If your small business that started with you and just one other owner is now growing, and you have staff members asking about the possibility of a health insurance plan, there are some things you'll want to consider. You need to be sure that paying for the plan is going to be a wise investment, that you can get good coverage, and that your employees are going to want the plan you pick out. Talk with the health insurance agency and consider these questions.

How Many People are Requesting for Insurance?

How many people that work for you are requesting to have insurance options? If there aren't at least half of the employees in your shop, or a majority including all owners, it may not be worth the time or cost to get insurance. You'll need to take a poll to find out how many employees would be serious about getting coverage through you.

Is it Affordable for the Business?

Talk with a health insurance agency to see how much it's going to cost you per employee. The agency will provide you with a bunch of different plan options and how much they will cost in comparison to the amount of coverage the employees will get with their plan. It has to be financially affordable for the business in order for you to do it.

Can the Employees Afford It?

The employee doesn't just have to be affordable for you, but also for the staff or they won't enroll and use it. Ask the following questions:

• How affordable are the co-pays?
• What is the deductible with each plan?
• Are prescriptions covered?
• What will be taken out of each paycheck for health insurance?

When you have that information you can use it to determine if your employees can afford the costs. You may also want to talk with your employees or take another poll to see what they think of the costs.

If you want to add ocular coverage and dental, this will cost you and the employees more. You can decide to offer just basic health insurance or insurance with these other options as well. If you know that getting health insurance would help out some of your employees, who don't have it through a spouse or other sources, it may be worth paying the cost just to show your employees that you care about their health and their necessity for health insurance.