Is Health Insurance worth it?

Having a corporate health insurance policy for a small business has both its upsides and its downsides, but when do the benefits outweigh the negatives.

It has to be said that good health insurance coverage for everybody in a place of work is obviously a good thing, but it is an added cost and nobody likes that, but perhaps the cost is covered by the benefits. The increase in the level of health would probably add to the productivity of your staff and therefor help in overheads. Healthier staff take less days off due to ilness also helping you get things done.

But on the downside, quite often the individual insurance companies do not give small business the flexibility needed compared to the big companies which have such big accounts that they need flexibility. All this means that you will have to check very carefully in the small print there are companies that do offer a surprising amount of flexibility, but you have to look for the right one for your needs.

So in all it does seem that if you are wishing to overcome the initial expenditure, in the long run a health insurance policy can pay off, through increased productivity and less time off, plus your employees might be that slight bit happier.

Smoking Areas at Work

If you have (still) some smokers left in your place of work, you know that it is in the best interests of everybody that the whole place is smoke free. The law provides for much of this, but you still do not want the unsightly look of a huddle of people standing outside the front door smoking away.

But a certain amount of leeway is needed to be given to these poor mites, after all they are not breaking any laws, but they certainly are not helping themselves through their actions. If you must provide a location for the smokers to smoke then try to make it as out of sight as possible, this helps not to tempt those who themselves have given up, and it makes it that little bit more awkward for those who still pertain.

And of course there is the overall health of the the company, if certain members of your company are smokers, this brings down the health & well-being of the company. If you have health insurance for employees of the company then this might cause slight problems, as not everybody will be at the same standard of healthiness, and that might affect the costs, and that would be unfair on everybody else.

2011 Healthcare Predictions

2011 could see costs in healthcare increase due to budget restructuring in the NHS by the coalition government. This is expected to have an huge impact on the whole healthcare sector.

Employers face extra costs including increased corporate health insurance premium rates, an increase in tax and a National Insurance cost increase.

Businesses will need to either stump up the extra costs or find new ways to help make costs more manageable. They could either switch to a healthcare provider that offers them a more affordable deal or offer a different premium to employees that may offer less benefits but might allow them to contribute to if any added benefits are needed.