Project overview
The principle objective of this project is to determine whether businesses should provide employees’ health insurance. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which will be in effect from 2015, requires that employers/businesses with 50 or more employees provide adequate healthcare insurance, or undergo assessment in case their employees are given premium tax credits to purchase their own healthcare insurance. There is a large volume of information concerning the legal requirements for businesses to give health insurance to their employees, but there is minimal research on whether businesses should actually give healthcare insurance to employees. This project will find information from both businesses as well as employees to determine on whether businesses should give healthcare benefits to their employees. This project will be of great importance to both businesses as well as employees since it may determine whether both or only one party benefits from employees receiving healthcare benefits. This is an issue that must of great concern especially to businesses, which have the liability of providing the insurance. The project will last for approximately 2 months and will cost about $30,000.
Background Information
Even though it is optional for most small businesses to provide healthcare insurance to their employees, the insurance is of great importance to the employees (Bizfilings.com, n.p). All kinds of employers should be informed on the advantages and disadvantages of giving healthcare insurance to their employees. In employee compensation, benefits are critical whereby healthcare insurance is the crown jewel. Time-off and healthcare benefits are of the greatest popularity among employees (Bizfilings.com, n.p). It is necessary for all employers to consider giving these types of benefits to their employees, and most importantly in this context, the healthcare benefits so as to remain competitive with other organizations in maintaining the most competent employees as well as to avoid the healthcare reform penalties (Bizfilings.com, n.p). An additional reason to make businesses give healthcare insurance to their employees is so as to utilize the advantage of cheaper health insurance compared to what they can get by themselves and so as to benefit from the tax breaks given to the business for making contributions (Bizfilings.com, n.p). Currently, only employers in Hawaii are required by state law to provide health insurance benefits to their employees (Zamosky, 42). The state of Hawaii is the first to require that its employers give health insurance to their employees. This requirement is made through the Prepaid Health Care Act of 1974 which requires that businesses provide health care insurance to their full-time employees. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act along with other related legislation require that employers/businesses with 50 or more employees provide adequate healthcare insurance or undergo assessment in case their employees are given premium tax credits to purchase their own healthcare insurance (Healthcoverageguide.org, n.p). This law will be in effect from 2015 (Healthcoverageguide.org, n.p). Furthermore, from 2010, tax credits may be given to small businesses with less than 25 employees for providing their employees with health care insurance (ObamacareFacts.com, n.p). I was drawn to conduct this research as an employee (specifically a nail technician) of a business that does not offer healthcare insurance to its employees. The findings of this project may play a major role in changing the perception employers on giving healthcare benefits.
Statement of the problem
If employers even in small businesses decide to offer healthcare insurance benefits to their employees, they tie themselves to a steam of laws that determine the coverage they have to give as well as how they should give it (Bizfilings.com, n.p). Therefore, the first decision that employers initially have to make is whether to give their employees any healthcare insurance at all. To be precise, the contention to deal with is: should businesses provide employees’ health insurance?
Goals and objectives
The purpose of this study is to yield substantial evidence on whether it would be imperative for businesses to provide healthcare benefits to their employees. This research will seek to find the legal requirements for various kinds of business with regard to providing healthcare insurance to their employees. The research will also try to examine the proportion of various businesses providing healthcare benefits to their employees. Some attention will also be given to the pros and cons of businesses providing healthcare insurance to their employees. Additionally, this study will look into why some businesses may feel that they should not provide healthcare benefits to their employees while others feel that they should. The project will furthermore aim to have its findings and recommendations have an impact on concerned parties. Lastly, the research will come up with a definite solution on the issue of whether businesses should provide their employees with healthcare insurance.
Needed resources budget
Methodology
Evaluation plan
The main audience for the evaluation plan will be my classmates, work colleagues, and employer (if possible). For the evaluation plan, the following will be carried out:
- Front end interviews evaluation
Prior to starting the research, targeted audiences will be interviewed on what they know about payment of healthcare insurance to employees by businesses. They will also be asked about what they think about employers giving healthcare insurance to their employees. The interviewees will be asked what they think about employers being required by the law to pay employees’ healthcare insurance. This will help to understand the misconceptions they may be having and what they may need to know about businesses having to give healthcare benefits. This may also help in understanding what will interest the audience as well as find better ways presenting of the results of the study.
- Effect evaluation
This will be done to determine the impact of the project findings on businesses. The proportion businesses that will implement this project’s findings will be monitored. Responses from businesses to this project’s findings will be followed up. The number of employees proposing an implementation of this project’s results will also be followed up. A follow up will also be done to determine whether there are will be employees opposing the adoption of this project’s findings. To find out the effects of the findings, face to face and telephone call interviews will be done on employers and employees. The ratio of businesses that will adopt the findings of this research to those that will not will also be subject of study.
- Quantitative data evaluation
Businesses will first be classified according to the number of permanent employees they have. The number of businesses giving healthcare insurance to employees as well as that of those which do not within those classifications will be used for calculations. The ratio and percentages of the two will then be found and recorded.
- Qualitative data evaluation
Information on the current laws regarding employee healthcare insurance will be obtained from the country’s constitutional resources. Interviews on employers will help determine why some businesses feel that they should, or should not give employees health insurance. Here we may be able to identify the pros and cons of giving health insurance to employees for a business. These steps will assist in coming up with a concrete conclusion on whether businesses should give employees healthcare insurance. After presentation of these findings to the audience, they will then be subjected to an interview 2 weeks later to determine what they have learnt from the project findings. This will be through interviews and open ended questions.
Conclusion
Currently, there are no state laws requiring businesses to give healthcare insurance to their employees except in Hawaii, but soon they will be there with effect from 2015. Therefore it would be an important and relevant step to research on whether businesses should give healthcare benefits to employees. The research will investigate on current legal provisions relevant to employee insurance benefits, the pros and cons of giving healthcare benefits, research on why some businesses may be hesitant to give employees health insurance, and finally come up with a conclusion on whether businesses should give employees healthcare insurance.
References
Bizfilings.com,. 'Should You Offer Employees Health Care Benefits? | Bizfilings Toolkit'. N.p., 2014. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Healthcoverageguide.org,. 'Group Coverage Basics | Affordable Care Act Health Coverage Guide'. N.p., 2014. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Obamacare Facts,. 'Obamacare Small Business Facts'. N.p., 2014. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Zamosky, Lisa. Healthcare, Insurance, And You. [New York]: Apress, 2013. Print.
Appendices
Source: http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-small-business/
Source: http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-small-business/
