Healthcare is one of the biggest challenges small business owners face. And according to a report by eHealth, 80% of owners worry about the cost. But even with this worry, owners want to do right by their employees and provide healthcare. Simplifying the process is one way of getting more owners to purchase insurance for their workers.
QuickBooks Payroll Adds Health Insurance Options
A new service from Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) QuickBooks is going to simplify health insurance for small business owners by making it part of its online payroll solution. With 1 in 12 Americans already paid through QuickBooks Payroll, adding insurance to the mix removes another barrier for owners. And sometimes all it takes is the removal of these barriers for owners to provide or seriously consider providing insurance.
In the announcement for the new service, Olivier Bartholot, Director of QuickBooks Payroll, explained this further. Bartholot says many small business owners want to provide health insurance, but they feel it is expensive or confusing.
Bartholot adds, “By connecting them with affordable medical, dental and vision insurance directly within QuickBooks, we’re making it easy, fast and cost-effective for small businesses to offer their employees insurance plans, helping them to attract and retain top talent.”
According to a QuickBooks Online Payroll study of small business employee health benefits, 56% of businesses would purchase health insurance if it is linked to another product.
The Linked Products
By bringing together QuickBooks Online Payroll together with SimplyInsured, you can now purchase the insurance of your choice.
SimplyInsured provides an online platform which allows small businesses to compare and purchase different employee health insurance. This includes hundreds of medical, dental and vision insurance plans.
The site is designed to search, apply, and purchase the right insurance for your employees. A side by side comparison lets you find the best option for your budget. And once you find the right plan, you can apply in three easy steps.
As a QuickBooks Payroll customer, QuickBooks will calculate the employee benefit deductions automatically. This will be one more thing you won’t have to do or pay for. Additional features include seeing instant quotes from SimplyInsured based on zip code, and full-time, dedicated customer support to answer complex insurance issues.
Providing Health Insurance
When you provide health insurance as part of your benefits package, the pool of talent you attract gets wider. And once you hire one of these candidates, they are happier and more productive than people working without benefits. This is because health insurance is one of the most important benefits for employees.
For the business owner providing health insurance also has benefits. These benefits come in the form of tax savings. Tax-deductible contributions, lower payroll taxes of 7.65% of employee contribution, and lower worker compensation premiums are some of the benefits.
You can go to the QuickBooks Resource Center here for more information.
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