washington business
“[ HealthChoice allows ] us to offer best-inclass benefits to our employees, and I think our employees are very grateful for that.”
— Brian Forth, president and founder of SiteCrafting
SiteCrafting founder Brian Forth, right, uses AWB’ s HealthChoice insurance for the employees of his Tacoma web design company.( Photo by Alma Perez)
In addition to a robust AHP market that offers high-quality, comprehensive coverage, small employers have access to fully insured health plans in the small group market. Washington’ s small companies enjoy some of the lowest small group premiums in the nation. According to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the national average premium for companies with 3-24 employees is $ 8,059 per employee annually. According to small group filings, in Washington, the state average is $ 6,208 per year, which means Washington’ s small businesses pay $ 1,851 less for health coverage per year than the national average.
Larger employers also have many choices, which include having access to fully insured coverage, level-funded plans and selfinsured options.
“ It can be hard to find quality coverage on your own, and it can be more expensive.”
— Debra Brown, president of AWB’ s employer-services subsidiary Forterra
a bigger win for employees
Americans are overwhelmingly supportive of employer-provided health insurance, with 93 % expressing satisfaction with their current plan and 87 % saying that their employer-sponsored coverage is affordable. For Brian Forth, president and founder of SiteCrafting, a digital agency with about 30 employees based in Tacoma, employee satisfaction is critical.
“ Nothing happens without the team that we’ ve built here at SiteCrafting, and so it’ s very important to me as a business owner to provide the best benefits we can within our budget to make sure that families are taken care of,” Forth said.“ We really want to be a place where people feel like the company has their back.”
Forth turns to HealthChoice for not only its affordability, but also its comprehensive benefits. Participants have access to a broad network of providers, and most PPO plans cover in-network lab work, X-rays and diagnostics at 100 %. PPO plans range in deductibles from $ 500- $ 8,150. Four Health Savings Account( HSA) plans are also available with deductibles ranging from $ 1,700- $ 5,500. There are also 3 HMO plans with deductibles ranging from $ 500- $ 1,500. All plans comply with state and federal benefit mandates and include consumer protections such as guaranteed issue and renewal of coverage.
“ The biggest thing for our employees is that they have a large network of doctors to choose from and that there’ s consistency in the benefit package for them,” Forth said.“ They’ re very happy being able to keep their doctor, getting labs covered, X-rays, all those pieces that could be big out-of-pocket expenses if they didn’ t have HealthChoice.”
Forth appreciates being able to support his employees’ health and well-being with the help of HealthChoice.
“ They allow us to offer best-in-class benefits to our employees, and I think our employees are very grateful for that,” Forth said.
For more information on HealthChoice or to get a quote for your business, go to www. propointservices. com / secondary-nav.
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