If you run a small business, you’re spinning a lot of plates. And the pressure of offering health insurance can feel like you’ll drop all of them. You want to attract and retain staff, but health coverage seems too complex and costly.
The truth is, small business owners have a great opportunity to offer health coverage with a Health Reimbursement Arrangement, or HRA. In this article, we give you a collection of resources for small business owners, and we debunk some myths.
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Who should read this article
While employee retention is important in any business, there is a short list of industries that are known for especially high turnover and the need to keep good staff.
Retail, foodservice, hospitality, and home health are at the top of the list. If you’re a small business owner in one of those industries, this article will be particularly helpful for you.
Guide to small business health insurance options
We work with thousands of small businesses, and we love supporting them! We put together this guide to answer some of the most common questions we get about small business health insurance, including:
- What are the available insurance options?
- What is the cost of small business health insurance?
- What does the process to get started look like?
Read our guide to small business health insurance
Stronghouse Brewpub’s journey to employee health benefits
Strong House Brewpub is a historic brewery in Telluride, Colorado. They wanted to keep good employees but were struggling in the notoriously high turnover foodservice industry. They have 30 employees but no dedicated HR department, which added to the complexity.
Read how they partnered with Take Command to tackle those issues and transform their employee benefits.
Myths about health insurance that every small business owner should know
Without further ado, here are myths (and rebuttals!) to know about when you’re looking for small business health insurance.
- Myth: Group insurance is the only choice for small business health coverage.
- Reality: Group health coverage is not the only option. A small business can offer an HRA to their employees; depending on a few factors, they can choose a QSEHRA or ICHRA. In both cases, the employer sets a monthly contribution amount, and the employee chooses the plan that’s the best fit for them.
Read: Guide for Qualified Small Employer HRAs (QSEHRA)
Read: ICHRA Guide: All About Individual Coverage HRAs
- Myth: The cost of health insurance for small businesses is unaffordable.
- Reality: With an HRA, the employer is in total control of the budget, offering as much or as little as they choose. Many businesses use the 10% rule, setting an employee’s health insurance contribution at or under 10% of their income, making it affordable for the employer while still supporting employees.
Read: How much does small business health insurance cost?
Read: Is a health reimbursement arrangement a good choice in my location?
- Myth: It’s so complicated to offer small business health insurance, I should skip it altogether.
- Reality: The world of health insurance can be really complicated, but Take Command makes health coverage easy. Our HRA takes 10 minutes to set up and most of our small business clients spend less time per month on administration. Our software is intuitive, and our user-friendly platform simplifies the entire process.
Read: Brilliant HRA software for small business owners
- Myth: If I get health insurance, it’s one-size-fits-all.
- Reality: An HRA is not one-size-fits-all. Our ICHRA and QSEHRA options allow employers to create a benefits package that meet their company’s needs and financial goals. This includes everything from employee classes to contribution levels to eligibility. We call it relentless personalization. It’s purpose-built and completely custom.
Read: HRA Hub: Purpose built for people
- Myth: If I get health insurance, it’s guaranteed that my costs will go up in the future.
- Reality: With an HRA, the employer sets the contribution limit and is in control of the budget year after year. Compare this to a group plan, where you’re subject to astronomical rate hikes, and the choice is crystal clear. A Take Command HRA eliminates the fear of increasing annual group health insurance premiums.
Read: What does QSEHRA administration cost?
- Myth: If I provide health insurance, I have to offer all of my employees the same benefits.
- Reality: Business owners do not have to have to offer employees the same benefits with an ICHRA. You can set up ICHRA employee classes and specify different contribution amounts for different classes. There are 11 classes total including full time, part time, seasonal, and hourly employees.
Read: ICHRA employee classes
- Myth: If I start offering health insurance, it will negatively affect my revenue.
- Reality: If your employees leave because they don’t have benefits, you’re faced with the costs to hire a new employee, which can be three to four times the position’s salary.¹ On the flip side, according to the CDC, a workplace health plan can increase productivity and reduce absenteeism (meaning you could net out or your costs could actually go down.)
Read: Small business health insurance cost calculator
¹ https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/talent-acquisition/real-costs-recruitment
The benefits of a Take Command HRA
If you’re starting to love the world of HRAs, we’re right there with you. Take Command is the largest HRA provider in the country, and we have a lot to offer small businesses.
- Custom QSEHRA/ICHRA designs
- Automatic tax reporting
- Employee support & onboarding
- No setup fees, no contracts
- Mobile receipt tracking
- Hassle-free compliance
Visit our HRA hub
Contact an HRA expert
Contact Take Command to learn about small business health insurance
We’d love to hear from you!
