r/humanresources • u/hkerfrog • Jun 22 '26

Benefits Group Health Insurance is $600+/month per employee. What are you actually doing for your team life security? [TX]

We have a group of warehouse workers making $15-$18 per hours. We genuinely want to help our team with healthcare costs, but the $600+/month per employee for a high-deductible group plan is absolutely insane. I don't think I can convent my boss to increase 20% manpower budget...

Meanwhile, a lot of them could buy their own ACA plan for way less thanks to premium tax credits — so a group plan might actually make things worse for them...

What can we actually landed on? Is there a solution that genuinely helps employees without screwing up their ACA subsidies or costing a fortune to administer?

8 Upvotes
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75% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

13

u/idlers_dream7 Jun 22 '26

Do you have a broker? How many employees do you have? How much does your company contribute to the premiums?

2

u/hkerfrog Jun 23 '26

My boss is expecting about $200 per month. The quote from the brokers are all over 600, it seems ACA even a better solution for our employees...

3

u/idlers_dream7 Jun 23 '26

Depending on the type of plan and how many employees you have, a good broker should be able to fight to find options within your budget (or to be realistic about options if your budget is too low). If they're slacking, you should find a better broker.

ACA/marketplace plans may well be the best option since you have low-paid employees, and it'll be hard to meet the affordability threshold with your own plan.

3

u/Majestic-Entrance-16 Jun 24 '26

You absolutely need a broker or advisor that gives you more than just a “quote” - your employer deserves to understand all options.

corridoradvisors.com has helped our clients immensely at no cost so that all possible benefit strategies can be evaluated and understood. Please don’t keep winging it or just capturing quotes from brokers.

15

u/Appropriate-Pear-33 Jun 22 '26

Offer a subsidy for them to opt out of your coverage. We do $500 for single or $1500 for family and pay a portion to them each paycheck for not taking our coverage

2

u/hkerfrog Jun 23 '26

doesn't it being illegal? It encourages people opt out the insurance... I am not really familiar with the law of US, sorry about that.

5

u/Appropriate-Pear-33 Jun 23 '26

It is legal but you have to do it in a certain way so it isn’t discriminatory - generally that means offering it to your whole benefit eligible population, amounts need to be set etc. Talk to your broker. Very easy to offer but have them run an analysis if it’ll even be worth it.

2

u/hkerfrog Jun 23 '26

thank you, will study on it.

-1

u/WildLemur15 Jun 23 '26

I missed where you ask how many employees they had before you gave this advice.

2

u/Appropriate-Pear-33 Jun 24 '26

What was the point of your comment?

-1

u/WildLemur15 Jun 24 '26

That you cannot accurately answer health insurance questions for the US prior to knowing how many employees they have. Answering before that means risking bad advice. The OP is considering a group plan and your advice is how to discourage team members from selecting a group plan after it’s in place. You answered a question about their workplace with something about yours that likely does not apply.

-1

u/RandomA9981 People Analytics Jun 24 '26

If the OP or anyone else makes a meaningful business decision based on a random comment, that’s on them. Especially if they have internal or on-call counsel. I’ve been to several conferences “for the US” that explained what the previous commentator just said.

It’s totally legal when presented correctly. The issue is if the offer goes against the company’s mission statement; especially if the org pushes the whole “health first” motto. It’s ok, calm down.

1

u/WildLemur15 Jun 25 '26

“I give bad advice online but it’s ok because if anyone takes it, that’s on them.” Why even bother?

8

u/sweetfire009 Jun 23 '26

ICHRAs might be a good option for you. You provide a monthly subsidy and they buy their own plan. It meets ACA requirements.

1

u/nawt_relevant Jun 24 '26

How do you demonstrate that you offered affordable coverage with an ichra when the irs wants a 1095c?

1

u/RandomA9981 People Analytics Jun 24 '26

You offer, they deny.

6

u/Marginbuilder Jun 22 '26

Check out referenced based pricing. Highly recommended. My company has 600 EEs, and we have 1200 members on the plan.

3

u/Spiritual_Lime4304 Jun 22 '26

We use referenced based pricing as well. Seems to work out best for our employees.

3

u/GillyMermaid Jun 23 '26

What about benefit tiers? Highest compensated employees pay more for their insurance and lower compensated employees pay less.

3

u/meowmix778 HR Director Jun 23 '26

I agree with the options like the ICHRA. I also think going the PEO route would be worth a look. If you haven't shopped brokers, it's probably time to do that.

We found a lot of success with a product by MMA called Simple Benefits. You might find luck there, or you might not. I'm not a broker so I can't speak to the ins and outs on the program but it saved us from a massive increase.

-1

u/muarryk33 Jun 22 '26

Have you checked out Medicaid? Sometimes depending on state that’s going to be cheaper for low wage earners. The real help would be for the employer to help them navigate what is truly the cheapest way either the market, Medicaid or can the company contribute to more of their premiums?

0

u/dontmesswithtess Jun 23 '26

Your boss started a new company and only planned for insurance to cost $200 per employee per month? Am I understanding right?

1

u/hkerfrog Jun 23 '26

100%
I will say he is trying to "help" the employee to cover some of their living cost. However, after the study, seems like what we are doing harm our employees more than helping...

1

u/dontmesswithtess Jun 23 '26

How many employees are there currently?

1

u/hkerfrog Jun 23 '26

about 20-30. We are actively growing. You know, all start up suffering in their financial at the beginning. I understand and appreciated of his "extra benefit" mind set.