Are you considering Florida Blue Group Health Insurance plans for your business? The Affordable Care Act, or ACA, has changed the way that many Americans access their health insurance. Even though the most visible changes are for people who need individual health insurance, health reform has also changed group health insurance provided by employers too. If you make employee health benefit decisions at your company, paying attention to these changes can help you take advantage of new rules to help your bottom line, your employees, and their families.
Florida Blue Group Health Insurance: Opportunities
We are a leading health insurance broker for individuals and companies in Florida, and you can contact us for more information about how health care reform might affect your growing business and your valuable employees. Contact us with your questions and issues, and our experienced and professional agents will be happy to work with you to come up with a new solution that can save your company money and provide quality group health insurance for you and your employees. You can also take advantage of our free online individual and group health insurance quote request 24/7.
Changes to Benefit Structures for Florida Blue Group Health Insurance
In the past, many small business owners felt that they had to provide group health insurance for their companies. Before the Affordable Care Act, only group health insurance could really cover all of their workforce’s needs.
These are some reasons that employer’s provided group health in the past:
- Group health insurance plans accepted employees with pre-existing health conditions.
- Employee benefits packages provided comprehensive coverage for certain medical conditions like pregnancy, and employees found this very valuable.
This has all changed in 2014. Now qualified marketplace plans have to accept people with pre-existing conditions and cover a variety of different conditions like pregnancy. This means that employers can consider Florida Blue group health insurance plans, or they can consider allowing their employees to sign up for individual and family marketplace plans. Either way, workers will enjoy comprehensive benefits and never get their application denied because of pre-existing medical conditions.
Florida Blue Group Health Insurance Vs. Individual or Family Plans
In the past, group health insurance might have been a cheaper solution. However, insurers like Florida Blue are now only allowed to base individual and family rates based upon these factors:
- Location
- Age
- Tobacco use
Because of these changes, it might actually cost less for employees to access their own insurance on the marketplace. Also, depending upon income, some employees might qualify for premium tax credits that will help defray the cost of monthly premiums.
- The ACA Provides subsidies for people without access to group health insurance coverage who make between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
- According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this is a yearly income between $23,850 and $95,400 for a family of four.
- It is a yearly income between $11,670 and $46,680 for an individual.
You probably have a lot of employees in this income range.
This might sound like a radical concept, but you may actually save the bulk of your employees money by doing away with group health insurance. However, this is not always true, and we would like to work with you to come up with the best solution for your company. Large employers with large groups to cover will surely still keep Florida group health insurance in place, and Florida Blue group health insurance plans can be a great solution. But many smaller companies who had small group health insurance might do their employee s and budgets a favor by switching over to a Florida Blue individual health insurance policy.
Types of Florida Blue Group Health Insurance to Consider
If you decide to consider Florida Blue group health insurance plans or individual and family plans, consider Florida Blue Options. Because these plans are provided by the company that used to be called Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, they provide access to very good medical networks from a company that covers more individuals in this state than any other one.
There are three basic types of coverage you can consider:
- Blue Options PPO plans: PPO plans use a network to help control costs, but they also allow members the freedom to access health services outside the network if they accept higher out-of-pocket costs.
- Blue Care HMO plans: These use a network to control costs very well, but they require members to get almost all covered services within the medical provider network.
- Blue Options HSA plans: These plans utilize the Blue Options PPO network and work with a high deductible major medical insurance policy. The members can establish a health savings account that will help control their costs while receiving a tax deduction on contributions.
Blue Options PPO plans are very popular group health insurance plans because they do a good job of controlling costs and allow members freedom of choice. They are also pretty simple to use, and many of your employees are probably already familiar with the way that PPOs work. This option gives people access to a statewide network of medical providers, and it also connects members to a nationwide network of Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. If some of your employees travel, this can be a great benefit.
You can also choose a Blue Select plan, and which is also a PPO with a provider network and the freedom to choose out-of-network doctors and hospitals. Even though the Blue Select network is very good in select coverage areas, it is not as large as the one provided by Blue Options.
Blue Care HMO plans use a plan network that is only available in some parts of the state. If you are located where the network is very strong, this Florida Blue group health insurance plan can provide very good value for the money, and it might be a good choice for people who need to control their budgets. With an HMO, you do need referrals from a primary care doctor, and you have to use the network to be covered unless it is an emergency.
Blue Options HSA plans are good choices for disciplined savers who want to exercise a lot of control over the way that their money gets spent. The high deductible major medical insurance policy covers major medical expenses. The health savings account, or HSA, should provide cash for more minor expenses, and contributions are tax deductible within limits.
Group health insurance plan members can also choose a high or low deductible. Obviously, a low deductible will reduce out-of-pocket costs, but it will increase the monthly premium. People with growing families or chronic medical conditions might want to reduce out-of-pocket costs, but young and healthy people might be happier with lower premiums because they rarely need a doctor.
Compare Florida Blue Group Health Insurance and Enroll
If you need to make group health insurance decisions for a small group, large group, or even yourself and your family, we can provide you with the best Florida health insurance solutions at the right price. You are free to compare plans on our website or contact us for more help at any time.