BBB Hometown Health Plan
The Better Business Bureau will be teaming up with Hometown Health to provide new association health plans to small businesses in Northern Nevada. Due to changes and reforms made in Washington, small businesses in Nevada have seen many new association groups. This comes after Hometown announced the BANN association insurance group last month. Both association groups allow small employers to take advantage of plans and rates that are similar to what large employers currently have. The BBB Hometown Health Plan can save small groups 5 to 25 percent on premiums depending on your age.
Requirements for the association
Association health plans that have come out this year are for small employers. Insurance companies define a small business as having less than 50 full time employees. Similar to any small group plans being offered in Northern Nevada, the business will have to located in a local county and have a valid Nevada Business License. Like many of the other association plans, the BBB Hometown Health Plan will require businesses to join the Bureau to be eligible to join the association plan. The business will have to continue to maintain a relationship with the Bureau to keep the policy in force. The Better Business Bureau association plans will also allow sole proprietors to join. Traditionally, groups would need to have at least two unrelated employees to be eligible for health insurance.
What the policy includes
As mentioned earlier, the BBB Hometown Health Plan will allow small business to enjoy lower rates. The discount depends on the ages of the group and can be anywhere from 5 to 25 percent. There will be nine different plans designs. Each of those can be either PPO or HMO bringing the total to 18 different choices. Although, certain counties will only be able to purchase PPO plans. All of the policies are ACA compliant and are guarantee issue. The plans do exclude some coverages that traditional small group plans have but the rate decrease can make the switch worth it. Sole proprietors will have to submit an application by February 15th this year to have coverage for 2019. Any group with two or more employees will have the option to enroll all year.
If you are interested in enrolling or have additional questions about the plans, please call our office. As your health insurance broker, we do not charge fees and are a no cost resource for our clients. We can assist you with the enrollment process and be your advocate while you are enrolled for no extra charge.
