As a small business owner or manager, one of the most important questions you can ask is how you will cover your employees’ healthcare needs. Although small businesses with 50 or fewer employees are usually exempt from offering group health insurance to employees, many small employers decide to purchase a small business health insurance plan anyways. This benefit can prove to be helpful for both employees and employer. In fact, in an eHealth 2018 report, 66 percent of respondents said that they offer small business health insurance because it helps them hire and retain the best workers.

Group health insurance for an engineering firm lets owners and managers fill critical positions within the business, and it allows employees to maintain their health and be protected from unexpected medical costs in the case of illness or injury.

What is small business group health insurance for engineering firms?

Small business health insurance for an engineering firm is health insurance that the employer offers to its employees. Group health insurance provides employees with medical care at discounted rates so they can maintain their health and get the care they need. It also provides employees with more access to different healthcare providers. Employees of engineering firms that offer group health insurance will be able to enroll in different plans, such as HMO plans and PPO plans.

In addition to health insurance, it’s also important for engineering firms to have other types of small business insurance as well. This includes professional liability insurance, general liability insurance, workers’ comp insurance, and more. These can help to protect your business from various situations and provide employees with even more benefits. You can find out more about the different types of commercial insurance on eHealth.

What are the benefits of having small business health insurance for an engineering firm?

Engineering companies face a host of unique challenges that they must address to stay in business. Tailored group health insurance plans can help them resolve these issues, such as:

• Attracting valuable workers– In order to stay competitive with larger engineering firms, you may find that offering health benefits is basically a necessity. Read more here about how a majority of employees actually value health benefits more than a raise. As an engineering firm, you want to make sure that you have the benefits that attract and keep excellent engineers working for your firm. And besides attracting and retaining good workers, a good group health plan could foster a positive environment in your engineering firm, where employers know they are supported and appreciated.
• Maintained health– Depending on the specific type of engineering work they do, individuals employed at an engineering firm may have physically straining jobs. In this case especially, having quality health insurance can help employees maintain health and keep up on regular check-ups. In all cases, though, maintained health and coverage for serious illness or injury is an incredibly important aspect of life that can help employees take less sick days, addressing medical issues in a timely manner, and avoid financial ruin due to incurred medical costs.
• Benefit Costs– Partially because they enroll large numbers of people in the same coverage pool, group health insurance plans can often have lower premiums per individual. This means that your engineers and support staff can get quality, fully loaded plans with extensive benefits for a price that would likely not be available on the individual market. And although the owner usually contributes at least 50 percent or more to employee premiums, there are small business tax credits that benefit employers of 25 or less employees. These tax benefits can help small business owners pay for employee premiums, making group health insurance possible even for the smallest of businesses. In fact, among small businesses purchasing health insurance plans through eHealth in 2018, the average number of covered employees was 3.9. So even you very small engineering firms out there—don’t count yourself out of the savings available with group plans.

What kinds of small business health insurance for an engineering firm can I get?

If you’re looking for small business health insurance for an engineering firm, you have a number of plan types to choose from. Some popular choices include:

• PPO Plans– Short for Preferred Provider Organization plans, these policies give your employees the most flexibility over where they get their care, but at the cost of higher premiums. This form of small business health insurance for an engineering firm is ideal if you want to provide employees with a lot of flexibility and have the money to help them cover high premiums.
• HMO Plans– Short for Health Maintenance Organization plans, this type of small business health insurance assigns a specific network of doctors and facilities where care is covered. It’s a good form of health insurance for an engineering firm if your employees mostly live in the same area and will be able to use the same facilities.
• POS Plans– Point of Service Plans look a lot like PPO plans, and provide those enrolled with access to a broader range of health care providers than HMO. This blend of the two popular plan types accounts for nearly half (47 percent) of the small business plans selected by customers on eHealth, according to a 2018 eHealth report.

Each plan has its own terms and limitations, so be sure to check the official plan documents to understand how that specific plan works.  This article is only for general education.

How much does employer group health insurance for an engineering firm cost?

The cost of group health insurance for an engineering firm will vary depending on several factors, such as the size of your firm, the average age of your employees, the location of your business, and the type of business. 

An engineering firm typically offers multiple kinds of insurance to its employees, like professional liability insurance, general liability insurance, and workers’ comp insurance. But the need for all these different types of insurance can also affect the cost of health insurance for the engineering firm. A business where the employees are more prone to injury will likely have higher premiums for health insurance. 

Where you are located can also impact the cost of your employer group health insurance, as well as the number of employees that you have. Typically, an engineering firm with more than 50 employees will have lower premiums than  smaller firms.

How eHealth can help you find employer group health insurance for your engineering firm

If you’re looking for health insurance for your engineering firm, let eHealth show you how to get the best small business group health insurance coverage at the lowest price. Our agents are waiting to take your call from 7 A.M. to 9 P.M. Monday through Friday at (855) 760-0589. For more information on finding the best small business health insurance for an engineering firm, check out all available group health insurance plans or give us a call today.

This article is for general information and may not be updated after publication. Consult your own tax, accounting, or legal advisor instead of relying on this article as tax, accounting, or legal advice.