Monday, June 18, 2007

The Power of Purchasing Group Health Insurance Online

As technology keeps on evolving, small businesses have become the perfect online insurance customer. With new websites offering online quotes and applications for group health insurance coverage, small businesses are taking advantage of their savvy use of the internet and seeing what the online insurance companies’ websites have to offer.

Some online health insurance providers act as brokers, while others put you in touch with brokers in your area. Site features can go from bare-bones quoting services with no insurance advice, to sites that bill themselves as “benefit portals,” providing reams of small-business benefits advice.


How Online Health Insurance Companies Can Work For You

At online health insurance websites, small business employers can select quotes based on deductibles and other plan features. Mind you, due to strict state regulations regarding insurance premium levels, buying a health plan online doesn’t always offer a better deal on health insurance premiums. The online application process requires the same amount of work as if you were visiting with a broker, and you must still interact with one before purchasing a final plan. It is more for the ease of being able to look for group health insurance online when you have time, not when it is convenient for your insurance rep.

The easiest part of this task is obtaining a price quote for your group health insurance plan. The quote will be based on basic company and employee information. You will first fill out a form where you must state your name, the company’s address, your line of business (either with Standard Industry Classification code or descriptive keyword), how many employees will be covered, and the name, age and gender of each employee that you would like covered.

You will also need to go in-depth with your employees, and obtain information pertinent for the group health insurance plan. For instance you will need to find out information like, will a spouse or children be covered under the plan? Do you want maternity coverage? Dental insurance? Deductible for hospital stays?

It is important to have all this information before you apply for a quote, because these add-ons will ultimately increase the cost. It’s also important to figure out how much of the premium you will pay, and how much will be paid by the employee.

After you’ve submitted your information and applied for the preliminary health insurance rate quote, you’ll be asked how you want to compare the plans that meet your criteria. With most online insurance companies, you can view the health insurance quotes by price, deductible, or plan features. What happens next depends on the site you visit and whether it acts as a broker or refers you to one in your area.

If you are interested in getting a group health insurance coverage quote for your company, log on to Insurance.com. Here you will be able to evaluate multiple rates from best-in-class health insurance providers – helping find the best health insurance coverage for your employees and yourself.

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