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CEOS – Ask a Question & We’ll Answer!

Group health insurance is confusing and often frustrating for the business owner. It is usually the second largest line item on your P&L and the one you spend the least amount of time on. I recently had one business owner tell me, “this gives me a headache”. And another say he hates this time of year, when their group health insurance renews.

We are here to answer your questions. Yup, just ask and we will do our best to educate you and our audience by answering your questions.

No obligation, no follow-up phone call, no cost. Just a straightforward answer.

Our goal: to educate, to help you make an informed decision.
 

Can one agent get a better price than another agent?

No, if the same information (census with correct age, M/F, employee location, and medical conditions) is sent to the insurance carrier for level / stable funded plans, then the premiums will be the same. However, your agent can go back to their insurance carrier sales rep and ask for a better rate. Your agent will generally back-up the request with data showing why the initial rates should be reduced. (Other insurance carrier’s quotes, what is needed to ‘win’ your business, etc.

We have seen multiple insurance agents submit a quote to the same insurance carrier and each agent receive a different quote. However, the information submitted was different. Either a difference in the census, the age of one or more of the employees was wrong or the medical information submitted was different. In these cases, the quote is corrected, and all agents receive the same information. If the differences are not caught prior to underwriting, they will be adjusted during the underwriting process.

Can I include 1099 employees on my group health insurance plan?

On fully insured plans Humana, Anthem (Blue Cross), United Healthcare, Kaiser and Oscar all allow 1099 employees. There are some rules concerning the percent of 1099 employees versus W-2 employees to be insured.

United Healthcare / All Savers, Anthem (Chamber / Farm plans), Cigna, Humana level funded over 50 lives and National General all allow 1099 employees to participate in a companies group health insurance plans with some limitations relative to the number of 1099 versus W-2 employees. Aetna does not offer coverage to 1099 employees.

Answers are relative to companies domiciled in Georgia.