Best way to offer Medical benefits for seasonal employees

[jeff6940]

I own and operate a landscape design/installation company in Pittsburgh Pa. and would like to offer my employees health benefits. I have heard of some employers only offering to their management level employees. I'm looking for some suggestions for offering medical coverage without breaking the bank. Any ideas?

[nealrm]

Yes - Decide how much you can afford per employee for medical insurance. Then set the pay as $## per hour plus a money amount. Let the employee choose if they want the monthly amount to go toward medical insurance or something else.

[JackieAtZane]

A common strategy that a lot of businesses just like you would use is called a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) administration for exactly what nealrm is describing. An HRA is an IRS approved, tax advantaged, employer-funded plan that may be used to reimburse employees for medical expenses. An HRA is not health insurance, but can be used to supplement health insurance benefits and pay for a range of medical expenses not covered by insurance. Employees do not need to have health insurance coverage to participate.

Through HRA administration software, everything is paperless and handled online. Your employees can submit their medical expense claims. Once they submit a claim, claims processors will look over their expense to make sure their IRS compliant, and keep you (the employer) HIPAA compliant. If their claim is eligible for reimbursement, you will be notified, and then you can add their reimbursement to the next payroll period. It's simple, fast, and an awesome employee benefit. Let me know if you would like more information!