Benefits or no benefits? It’s an easy decision for folks on the job hunt, but it’s more complicated for small business owners trying to stay competitive against bigger companies.
With a smaller pool of employees, it can be challenging for small business owners to find a health and dental benefits plan that doesn’t punish everybody with rising premiums when employees claim more than their insurance carrier budgeted for the group.
But, with SOHO Group Health Benefits Plans, you can wave goodbye to these painful premiums.
“To be competitive in the hiring sphere, you need to be able to offer a benefit plan,” explains Arthur Poelen, president of Burnaby-based A.B. Poelen Financial, where they offer the SOHO plans.
“The problem that small businesses – I’m talking anything less than 10 people – run into, you go to the big carriers, and say ‘we want a benefit plan for our employees and to offer to new recruits,’ but you don’t get a lot of attention from the big insurance carriers.”
Available at a discount with a membership, SOHO plans place your company in a national pool of other SOHO-insured members, spreading the risk of claims more widely among many instead of only a few.
The result is stabler, more affordable benefits packages for everyone.
“Think of it as though you are an employee of a huge national company, with thousands of members and many benefit plan options – that’s the kind of clout you have working for you,” the SOHO Plans website reads.
“You have a human resources team dedicated to managing the benefit plan. Your expert management team uses that clout to maximize the benefit and minimize the price from the insurance carriers.”
Small business owners can also include themselves and their families, in addition to their staff, in their customizable benefits plan.
Examples of SOHO’s competitive group benefits options include dental coverage, pay-direct prescription services, travel protection and, above all, stable rates and flexible coverage that don’t require a minimum number of employees.
Dental coverage comprises regular check-ups, periodontics and endodontic work, as well as caps, crowns and bridges. Their complete, 100% extended health coverage includes medical equipment and supplies, hospital rooms, air and ground ambulances, eye exams, hearing aids, private-duty nursing and $500 annually per covered practitioner.
SOHO Plans can also include life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, long-term disability, unlimited prescription drug coverage, and up to $5 million of 90-day travel benefits.
“A quality benefit plan makes small businesses competitive in hiring,” says Poelen. “Your big business competitors will not have any better quality coverage available to them than you can get by participating in this pool.”
For more information on the SOHO Plans, visit thesohoplan.ca.
