Did you know that from November 15th to December 15th, small businesses can enroll in small business insurance through SHOP Covered California, Anthem, Blue Shield, Aetna, Kaiser, California Choice and UHC group health insurance plans without meeting the Minimum Participation Rate requirement? Each insurance carrier has a minimum percentage of employees that must enroll in a plan for the group to enroll. For many carriers as well as SHOP Covered CA, the Minimum Participation Rate is 70% but this may be lower or higher depending on the carrier. Starting December 16th, your business will need to meet the state’s Minimum Participation Rate to be able to participate in the SHOP Marketplace (70% of all full-time employees participating).
If your small business does not meet the Minimum Participation Rate (e.g. only one full-time employee, less than 70% of full-time employees participating), this is a great time to take advantage of the Special Enrollment Period. Covered California’s SHOP Marketplace for small businesses gives your small business a wide variety of health plans from Kaiser, Blue Shield, UHC and Health Net to choose from. You can offer your employees more than one carrier if enrolling through SHOP to better serve your employees’ unique medical needs and budgets. Depending on the salaries of the employees, your business may be able to receive tax credits through SHOP Covered California.
With the unemployment rate at a decade low, it is becoming an increasingly competitive job market. To better compete with your competitors to bring in top talent, it is recommended to offer your employees health insurance along with other benefits such as dental and vision. Offering benefits to your employees sends the message that you care about your employees’ health and financial security, helps bring in talent as well as supports maintain existing employees.
At Solid Health Insurance Services, we keep our group and individual clients up to date on the insurance market which is constantly changing. To get more information or a quote for your small business, contact us at info@solidhealthinsurance.com, call us at 310-909-6135 or click on this link to get a group quote.