Inc. Guidebook, June 2008: How to Choose a Health Care Plan for Your CompanyInc. Guidebook, June 2008: How to Choose a Health Care Plan for Your Company

In a perfect world, every company would offer every employee health insurance. In our world, it’s a struggle. To be sure, some of the barriers that long kept small businesses from getting insurance have been removed: Laws now prohibit insurance companies from discriminating in the small-group market and against individual employees based on health history. But cost is still a problem. Small businesses typically pay more for insurance than big businesses do and get significantly less for their money. No surprise, then, that the share of small businesses providing insurance has dropped since 1999, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Among companies with fewer than 10 employees, just 45 percent now offer health plans.

Still, there are good reasons to offer health insurance. Not only is a good health plan a powerful tool for recruiting and retaining talented staff, but it also stands to reason that a healthier team is a more productive team. Before you pay a visit to an agent, read these pages and study the resources provided at the end. And remember: Whatever you pay this year, you’re bound to pay more next year. The Kaiser survey reports that companies with fewer than 200 employees have seen premiums rise an average of 10.4 percent per year since 1999. Says Denny Ebersole, a broker in suburban New Orleans: “I tell my clients to budget for an increase of 15 percent each year.”