Medical Bennies

I need your help - I'm working on putting together a medical benefit package for my employees. I don't know that I can afford to pay for all of it, so I'm thinking about giving a $200 'allowance' per month for every employee, and they can choose to cover who they want (apply the $$ to single coverage, or spread the $$ over a whole family, and end up having to kick in about $250 of their own).<p>What I'm wondering about is:<p>For those that opt out of coverage - should they get a portion of that allowance in $$ added to their check?<p>How to administer that w/ paychecks - I'll ask my accountant as well (but you folks charge much less than my accountant does ). What are the tax implications of this allowance? Am I on the hook for more $$ in taxes on top of the allowance?<p>Any and all thoughts are welcome.

 

Stonehenge - we have a pretty good insurance policy for healthcare - it is Anthem Blue Cross. The business end of things forces you to make a choice up front for the waiting period that full time employees need to fulfill before becoming eligible for coverage, and the amount (%age) that the employer will kick in. So, if you want to pay 50% of the bill, its 50% for all eligible employees. That works out pretty cheap for a bunch of 25 year old single males, (about 120.00 per month for coverage means about 60 out of your pocket as a write off), but 50% of a family policy could mean several hundred bucks per month. One time we had a guy who dropped the coverage because his wife actually worked at the insurance company. We paid him the amount that we were paying towards his insurance as part of his yearly salary instead. It may be easier to find other ways to provide a benefit that you are able to write off 100%, rather than accomodate each employee for a different dollar amount. I am fairly certain that once you pick a percentage of contribution, it locks you in for all involved. As far as other benefits that you can provide for those who don't take the insurance - increased salary allowance, with normal payroll tax implications, Food - check with your accountant to get his opinion, but re-imbursement for food costs can be deductable. It might become a nightmare though if you have alot of employees to keep track of. A good accountant can provide several ways to compensate employees while gaining a write off. Good luck.<p>----------<br>Phil Grande - Soundview Landscape Supply - http://members.aol.com/slsnursery<br>Ivy League Landscaping - http://members.aol.com/scagrider