Dubbed as the ‘fastest racer on the planet’, Michael Schumacher is a legend no doubt. At the start of the century, he was a Formula 1 driver who in his prime accumulated a world for unbelievable seven World Driver’s Championship Titles, maintaining the record for the most in terms of fastest laps (77) and the most number of races won in one single season. But his ability to navigate an open-cockpit superfast car at neck-breaking speed couldn’t save him in the snow.
On December 29, 2013, while out skiing in the French Alps with his son Mick, the Ferrari F1 speedster got into a terrible accident. He was left in a long-term coma with near-fatal injuries to the brain resulting from his head hitting a rock. He woke up from his medically-induced coma a full six months after the accident. He’s now 51 years old.
While Michael Schumacher, of course, is no ordinary human, we can fathom how much serious injuries at work or while away from work can put a stop to everything we can do in life. This is exactly why looking into the benefits of health insurance for your business, big or small, is wise. It’s factoring in unpredictable events ahead of time.
If you’re not so sure about health insurance, here’s a quick look at how it can impact your business big time:
Better Hiring
Life is full of unexpected twists and turns. Just a quick look at road accidents should tell us that. Now, if your business is hiring, prospects will want to know how well you take good care of your workers. Knowing you give them health insurance is going to make them want to be hired even more.
Think for a moment. Let’s just say another company, your competitor, offers him a job, and he finds out that the organization doesn’t give health insurance while you do. He will definitely think twice to take that offer from another company.
More Productive Workers
Then, there are the actual benefits. When people feel they are taken care of, productivity soars. No matter how safe your workplace is, there’s some amount of risk that follows when working there. In fact, though fatal injuries are seldom, they do happen. Government data shows 5,333 fatal workplace injuries happened in 2019. For sure, that’s one death too many.
With health insurance, your workers gain broader access to medical benefits. It means that if ever they get injured they won’t have to shoulder the weight of the bill on their own.
Take note that some injuries such as car accidents can certainly rack up astronomical costs. Small wonder many have sought complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) (e.g., acupuncture, music therapy) for such accident-related back injuries for instance. Such a treatment ensures better pain management and faster healing, aside from conventional methods.
Of the 54 employee benefits that you can give, a Glassdoor survey realized three benefits stand out as the most in-demand.
- Paid vacation
- Retirement benefits (401 k)
- Health insurance
Greater Savings
When worker satisfaction is high, your production rises. Absenteeism lessens and production soars. In short, you gain more.
There’s also the aspect of employee retention. Research shows 55% of workers surveyed considered health benefits as a key reason to stay and keep working for their company.
As a general rule, workers with group health insurance will strive to keep their jobs to maintain their health benefits. That’s a lot of savings for you. To note, the costs of replacing an established employee are overwhelming. It can mean having to shell out half or twice the amount of his yearly salary to get a new replacement.
Tax Deductions
You may not be aware of it but getting health insurance for your workers can mean tax deductions on your part. This is especially true for small business health insurance. Indeed, there are tax benefits for a goodhearted employer who offers his workers a group plan.
You will have to know the nitty-gritty of it all. But generally, employers may deduct 100% of the monthly premium costs of the health plans from their respective federal business taxes.
Alternatively, it could mean reduced payroll taxes if you offer health insurance along with their compensation package.
Overall, that surely is an incentive for you to pursue group insurance for your workers.
Better Branding
In the age of social media, branding is a top priority. When customer reviews can easily scorch your brand, you need to be careful about how you promote your brand online.
Know that you’ll have to do a lot of PR work which will cost you when social media scorches you. Just a quick look at how hate groups rallied against Pepsi when various Christiano Ronaldo dolls of distinctly uncomfortable poses were posted for the brand on social media should be telling.
When you get group health insurance for everyone in the company, you’re not only taking care of your people. Eventually, you’re also taking care of your brand. People will be satisfied every time they buy your brand as they know, your product comes from a wonderful place.
As Michael Schumacher had the backs of his benefactors to lean on, your employees’ backs are taken care of when you get them group health insurance. By any measure, it’s a win-win for everyone.
