The ColoHealth Health & Wealth Newsletter
June 2022
Vol. 12, Issue 11

Direct Primary Care (DPC) is the Best New Option for Small Business Healthcare

As a small business owner, I can attest to how much work it can be to maintain an effective team. Not only do you need to grab the attention of top talent, but you also need to convince them to come on board, and ideally, stay on board.

As far as hiring incentives go, there is nothing more critical than offering a health plan. But traditional, overpriced insurance is not the only option, especially for smaller companies.

Direct Primary Care, or DPC, is a non-insurance healthcare model where patients can pay a monthly membership fee in exchange for unrestricted preventive care benefits. Now, DPC memberships are available for companies and groups, and it’s shaping up to be a real game-changer for the American small business.

In 2022, Innovative Small Business Owners Switched to Direct Primary Care

On its own, DPC is thriving as a low-cost alternative to health insurance. But now, as employers across the country are scrambling to attract and retain talent, DPC has become a breakout hit in small business benefit packages.

Because employees can seek unlimited primary care, they can more easily maintain their health. The result is a healthier, happier, and more productive workforce, with the added benefit of reduced health insurance claims.

Since it’s fairly recent inception, the DPC healthcare model has quickly proven its worth. The bottom-line, proven benefits of DPC:

Using DPC as a health benefit is more cost effective than traditional insurance, especially for small or very small companies
Employees enrolled in DPC have 59% fewer ER visits, 62% fewer specialist referrals, and 80% fewer surgeries, significantly reducing the cost of health insurance claims
DPC memberships can be paired with either a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) or a low-cost Health Sharing Program as part of a comprehensive (but affordable) healthcare strategy
Our DPC + Healthshare plan is optimized to bring monthly costs down even further [Click here to learn more]

Amidst “The Great Resignation”, Employee Health Benefits are More Important than Ever

Here’s the thing: If your business has 50 or fewer employees, there’s no requirement to offer an employee health benefit. And that’s a good thing, seeing as how small, young businesses have a hard enough time paying the bills as it is.

But savvy owners who view healthcare as an investment are the ones that are reaping all the benefits. They’re finding that offering at least some form of health plan is making it easier to attract, hire, and maintain the employees they need to keep growing.

While group DPC memberships aren’t as comprehensive as traditional insurance, they still serve as an attractive benefit for job-seekers.

How to Choose a Health Plan for Your Business

1.) Do Your Research

It’s easy for business owners to feel so overwhelmed about health insurance that they just choose the first plan they see. Finding a plan that is the right match for your organization means taking the time to understand not only your company’s needs, but also the full range of options that are available.

A good place to start is with one of my recent blog posts, 5 Best Health Insurance Plans for Small Business Owners.

2.) Get to Know Your Employees’ Needs

How often do your current employees seek medical care? What kind of options would be popular? Are your employees more interested in lower monthly payments, more plan options, or lower out-of-pocket liability?

3.) Be Realistic About Your Employer Contribution

Unlike larger employers, there is no minimum contribution for small business health insurance. That means that you can choose exactly how much to contribute towards employee premiums.

Similarly, group healthshare programs allow employers to set the desired contribution, even if it’s $0.

4.) Know about the Small Business Healthcare Tax Credit

Federal law allows small employers who offer healthcare to claim a significant tax credit. If you have 25 or fewer full-time employees with average wages of less than $50,000, your tax credit could be worth up to 50% of employee premiums.

5.) Consider DPC + Healthshare for Increased Savings

DPC memberships only provide primary care services, like doctor visits and other routine care. But by pairing a DPC membership with a medical cost sharing plan, it’s possible to add emergency healthcare protection while still paying far less than a traditional group plan.

Become a Small Business Health Insurance Expert

Have about 8 minutes? That’s all it takes to become a top-to-bottom expert in Colorado group health plans. In The 2022 Colorado Small Business Health Insurance Guide, we’ve compiled everything we know about choosing, comparing, and administering a group plan in Colorado.

And as always, stay tuned to future editions of this newsletter for more guidance and tips about choosing a group plan.

Need help right away? We’re always here to help, just call 800.913.6381

To Your Health and Wealth,

signature-wiley

Wiley P. Long III
President- ColoHealth

The ColoHealth Health & Wealth Newsletter is published monthly and emailed to subscribers at no charge. Subscribe now to stay on top of the critical information you need to know about health insurance, healthshare plans and managing your finances to achieve financial security.