Large Group Health Insurance
If a company grows in employees and exceeds the limit of a "mid-size" company, they will be classified for a corporate or large group health insurance policy. There are many similarities to mid-market health insurance policies with the advantage of increased flexibility. Most health insurance companies that offer products in all group size classifications will have the greatest number of plan options available to the large group qualifiers. Each insurance company may have their own specifications as to how many eligible employees are required to qualify as a large group. Since this is the highest classification of group health insurance there is usually no maximum to the number of employees accepted.
Like mid-size corporate group health insurance, large group health insurance is not guaranteed issue. However, large groups are less likely to have a high percentage of "high risk" members, so there is less likelihood that the group will be denied large business health insurance coverage for this reason. Most insurance companies will provide several health plan choices to an employer, allowing each employee to choose from a menu of health plan options. This is beneficial because one type of health plan may be suitable for one employee and not another.
Extra benefits may also be available to large groups that are not provided to other group sizes. This is because the insurance companies assume that the risk of paying on these types of benefits is absorbed and covered by the overall premium charged to groups of this size. This is also why there may be less of a concern in regards to pre-existing conditions like pregnancies when an insurance company is considering a large group health insurance application. If a group had three members that were currently pregnant, this would be a greater concern for the insurance company if the group was mid-sized with only 100 enrolling members. If a group of 800 employees had the same number of pregnancies, it would be an acceptable ratio for the insurance company. This is because large business health insurance spreads risk among people of varying age groups and health statuses.
When researching a group health insurance policy for a large group, make sure to review several options available from insurance companies offering large group health insurance plans in your state. There can be a substantial difference in benefits provided and premiums charged. Also, speak with your employees to find out what is important to them in their health insurance coverage. Large group health insurance plans can be more customized to the specific needs and requests of the group. Make sure to express these concerns to your insurance carrier or agent. By speaking to your employees, you also may find a common need that may only be available as an optional benefit. A prime example of this would be infertility treatments. Most corporate health insurance insurance companies do not offer this type of benefit but, if your group size is large enough, it may be available as an optional benefit or something that the insurance company is willing to cover in order to obtain your business.
Premiums for large group can be age-rated, but they are most commonly calculated on a composite average based on the average age of the employees within that group. This may make more financial sense for a company unless their medium age drops. If the average age of their staff decreases because of turn-over and hiring a large proportion of employees below the average age, the premiums will be higher than they should be. The large group health insurance plan will be locked into their current rates until the open-enrollment period. During the open enrollment period, the insurance company will calculate the current medium age when determining the new premium charges for the following year. For those employees leaving a company, a composite rate is more beneficial to the older members of the group. This is because any employee choosing to remain on the group health plan through COBRA regulations will pay the same monthly premium for their COBRA coverage. Since most large business health insurance is age-rated, the composite rate is less beneficial for those employees that are below the average age that was used to calculate their rate.
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