I own a small business and I'm getting prepared to offer medical insurance to my employees... help?!? -

My specific question is: If one of my employees is currently pregnant, would that make my rate higher? I know if I was buying individual insurance, it would cost more, but as an employer, how can I control if one of my employees is pregnant, and how is that fair to the rest of the employees? Small group health insurance companies use a Risk Adjustment Factor (RAF) to assess and issue a group's monthly insurance premium. In California, for example, all small group health insurance companies must establish and publish a Standard Rate with the State of California. Standard Rates have a RAF of 1.00. By California law, a health insurance company is limited to issuing a small group employer (generally 2-50 employees) a rate no more than 10% below (0.90 RAF) or 10% above (1.10 RAF) their Standard Rate. Group size, pre-existing medical conditions and the number of COBRA enrollees may affect a group's RAF in California. Outside of California, RAFs vary by health insurance company. When you are looking at carriers for your group plan, look at what your minimum contributions are. For example, some carriers will require you to pay at least 50% or $100 of each employee's premium. The only way to be fair to your employees is to contribute the same amount to each individual health insurance premium. Also, buying individual health coverage for each employee may not necessarily cost more than a group plan. Especially if you have a mix of young and older employees. Health insurance carriers take into consideration that there will be a few "sickees" in your group who otherwise would not qualify, or be able to afford coverage any other way. Depending on your state...pregnancy in group insurance is not considered a pre ex condition by law. Typically, maternity does not increase your premium. Premiums are based on claims paid out during the course of a calendar year for the pool. It goes by the law of large numbers. If you need more info email me at mrsdeli@yahoo.com. It gets involved with alot of info...I can answer better if you are more specific with where you are located. I think there are very few companies which offer such services to small businesses. If you were buying individual insurance, you probably would not be able to get it for a pregnant employee or her family -- at least not in my state. However, why does everybody think individual insurance costs more than group? Actually the reverse is usuallly true since the insurance company can individually underwrite people on individual, and on group they pretty much have to take every body. If I do nothing else on Yahoo Answers I get to clear that up. Now, your question about being fair... Ya' Know, another employee may be pregnant next year, or that nice 50 year old guy could have a heart attack in 3 years and impact rates. Sometimes fair is fair. :) Compare Health Insurance Rates I wouldn't think it will go up, because what if she thinks the coverage is to high, and opt out to get it