We are a small company in Nebraska with 5 employees. Our group health insurance has gone up 20% again so we are looking to offer individual health insurance to our employees. We have an HSA plan which the employer matches up to $100 per month and would like to continue that. Can the company offer a specific amount per employee for premium and HSA and how would that be taxed?
Are you currently offering the same contribution to all employees under the group health plan? Or, is your contribution a fixed percentage of the charged premium for each employee? Perhaps lowering your employer contribution might be in the best interest of your employees. Their share of the premium could potentially be higher if they purchase individual health plans, depending on their age and health status. If you reimburse your employees for individual health plans, this will be considered a payroll bonus or salary increase for tax purposes. You could certainly provide a flat reimbursement amount for all employees. Answer by Moderator - Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 3:37pm No CommentsNo comments yet. Leave a comment |
|
Before considering to cancel your group coverage and provide reimbursement toward individual health insurance policies, you should consider the possible repercussions to your employees. The advantage of providing health insurance as a group is that group health insurance is guaranteed issue. In Nebraska, individual health insurance is not. This means that all of your employees, if they are required to apply for separate policies, may not be eligible. If they are all healthy, your company would not be offering them individual health plans. You would be offering them reimbursement for acquiring their own health insurance, in lieu of the current group health plan that they currently have.
