Starting this month, small businesses in North Carolina will have a new option to provide health insurance to their employees. The Carolina HealthWorks program launched this week following a change the legislature made to insurance regulations last year.
The N.C. Chamber is working with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina to offer the insurance plans. Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey says businesses with a small number of employees struggle with high costs to offer insurance coverage. Banding together through a chamber of commerce will mean lower premium rates.
"This will be, I believe, a game changer for small business, because any small business that's a member of a local chamber (of commerce) or the North Carolina Chamber can now participate in that group health insurance, from anywhere from two employees to 50 employees," Causey said at Tuesday's Council of State meeting. He said his agency has worked to expedite regulatory approvals for the new program.
N.C. Chamber CEO Gary Salamido said small businesses have been asking for solutions to health insurance affordability for years. North Carolina law previously allowed specific industry trade groups to create insurance partnerships known as "multiple employer welfare arrangements," or MEWAs. A wide-ranging bill passed last December included a provision that expanded that option to chamber of commerce organizations.
"When it comes to health coverage, small employers have faced some of the toughest challenges: higher costs, fewer choices and less control," Salamido said at a news conference Tuesday. "Carolina HealthWorks changes that. It allows small businesses to band together under a multiple employer welfare arrangement, pooling resources to access the same kinds of benefits and advantages larger companies enjoy.
"Each company that comes in, their employees and their (dependents) will all be put into one pool to manage risk and allow us to leverage better rates in the marketplace."
The new option comes as premiums for Affordable Care Act insurance plans are set to increase — affecting many people whose employers don't offer insurance benefits. Many small business owners have said they don't offer health insurance because it's too expensive.
To participate, business owners must have 2-50 employees and be members of either the N.C. Chamber or one of 82 local chamber of commerce organizations that are affiliated with the statewide business advocacy group. They can work with Blue Cross Blue Shield agents to set up the insurance coverage.
