Beginning next month, small business owners in Southwest Washington will be the first in the state able to offer their employees health benefits through a branch of the state’s new online insurance exchange.
Open enrollment for Washington Healthplanfinder Business is set to kick off on Tuesday, October 1 – the same day as the launch of the statewide exchange for individuals. However, unlike the individual insurance exchange, the business-specific marketplace will only be available to small business owners in Clark and Cowlitz counties with up to 50 employees.
Michael Marchand, director of communications for Washington Healthplanfinder, said that in this inaugural year of the online marketplace, there wasn’t enough participation from insurance carriers to offer statewide coverage for small businesses. Rather than to delay its launch, Marchand said that Washington Healthplanfinder Business is being implemented in Southwest Washington as a pilot program.
“There are things that make it interesting that it’s happening in that area,” Marchand explained. “I think the demographics – the urban and the rural and the kinds of businesses that exist in both counties – are really good indicators as we start to look at what might take place and how the market’s landscape gets shaped moving forward.
“What we learn out of this is going to be really important,” he added.
So far, only Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest has been approved to offer insurance to local employers through the online marketplace. Marchand said the exchange is committed to working with other insurance companies to help them get ready to sell plans to employers by this time next year.
Marchand said he fully expects Washington Healthplanfinder Business to be embraced by the local business community because of the following benefits:
- Simplifying choices: The exchange provides side-by-side comparisons of state-certified health plans. All plans will cover essential health benefits like visits to the doctor and emergency room, prescriptions and preventative care.
- Flexibility: Employers can select one single plan for all of their employees or let employees choose from a range of plans.
- Employer control: Washington Healthplanfinder Business allows employers to determine their own level of contribution toward their employees’ coverage, and to make a single monthly payment rather than payments to multiple plans.
- Affordability: A 35 percent tax credit for health premiums is available to employers with fewer than 25 full-time workers through the IRS to help cover the cost of coverage for employees. Starting in 2014, the exchange will provide exclusive access to a 50 percent tax credit.
Additionally, Marchand said he expects the exchange to be “big deal” to self-employed individuals, because they will be eligible to buy through Washington Healthplanfinder Business or through the individual market.
“I speak to a lot of folks who are freelancers and it’s expensive to keep a family insured if you are a freelance writer and are doing things project-by-project,” he said. “It’s our hope that this will go a long way in providing both financial stability as well as stability for peoples lifestyles and their families.”
Lastly, Marchand said that being able to offer health benefits to employees is great recruiting tool for business owners.
“We’re starting to live in a world where yes, money is always important, but people are starting to look more and more at the benefit package,” he said. “Health insurance is becoming a differentiator between a company’s ability to keep and retain good employees.”
