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures statistics, 59.3% of Americans were covered by their employer through group health insurance in the form of HMO?s, Preferred Provider Organizations or PPO?s, and POS (Point of Service) plans. An additional 9% purchased their coverage independently, with the remaining insured individuals using government sponsored programs like Medicaid, Medicare, or Veterans Association coverage.
Group health insurance plans offered through an employee?s workplace are offered in a variety of forms mentioned above. In addition to the choice of HMO, PPO, and POS plans, there are other complicated, somewhat confusing choices to make regarding the specifics of the coverage in question. For example, there is the choice of scheduled maintenance versus anytime medical treatment, which affects both premiums and deductibles, as well as co-pay. In addition, the manner in which premiums for group insurance rates are determined will depend somewhat on the state in which the company is based.
The trade off between costs and benefits of group health care for a business is largely a function of the size of a business as well as what kind of work it performs. From 2001 to the present,?family health insurance premiums through employer health plans have gone up 78%, according to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Since the 1960?s, the percentage of total revenue devoted to health care benefits for employees has risen dramatically as well. For example, the total amount spent on premiums both by employers and employees combined just for a single individual in 2008 was $4,704. For families covered under group plans, the number was a staggering $12,680. Determining what form of group insurance to offer will no doubt depend largely on company revenue versus the somewhat intangible benefit derived from employee health plans.
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Ultimately, the choice of which group health insurance plan to choose will depend heavily on the business involved, and where it is located. While there are no state or federal laws specifically requiring any given firm or company to cover their employees with a group plan, it is highly common and a great idea for a number of reasons. Doing your homework and researching available plans thoroughly is of the utmost importance, as plan prices do not necessarily reflect the overall value of any given coverage strategy, and there is always a lot of fine print that can obscure what you?re getting overall
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