A new hire asked about health benefits. Here is what a small group plan takes.

Sooner or later, a candidate asks what your health benefits are. Or your first good hire starts and expects you to have an answer. If you have never offered benefits, that question can stop you cold.

It is a manageable project once you see the steps. I run these for Oregon employers with 2 to 50 employees, and I will walk you through what a small group plan takes.

Why the question arrives with hiring

When you were a team of two or three, everyone sorted out their own coverage. Once you hire someone you want to keep, benefits become part of the offer. A person comparing two jobs will often weigh the one with a health plan more heavily. That is usually when owners call me.

What a small group plan is

In plain words: you, the employer, pick a plan or a few plans. You pay part of the premium. Your employees enroll in the plan, and the rest of the premium comes out of their pay.

Most carriers require the employer to pay a minimum share of the employee premium. I will tell you what applies to your group when I quote it, so you are not guessing.

What a census is

A census is a simple list of your employees, with the details a carrier needs to price the plan. Typically that is each person's date of birth, zip code, and who they want to cover (just themselves, or a spouse and children too).

I ask for it because a carrier cannot give you a real price without it. A census means I can shop the carriers with your actual group instead of a guess. It is a spreadsheet you can put together in a few minutes. On my site you can send it as a CSV, Excel, or PDF file.

How quoting works

Here is the sequence.

1. You send me the census and a few facts about your business.
2. I shop the carriers for you.
3. I come back with a comparison, in plain terms.
4. You pick the plan or plans.
5. Your employees enroll.

After that, I handle the renewal cycle each year, from quote shopping to employee enrollment to ongoing service. You do not have to start over every year.

What the first step takes

The first step on my site takes a couple of minutes. You fill in a short form, and the census file is optional at that stage. I will email you within one business day, and if you would rather send the census then, you can reply to that email.

The full questionnaire takes about 15 minutes. It covers the details I need to build a complete quote.

What I can place

For a small group, I work with group medical, dental, disability, and supplemental coverage. You can start with medical and add the rest later, or look at them together. If you have more than 50 employees, I handle those on request.

For the individual side of health insurance, which your employees may still ask about, see how individual health insurance works.

Start the quote

If a new hire has asked about benefits, the quickest answer is to get a quote. Start on the group quote page. It takes a couple of minutes, and I will take it from there.