Why
Your Dependent Premiums On Your Group Plan
Are So High, And What You May be Able to Do About It
Carriers issuing group plans to small businesses MUST issue the policy to a small business that properly applies for one, even if the whole group is morbidly ill! The only item in question is what the final rates will be. For a business employing fifty or fewer employees in Texas, the rates for everyone covered under a group plan covering participants that have serious health concerns can be as much as 66.66% higher than what those rates would be if all persons covered in that group were perfectly healthy.
This fact has an important result: in Texas, the rates for healthy groups are directly linked to the rates for groups that possess serious conditions. Current state statute provides no rate relief for healthy individuals insured within a group plan that also insures people with serious ailments.
For most employees, it is a waste of time to shop the individual health insurance market for themselves, because the portion of the employee-only premium paid by the employer in the group plan would be forfeited. However, if your employer pays little or none of the premium for dependents, and your dependents are in reasonably good health, it is frequently to the family's advantage to purchase individual insurance on dependents! Additionally, you should definitely investigate personal insurance on your dependents if you also meet any of the following criteria:
1. You are a younger employee working for a company that has many older employees;
2. Your spouse is significantly younger than you are;
3. You are a young male employee, and your wife doesn't need maternity benefits;
4. You have only one child to insure.
If you meet any of these criteria, we can help you in a big way!