Small Business Strategies
How Small Businesses can Navigate Healthcare
Since benefits are a proven way to attract and retain talent, we focused our deep dive topic of the most recent quarterly MetLife & U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index on a fundamental employee benefit, healthcare.
Most small business owners like you are frustrated as they search for healthcare information: 69% indicated they are concerned about how time-consuming the process of navigating healthcare options can be, with 42% “strongly” agreeing with this statement, and one in five small business owners reporting they didn’t have enough information to make an informed decision.
While some spend unnecessary time and money searching for answers, many successful small business owners find their benefits questions can be best and most efficiently answered by a third party. There are two resources you might consider, so you can focus your time on growing your business.
1. Insurance Brokers
Brokers specialize in helping your business to manage risk, including addressing the risk of losing key employees – and the risk of your employees underperforming at work due to stresses from personal financial setbacks. A well-designed benefits plan, starting with healthcare and building with ancillary benefits, can help you effectively address both. A broker can be your trusted partner to guide you through the healthcare maze while saving you time and money. That may be why small businesses most commonly (32%) turn to insurance brokers, consultants or agents to make informed decisions about healthcare plans. If you don’t have a broker of your own to help guide you, consider your Chamber of Commerce, professional references, or tools such as the broker finder at SHRM.org to find an expert in small businesses like yours.
2. Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs)
PEOs work with small businesses to handle your employee benefits, risk management, compliance tasks, recruitment and more -- think of a PEO as an outsourced HR department. A significant benefit of being part of a PEO is that you have access to pooled resources that can provide you with advantages usually only available to large businesses, such as preferred underwriting and rating. You can find more information about PEOs at the National Association of PEOs and utilize their find a PEO tool.
Don’t forget that non-medical benefits are an important and differentiating complement to your healthcare offering. Your broker or PEO can help you add other benefits – some at no cost to you – that create a holistic benefits experience for your employees.
As a small business owner, you have to keep making plans to grow and expand your business. Leverage the expertise around you so you don’t have to go it alone!
To learn about the value of non-medical benefits, click here.