Health Insurance and Employee Benefits
Utilizing health insurance through a dmDickason health insurance provider is
completely optional. dmDickason clients do not have to purchase or provide employee group health
insurance and/or benefits if they do not chose to do so. However, if you want to offer health insurance to your employees,
dmDickason will assist you in obtaining health insurance coverage, or, we will be happy to assist in the
coordination of plan benefits you may already have in place.
A proper analysis of the cost of employee health benefits starts with a review of your group.
A document called a benefits “census” is commonly required to identify the age, gender and level requirements
(employee only, employee and spouse, employee and family) of each person in the group.
In general, most insurance providers want to see least 75% or the employees eligible in your
group interested in enrolling in the plan. Having this level of participation is often required to prevent what is called “adverse
selection”, where only the persons with health issues or high plan usage normally enroll.
Your company’s contribution
Most companies want to make group health insurance a part of their employee benefits package.
As an employer, you will need to decide the amount of contribution your company will make to subsidize the employee’s monthly
insurance premium. For example, many companies pay 100% of the employee only premium and 50% of the difference between the cost of
insurance for the employee and spouse. Other dmDickason clients pay as little as 50% for the employee only premium and the employee
is fully responsible for family or spouse coverage. Regardless, companies with lower contribution rates often find low participation
in their plans, obviously establishing a higher contribution from the company normally translates into a higher participation; and in
turn, sometimes provides you group with better plan alternatives and pricing.