Group Health Insurance

Group Health Insurance and Employee Benefits for Small Businesses

Are you a small business with at least one employee or are you self-employed and looking to hire future employees and provide benefits for yourself, your family, and your new employees? Whether you are just now looking to hire employees for the first time or begin offering insurance to new or long-time employees, CB Health Insurance can help!

We can help you navigate the rules - what is required by both the federal and state laws, as well as what is required by the various insurance carriers.  Since the implementation of the ACA laws in 2014 for small group and individual policies, the rules have changed like the whether in Chicago, and keeping up can be a full-time job!   But you can rest assured that the staff at CB Health can assist with all your questions.

We specialize in providing insurance benefits to companies with 1-50 employees. We will shop the market and help you the find the best benefits that fit your needs AND your budget for you and your employees.

Setting up a new group plan is EASY! 

Our staff will provide quotes, help you pick plans, offer to do Zoom meeting to explain the benefits to your employees, and assist with all paperwork.  If you are interested in getting quotes, follow these easy steps:

1. Complete Group Health Census with company info and include all Employees and dependents that would like to be covered.  Return to our office (For census, email our office at info@cbhealthinsurance.com)
2. Jump on a Call to review quotes; Within days, we can have quotes from all the top carriers, and can set up a conference call or Go To Meeting or Zoom Call to review the quotes, pick a plan, and provide advice regarding contribution, participation, and requirements that Employers must abide by to comply with the ACA law.
3. Pick a plan and date you want to start. NOTE:  Benefits can begin any month of the year. Our office will provide the SBC (Summary of Benefits and Coverages) for you to provide to the employees during enrollment. Our staff is here to help your employees decide on the best plan, look up providers, answer questions, and help them understand the plan benefits.
4. Schedule Zoom Meeting for Employees to review options
5. Submit paperwork!  Our office will help you with the paperwork to set up a plan.  We will send you notice of the approval of the group plan, and if it is needed, we can provide temp ID cards for all employees when their coverage begins. 

PLEASE NOTE NOMINAL SET UP FEE FOR GROUPS UNDER 10 enrolled employees: 

Our office has implemented a nominal set up fee of to help compensate for our time and services including providing quotes, consultations, reviewing and processing all forms, helping owners and employees pick plans, doing provider searches, and providing temp ID cards. 

•   1 Employee enrolling, less than 5 total employees*: the set-up fee is $650 ** ($1000 for paperwork submitted after 23rd) 
•   2-3 employees enrolling, 2-10 total employees*:  the set-fee is $850 ** ($1200 for paperwork submitted after 23rd)
•   4-6 employees enrolling; 4-15 total employees*:  the set-up fee is $950 ** ($1500 for Paperwork submitted after 23rd)
•   7-9 employees enrolling; 7-25 total employees*: set-up fee is $1200  ** ($1600 for Paperwork submitted after 23rd)

This is a one-time, flat fee to set up a new group health plan or move a group to a new carrier; the fee will be billed and collected at the time of submitting the paperwork to an insurance carrier. We will continue to provide quotes and initial calls NO CHARGE; so if you choose not to enroll, you will not be billed. For larger groups with 10 or more employees enrolling, we do not charge a set-up fee.

* If total employees are in excess of this number, there could be a higher fee because we need to check applications on ALL employees, whether they enroll or decline coverage. 

**Fees discounted for early submission of paperwork.  All forms must be completed, signed and returned by the 23rd of the month, including all wage and tax reports.  Any paperwork submitted after the 23rd will result in the higher fee being charged. 

Our office and staff happily spend all the time needed to help you and your employees choose the right plan!  We create a Custom spreadsheet of plan choices, review options and hold Zoom Employee meetings!   We will assist in completing forms, answering questions, and submitting all group paperwork to a carrier- being sure to check all documents and applications before submitting to the insurance carrier.  We will often spend additional time assisting employees in understand and picking a plan, verifying providers are in plan networks, and providing temp ID cards once the plan is approved. Our staff is available year-round to answer your questions (or questions from your office manager or employees) ranging from claims and billing issues or questions to COBRA and IL Continuation rules.

While we have never been a fan of charging fees to our clients, we wanted to make it affordable for small businesses why still having our staff provide all the help you need.  With commissions cut and many agents leaving the small group market, we had to decide to stay or go as well.  We chose to STAY because we LOVE working with small business owners, like us!   We think our fees are reasonable and feel that in every case, we provide much more VALUE than the fee that is collected.  Many of our small group clients have saved more in monthly premiums from their prior coverage - COBRA or individual insurance or other carriers - than the fee we charge, and were happy to pay it! 

In addition, our office will advise you of the rules as they pertain to the ACA (Affordable Care Act) law, explain any requirements throughout the year, help annually on your renewal, and be available to help you and your Office manager or Admin on all the important info you need to know, including what happens when you must let someone go.  

Let's face it - Insurance is confusing and you are too busy to become the expert. So let us help! 

We do not currently charge a fee for groups with 10 employees or more enrolling in the group health plan.

As a business owner, you take calculated risks everyday in order keep your business thriving. But what about the risks you haven't considered? Group health insurance for your employees is an excellent way to offer a needed benefit to employees (which is required by law for Employees to purchase in absence of having a group medical plan through their employer), and is a tax-deductible benefit to your company. It is also an excellent way to retain great employees and recruit excellent talent. Employees search not only for a good salary but for a benefit package that will protect them and their families. By providing this basic coverage, employees will be happy and you can concentrate on profits and growing the business instead of losing key employees to competitors.

Regardless of what industry you work in, a group Benefits package can protect you in a host of ways, including:

• Making sure Employees have the needed insurance required by law
• Ensuring that Employees will have needed coverage should they get sick or injured
• Offering additional perks such as dental, vision, and flexible spending accounts that can all be funded by employees and deducted from payroll BEFORE tax, saving you on the FUTA/FICA match.

The costs associated with offering a group medical plan can vary greatly depending on if you go the traditional, fully-insured route, or offer more minimal coverage that still meets the ACA requirements. (For companies looking to meet the minimum requirements set by law, a plan can be put in place for under $100/month per employee - ask for more information by emailing Cathy direct at:

• Email: cathy@cbhealthinsurance.com.
• Subject line enter: Send minimum requirement product to meet ACA requirements.

NOTE: this is not recommended as a replacement for a fully-insured plan. However, it is best suited for groups that currently offer NO health insurance benefits to employees and would like to comply with the law and possibly avoid the Employer Tax Penalty.)

How Will Your Business Handle These Situations?

In addition to offering a group medical plan, does your company have a policy that states what will happen to the benefits (and to the employee's salary) in the following situation:

An employee takes a medical leave of absence sue to an extended illness or injury, or
An employee takes a personal leave (maybe to care for a sick or dying relative in another state)?
What if this person is the owner? and what if you continue to pay them and keep them on the medical plan? Did you know that you have not previously documented how to handle these situations, you have now set a standard on how to handle this situation for ALL employees? Maybe you would continue to pay the owner and provide medical benefits for other "Key" employees, but would you do the same for the rank and file?

Employees get sick, Employee's family members get sick, and BEFORE this happens, it would be wise to put in writing the Company Policy on how this will be handled. Will your company offer this an employee leave for 30, 60, 90 days, and thereafter term them and offer COBRA? While on leave, will you continue to pay the Employer contribution towards their health insurance? Will their salary continue? For how long? Have you ever offered the ability for your employees to purchase disability insurance to cover their paycheck if they are sick and can't work?

Whether or not you offer employee benefits, you must decide how you will handle all benefits and salaries in the event an employee takes a personal or medical leave, put this in writing and communicate it to employees.

For more info, write and ask about Qualified Sick Pay plans: info@cbhealthinsurance.com