If you’re a Colorado small business owner, you can understand the struggle to provide your employees with health care and other benefits, amid the challenges of increasing costs, greater regulations, and uncertainty.
Delta Dental of Colorado found that nine out of 10 small employers in the state are committed to keeping those benefits intact for their employees, despite the significant pressures. Our second-annual Delta Dental of Colorado Small Business Survey of 300 business owners and health benefits decision-makers of companies with five to 100 employees also found that a similar portion – 96 percent – say employee benefits will remain as or more important for recruiting and retaining talent in the future compared to today.
Employers expressed the same level of commitment to offering dental benefits, with 96 percent of small businesses that offer dental coverage reporting they are “very” or “extremely” likely to continue to do so in the future.
Survey highlights include:
- Commitment to health benefits: Nine in 10 small businesses report their willingness to offer health insurance to employee is the same or greater than the past.
- Small businesses feel impact of ACA – with most citing increased cost: Nearly half (45 percent) of small businesses said ACA has impacted their employee benefits a “great deal” or a “moderate” amount. Increased costs were the biggest impact cited. Nearly half (45 percent) expect the ACA to impact their benefits more in 2016 than it has so far, suggesting that changes in small business health insurance practices are far from over
- Businesses shift costs to employees: Nearly one in three small businesses changed health plans and/or insurance carriers in the past year. Among those changing plans, two-thirds shifted more costs to employees.
- Fewer changes moving forward: Nearly three-fourths of small businesses plan to keep their current carrier for their upcoming renewal, up from 65 percent in 2014. Businesses with fewer than 49 employees were much more likely to remain with their current carrier than a year ago, when nearly half reported a change was “very” or “extremely” likely.
- Importance of dental: Nearly eight in 10 small businesses offer dental benefits, and 94 percent of businesses with 50 to 100 employees do so. Of those, 96 percent report they are “very” or “extremely” likely to continue to offer it. More than three-fourths of employers consider dental benefits “extremely” or “very” important to their overall benefits mix, up slightly from 2014.
To learn more about the annual survey, go to deltadentalco.com/healthbenefitssurvey.aspx.