3 Easy Steps to the Best Healthcare for Small Business

This is a sponsored post by UnitedHealthcare. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Within the past year, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) has created an online tool to make healthcare for small businesses simpler. I wrote about it recently in the post, “How to Make Shopping for Small Business Healthcare Easy.”

The purpose of UHC’s resource is to alleviate many of the pain points that both small business owners and people in general feel when it comes to healthcare.

It is attractive to job seekers when a company is able to offer health insurance. Yet healthcare is a burden that few companies can afford. Not only is it expensive but also the process of shopping for health insurance is time-consuming.

In this post, I’d like to take you through a brief walkthrough of how UnitedHealthcare’s online tool operates. That way, you’ll be able to get an idea of its advantages and decide whether or not it might be a good fit for your organization.

UnitedHealthcare has developed this tool in order to make the process of shopping for small business healthcare as fast and as seamless as possible.

Shopping for the best plans for your employees will only take you around 20 minutes. And there will be a UHC advisor available to help you as you go.

1. Choosing Your Plans

When you begin the process of shopping for coverage, you’ll enter your zip code and the number of your employees. You’ll also select the date when you would like coverage to start.

Note that online quoting is not available for all areas of the country at this point. If online quoting is unavailable in your state, you can contact the company directly to get an estimate.

Once you have entered your basic information, the site will evaluate which plans are available to you.

In the example above, you can see that there are 17 available plans. Two of them are high deductible plans, and two of them are low deductible. The rest are moderate deductible plans.

At this point, you can choose to provide all of the available options to your employees. Or you can customize what you offer by removing some of them.

You can choose to group the plans you offer by network, deductible, or by metal tier. What you decide to do obviously depends on the plans available in your area, as well as your employees themselves.

For example, if most of your workers have young families, they will have different needs than if your staff is in an older stage of life.

At the very bottom of the page, you can explore your employee profiles to see what sorts of plans will best suit your employees based on their lifestyles.

You can assess your situation according to three categories of employees: young and healthy, family focused, and professional and secure.

You can also take advantage of the Employee Fit Finder Tool, but only if you offer at least six different types of plans.

If you choose to do so, your staff members will get a series of questions about their lifestyles and the health conditions of their families. Employees will then be able to modify their plans according to their respective situations.

2. Employee Details

After you choose the plans you are going to offer, your next step is to input your employees’ information. You can do so either manually or by importing data from a spreadsheet.

The information you will need includes each employee’s initials, zip code, age, and gender. You can also include info on spouses and children if you wish.

Entering these details will enable you to project the cost of your plans as accurately as possible. At the end of this step in the process, you will have the option to create an account.

3. Monthly Budget

Your next and last step will be to set your monthly budget. Your plan choices and employee data will give you a breakdown of the overall costs both to you and to your employees.

The system is budget-friendly because you will see an accurate estimate of your costs and be able to control how much you spend per month.

Remember, the monthly cost to you is a set amount that you determine. It will not fluctuate based on the plans your employees choose. Also, what you decide to spend will not impact which plans are available to your employees.

The online tool will show you a monthly breakdown of your cost per employee, as well as your total expense monthly for all your employees.

It will also show you the monthly range of what your employees are spending. This expense displays as a range because people will choose plans priced at different amounts.

Once you set your budget, you will have to create an account (if you have not already done so) in order to review your order and check out. Creating an account will also allow you to save your information and return to it later if you wish to do so.

When you’re done, you’ll be able to review your decisions, enter your payment information, and confirm your order.

After paying, a UHC advisor will assist you with getting set up in the UnitedHealthcare system. He or she will also help you add any extra benefits you’d like to include.

Seamless Healthcare for Small Business

UnitedHealthcare has done what it can to make the experience of shopping for small business health insurance as smooth as possible.

As you go through the shopping process, there are resources available through “Learn More” buttons that will help answer any questions you might have. There are also online advisors if you can’t the answer your questions through the resources on the site.

Even if you are a little hesitant, you should check out UHC’s online tool. It could be just what your business needs.

Disclaimer: The views expressed do not reflect those of UnitedHealthcare nor its affiliates. They are the personal opinions of the authors. While UnitedHealthcare has made every attempt to ensure accuracy, the information contained in these blogs may change and UnitedHealthcare assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, contrary interpretations of the subject matter or information herein or for any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. These blogs may connect to other websites maintained by third parties over whom UnitedHealthcare has no control. UnitedHealthcare makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information contained in those linked blogs or third party websites. Blogs are for general informational purposes only and not intended to be medical advice or a substitute for professional health care.