Group Benefits Brokers Serving Georgia Businesses

In Georgia, most insurance carriers require at least two separate applicants for a group medical plan. For instance, a husband/wife enrollment generally isn’t accepted as a two-person group medical plan by most insurance carriers.

The major types of employee benefits are: 

• Group Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Disability Insurance

In addition to these insurance benefits, employers can offer an FSA (Flexible Spending Account), an HRA (Health Reimbursement Arrangement) or an HSA (Health Savings Account) which all work hand in hand with a group insurance program.

There are many factors that affect group pricing, including:

• Number of full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) employees
• Date of Birth (Employee & Dependents)
• Gender
• Number of Dependents Covered
• Address/Zip codes of Company and Employees
• SIC (Standard Industrial Classification)
• Code of Company
• Previous 3-5 years of Claims Experience
• Participation Percentage of FTEs vs. Number Enrolling in Plan 

Offering employee benefits can help employers retain quality employees and attract quality candidates for hire. Employee benefits are sometimes referred to as “Golden Handcuffs” and can protect an employer from losing key employees to competitor companies. 

From an employee standpoint, if employee benefits are offered, the insurance companies require employers to pay at least 50% of the employee’s single medical premium. That is a substantial discount when compared to the purchase of a separate medical plan outside of the company. Also, employees can purchase insurance products through their employer that aren’t available for individual sale and many times, because of the group rating, they are offered at a discounted rate.

Companies with less than 50 employees are not required legally to offer group insurance to their employees. Small businesses that offer group insurance enjoy higher retention and hiring percentages than companies that don’t offer group insurance. 

Companies with 50 employees or more are legally required to offer group medical insurance, so by offering quality group insurance offerings, the more competitive that company may be in retaining and hiring employees. Because employees are the “true value” in a company, offering group insurance is an investment in the health of the employee which results in a healthier workforce that is more “present” in attendance with stronger performance on the job.

Insurance companies require that employees who are full-time equivalent (FTE) meaning the employee: 

• Averages at least 30 hours/week, 
• Is a W-2 employee and not a 1099 contractor, 
• Is eligible to be covered under a group insurance plan 

Some insurance companies will allow 1099 contractors coverage if they are exclusively working with the company offering group insurance. Depending on the carrier and the average number of hours worked per week, exceptions may be made for part-time employees.

No. Insurance products and pricing from online broker services are standard for all brokers across the industry. Brokers who are contracted with the same carriers can offer the same plans and pricing as the large online brokers. BIS is not an online insurance broker, but can offer the same plans and pricing that online brokers offer.