Having some form of health insurance benefits as part of your overall employee benefits packages is a great way to ensure your business is in a position to attract and retain talent, while also remaining competitive with other companies in your industry. The talent market is tough, and it’s imperative that your business attracts the top ten percent. With the right benefits and ample research into the best option for your business, even a small company can remain competitive with “the big guys.”
However, when it comes down to choosing which type of health insurance best serves your business – well, that’s where it gets tricky. See, as a master of business owning, it’s tough to put in the time and effort to learn about all the various health insurance options there are to purchase.
In this article, we’ll go over the difference between group health and blanket health policies, which may be of benefit to your business, and how to choose the right employee benefits for your company – regardless of your size or experience.
In a nutshell, group health insurance is a form of health insurance coverage that is purchased and designed to provide coverage to a set group of people, particularly as employees of a company or as members of a specific organization. In order to maintain coverage, group members are required to pay a portion of the premium into the plan, and then the designated insurance company offers coverage to the entire group. The point of group health insurance is that it’s a way to cut the overall costs of health insurance, especially since the employer pays a portion of the premiums.
Here are the details about group health insurance:
Blanket health insurance is a little different than group health insurance, although the function is more or less the same. Blanket health insurance offers coverage to a large number of different people, particularly those who partake in a particular industry or a geographic area. Blanket health insurance is sometimes offered by trade associations, chambers of commerce, and even other organizations that work within a specific field. All those covered under a blanket health insurance policy are not seen as a group as they are with group health insurance, and they do not pay into the insurance plan “as a whole group.”
Here are the details about blanket health insurance:
The key difference to note that exists between a group health insurance policy and blanket health insurance is the types of coverage that are offered and how each insurance plan is structured. With blanket health insurance, the coverage is generally offered by trade associations/other organizations and coverage is able to be supplied to a large number of people within a specific industry or a physical location. Group health insurance, on the other hand, is offered by employers to cover a specific group of employees (all of which pay to participate.)
It can be a complex process, choosing the correct employee benefits as an employer. It takes a deeper understanding of your workforce, researching what benefits are available to you, balancing of your current budget, feedback from employees, and the impact of benefits on your employee’s overall satisfaction and retention. Group health insurance is considered to be one of the most highly sought-after employee benefits, so always be sure to consider this among your list of benefits. Comprehensive group health can make employees feel more secure at work and increase overall satisfaction.
There’s no one answer to the question of which policy is better since both are valid options. What an individual may need is dependent on their employment status, health needs, budget, and their personal preferences. As an employer, offering group health insurance is always a good option, since anyone who may have the option to choose between both policies may benefit more from group health insurance due to its reduced costs and comprehensive coverage.
But, if you are an individual who does not qualify for group health insurance because you are only employed part-time or because you are self-employed, blanket health insurance is a valid option. Give Hitchings Insurance a call to discuss whether blanket health insurance or group health insurance is the better option for you and your needs or ask about group health insurance coverage as an employer.