Health Insurance

[Gary A]

Guys,

 

I would like to know the best way to offer health benefits. This is for a single employee, not a family plan. Do you guys think it's better to pay them in full as part of a total package and reap the benefit of a tax break or have the employee contribute a percentage? Just wondering what makes the most sense....

 

Thanks,

 

Gary

[xrac]

I think it is better for them to have some skin in the game otherwise they undervalue what you are providing.

[Gary A]

I think it is better for them to have some skin in the game otherwise they undervalue what you are providing.

Hey Frank like 50-50? What do you offer?

[xrac]

In our early years we paid 100% of the employee but we had a group of guys who were young and didn't seem to care, we experienced a lot of turn over and rates keep going up. We finally reached a point that we discontinued offering it and haven't since. 90% of the employees we have had have either been on their wives insurance or didn't care if they had any.

[Joe Marconi]

Unless you are profitable enough to pay the entire amount, I agree with Frank, it's better for the employee to have skin the game. We see increases each year. To be honest, we, like so any other small businesses, cannot raise our rates and prices to keep up with the rising costs of doing business around us. We will eventually have to rethink health insurance too.

 

To everyone: Know your numbers, know your cost of doing business and make sure there is profit each week. I know it's tough, I have been doing this over 3 decades, but it's easy to busy, not so easy to make money.

[xrac]

Hey Frank like 50-50? What do you offer?

 

I would at least have them pay 25%. My service manager is single and will make $50-$60K this year. But he recently thought a health insurance quote of $250 per month is too high. However, I personally pay about $600 a month for myself alone. Many of our younger employees just have no clue on health insurance cost. In this situation he is divorced, living single, and his two boys are on his ex-wife's insurance.

[5 Star Auto Spa]

We use health insurance as a benefit for our current and future employees. I have noticed that older technicians value the health insurance much more so than younger technicians. We currently pay 100% of the health insurance costs. When competing with other repair shops, especially dealerships and chain shops, it helps differentiate us from other repair shops when trying to attract top talent. I have noticed that in our area, most dealerships pay a portion of the health insurance cost and the employee picks up the remaining balance.

[ncsvoboda7]

What is the best way to go about finding who to use for health insurance as a shop owner. It seems there are some many companies out there where do you start!?

Edited January 18, 2015 by ncsvoboda7

[weighit]

When I had the shop and had 5 full time employees I paid all the health insurance for everyone under a group plan. Then on night two the the star players went out and got drunk and had a 1 car accident in a parking lot. Police came and arrested both of them. Courts assigned alcohol school and the insurance company sent a nasty gram a few months later that my 'group' was experiencing an unusually high percentage of expenses and raised the whole groups rate by about double what we had been paying. New rules went into effect, I would write a check once a month for the old insurance rate and the employees could shop and find whatever insurance they wanted, I was only giving the amount i used to pay. Oh yea, if they decided they did not want any insurance, they got no check. I got to see the policy and the bill and made sure they were actually using the money for insurance. I had to do the same thing, cancel the original policy and go shopping for myself a new policy. No more groups for us.

 

If I was to reopen I would make the employees pay something, I want them involved and aware of the real costs to have insurance. What percentage would depend on my bottom line and how much i wanted to keep those guys.

[xrac]

What is the best way to go about finding who to use for health insurance as a shop owner. It seems there are some many companies out there where do you start!?

The best thing to do is to find an independent agent or broker who specializes in health insurance. Some will be specialist in group health and some will be individual. Here is what you need to keep in mind is that almost all independent agents have access to the same carriers so the price will probably be the same. The secret is to find someone who is knowledgeable enough to educate you and guide you to make the best decision possible dependent upon your circumstances. For this reason I would avoid doing on line insurance because I want that agent who can answer my questions or fight for me if I have an issue with the company paying a claim. There is no difference in cost but there is in service.