Small businesses are not required to offer health insurance to employees or dependents.
Health insurance regulations do not require small business employers to offer employees medical insurance, but businesses may receive tax benefits for doing so. The recent health care reform law allows small businesses to pool together in 2014 to get affordable coverage through the Small Business Health Options Program. Small employers are subject to stringent rules and regulations when they offer health benefits. A business with two to 50 full-time employees is considered a small employer.
Group Coverage
Group health insurance coverage refers to policies issued to a business that covers full-time employees and may cover dependents or part-time employees. Health insurers determine the cost of health insurance based on risk factors for the entire group; insurers are required to offer coverage to small businesses.
Eligibility
Small businesses must offer health insurance benefits fairly to all full-time employees, however, they may designate groups of employees--such as management--with different options. Employers can choose to offer health insurance to part-time employees or dependents. Pre-existing conditions do not apply to group health coverage and employees or dependents cannot be denied coverage due to previous medical problems.
Employees must purchase coverage themselves for dependents to be eligible for benefits.
Premiums
Most health plans require employers to pay for half the premium cost; employees must pay the other half. This encourages employees to take advantage of the health insurance benefit. Employers are not required to pay for any portion of the part-time employee or dependent premiums.
Covered Benefits
Small business owners choose the covered benefits that best suits their needs. Insurance companies provide standard health insurance packages, or employers may design a unique employee health insurance plan. Co-payments and deductibles vary by employer.
Tax Benefits
Health insurance expenses incurred by employers are typically 100 percent deductible for small businesses.
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