The absolute best health insurance money can buy for a small company

January 9, 2015 2:19 PM

I'm looking for the best health insurance money can buy for a company with a few employees in California. It's too small to self-insure, but wants to cover everything very well (mental health, chronic illness, fertility/pre-natal, holistic health, etc.) I've been searching online and can't seem to figure out what is best (only what has the highest premiums). Hope me!

Small company in California with only a few employees is looking for outrageously good health insurance. I keep hearing about "Cadillac" and "gold-plated" insurance, but I don't know how to buy it! Insurance agents are... not super helpful and have so far given me a bunch of hard sell tactics that are very annoying.

I'm looking for something where, if it was your insurance policy through work, you would be amazed and overjoyed.

- What company provides wonderful health insurance for your small, private firm?
- How do I find good health insurance policies, other than going by the premium price?

I'll answer questions if I'm missing anything in this description.

posted by 3491again to Work & Money (12 answers total)

I really like Kaiser. It's a one-stop shop. Somehow it got a shitty reputation, being the first HMO and all, but for ease of use, and coverage, it's pretty great.

Most people think of CIGNA, Blue Cross Blue Shield and United Health Care as the best. They're the top providers in the country.

Most people equate good health insurance as the most coverage for the least out of pocket expense. If you can be 100% flexible in choosing your providers, so much the better.

Every person is going to have different needs and different desires. Honestly, anything that's PPO or traditional, and not HSIA is like finding a coelacanth anymore.

So pick a name brand, and a plan that doesn't cost too much for use, and you'll be in good stead.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:30 PM on January 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

Hire a broker! They work for free (will pull their commission from the insurance company, not you) and will do all the hard work for you. I worked with an absolutely wonderful one here in IL and wouldn't hesitate to do it again if I have to set up another company in the future.

(Best policies for our group of 25 were BCBS for health and Guardian for dental, but I'm sure things are different in CA.)
posted by phunniemee at 2:32 PM on January 9, 2015 [7 favorites]

Response by poster: I should also mention that good coverage while traveling (nationally and internationally) is important. (So that disqualifies Kaiser, right?)
posted by 3491again at 2:34 PM on January 9, 2015

Yes, hire an independent broker who works with a bunch of providers. They're highly knowledgeable and the good ones don't hard-sell.
posted by quince at 2:35 PM on January 9, 2015 [3 favorites]

I'm in another state, and merely a consumer of health insurance, but the things that I have occasion to be grateful for are low copays, low deductibles, low out of pocket maxima, and the plan covers 90% of costs after deductible rather than 80 which seems more standard. (We have a BCBS PPO). A large network is also important to us because it's frustrating to have the insurance limit who you can see. Mental health is something you'd want to check, as well as infertility coverage - I feel like those are things lesser plans skimp on, so it may give you an overall sense of the plan.
posted by telepanda at 2:55 PM on January 9, 2015

We're self-employed in CA and just went through getting new coverage after we had a baby. We did quite a bit of math to try and figure out what would be the best bet for us and ended up using a broker to help (no cost to us). We ended up with Assurant, I think the platinum plan. It covers a ton and we haven't had any issues with them so far - not like Blue Shield.

I'd be happy to refer you to the broker we used - memail me if you're interested.
posted by tealcake at 3:07 PM on January 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

Disclaimer: I work for this company.

Find a broker and ask them about CaliforniaChoice. They're a private insurance exchange that offers small groups multiple options for health insurance (such as Kaiser, United, Assurant, etc), and bundles ancillary coverage (chiro, dental, vision, etc) as well. Premiums used to be on the high end, but the ACA has driven rates for small groups up across the board while CalChoice has remained pretty stable.

I really don't want to shill for them, but if you're going to work with a broker anyway, I'd recommend finding out what they're about.
posted by bluejayway at 3:11 PM on January 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

When I worked for a CA based company a few years ago (there were 6 or 7 of us) we had BC/BS. It was the usual BC/BS PITA to deal with them, but it wasn't any better or worse than any other BC/BS operation. It was damn comprehensive coverage.
posted by COD at 4:59 PM on January 9, 2015

You absolutely need an insurance broker, they will be able to quote most if not all the carriers that make sense for you and be able to work with you and the carrier to design just the right plan by making small changes here and there to make sure the things you want covered are.
posted by magnetsphere at 5:35 PM on January 9, 2015

Definitely go through a broker.
posted by radioamy at 5:37 PM on January 9, 2015

One thing my company does that I love is they reimburse us for the first half of our deductible. It's a big deductible but I have to get more than halfway through it before I notice. And it works out to be cheaper for the company than if we had a smaller deductible.
posted by mskyle at 7:08 PM on January 9, 2015

I should also mention that good coverage while traveling (nationally and internationally) is important. (So that disqualifies Kaiser, right?)

I have Kaiser through work and our HR rep told me that I can use Kaiser out-of-state in an emergency, but that I need to go directly to the emergency room for issues for Kaiser to pay for it. Worth checking with the broker about that, as well.
posted by jabes at 10:37 AM on January 10, 2015