Small Business and the Health and Safety Plan
If you are running a small business, it is your legal responsibility to provide your employees with a workplace that is safe and healthy. This can be accomplished through proper health and safety planning. The steps to create a work environment that ensures health and safety for all employees should follow the following five-step plan:
1) Identify hazards associated with the type of work being done at the company.
2) Evaluate the risks involved in those hazards as well as ways in which they can be controlled or eliminated. 3) Create a list of control measures to reduce risk levels, such as training or engineering design changes. 4) Implement controls to reduce the risk of exposure to hazards, such as providing workers with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). 5) Instruct employees on the nature of the hazards, how their health and safety are protected when in contact with these hazardous materials or processes, and the course of action they should take if exposed to an emergency situation.
A health and safety plan is only effective if it is properly communicated to all employees who may be at risk. The planning process should involve all personnel, including management and front-line workers. Management has a responsibility to ensure that all plans are being effectively implemented and followed within their workplace.
In order to be effective, a health and safety plan needs to be updated every six months. The content of the plan will change as risks change and as technology improves. However, the exercise is important in ensuring that all key employees are aware of danger and take control of their own personal health and safety. When an emergency situation occurs, a written plan allows immediate access by all workers to information about how to respond effectively in any particular circumstances.
The U.S. government has recognized the need to encourage small businesses in promoting a safer environment among their employees and making them take responsibility for their own health and safety needs by offering them Small Business Health Insurance Plan (SBIHP). It is a government sponsored health insurance plan which can help small businesses by reducing their insurance costs and providing the best possible plan.
Here's what you need to do in order to benefit from this SBIHP:
The SBIHP will provide a small business with a complete, affordable package of health insurance benefits that are designed to meet the specific needs of small employers. You may also be eligible for additional assistance based on your situation by dialing 1-877-734-3247.
The H.R. 1771 Small Business Health Plan Act was first introduced in 1993 and it is said that its purpose is to ensure that this type of benefits available to small employers in the United States. The plan's financial assistance program provides incentives for small business employers with fewer than 50 or 100 full-time employees on the year with a job whose wages are no more than $2 million to enroll in this plan.
The health insurance provided by the SBIHP is administered by private insurance companies and some of them have mutual cooperative organizations, which means that you can also acquire medical care at discounted prices from other people who get the same benefits as you do under this type of health insurance plan because they are also enrolled in it.
With respect to the SBIHP, all plans are considered "single risk" which means that they only cover one particular area. All plans will have a basic health insurance package which is offered by all healthcare insurance companies, and its basic contents are that it will cover hospitalization and outpatient expenses. This plan also includes other benefits such as visits to the doctor or laboratory services at discounted prices or offer special discounts on drugs when required by doctors. There will also be an employer's tax credit that will be applied for you although you have a SBIHP policy in effect for your organization. This means you can take your employer tax credit each year in order to reduce your taxes incurred from being employed by this company.
In the course of administering this particular type of health insurance you will get two forms of benefits. The first one is the employer-sponsored health insurance tax credit that will provide you with a portion of the cost that you are paying in your monthly premium. The second one includes other programs like retiree dependent, dependents coverage, and child care assistance.
The SBIHP will also help you in a number of ways. For example, it will also give you other healthcare services such as dental policies, manual wheel chair services that are no charge for after 60 years old and free medication if it is a chronic condition or if the person suffers from a mental illness. It also provides an Individual Retirement Account or IRA which will allow you to save some funds for your retirement.
According to the US government, you can choose from a number of different carriers that offer different variations on this type of health insurance plan. You can choose one like the Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO Plus with a deductible of $1,000 and a limit that is set at $25,000. You may also choose a Health Maintenance Organization or HMO with a $2,500 annual deductible limit and no copay on preventive care visits. However, you should take note that the HMO has an out-of-pocket maximum expense deduction per year which is set at $5,000.
Other health insurance plans that you can choose include a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) or a point of service plan. This type of plan will have charges for primary care services, specialists' offices, therapeutic and rehabilitative services, medication, and x-ray and laboratory services. However, it is important to note that the PPO does not cover emergency care or hospitalization.
Finally, there are other types of plans like point-of-service plans which are offered by employers who reimburse employees directly through their paychecks for their healthcare coverage. This type of the healthcare policy will have wide deductibles with single cost sharing limits in place for medical expenses incurred each year.
There is also a program called the Health Insurance Business Advancing National Policy (HIBAN) which is an independent, bi-partisan national association of small business and individual health insurance companies. It is stated that its purpose is to provide the most affordable healthcare policies to small companies in America and for them to be knowledgeable about their options when it comes to acquiring a plan for their organization. You can access this particular website by going to www.hiban.com or calling 1-877-4-HIBAN4U.
There are other organizations which work with the US government in order to improve national healthcare policy, including the National Association of Health Underwriters and The Alliance Group.
Conclusion
In this article we've provided you with all the information that you need in order to get help from the SBIHP program and we've also shown you how to carry out some of the processes needed to become eligible for this type of plan. The benefits and financial assistance that are available for small business owners are quite good, so it is advisable that you don't hesitate to apply for one of these programs in your organization. You can also make an appointment with a local SBIHP carrier or visit their website using the link provided above.