Finding the right health insurance for your startup can be an expensive challenge. Mercer’s 2022 national survey of employer-sponsored health plans found the average cost per employee was now over $15,000.
Still, offering quality benefits remains a top priority for companies, with 84% of companies stating they prioritized benefits to “improve attraction or retention.”
To make things easier, some startups are turning to the same companies they outsource payroll to. Payroll providers like Gusto and Rippling also offer health insurance for some teams, but are these options competitive?
Final Thoughts: Pebble vs. Payroll Providers
The benefits package a payroll company might offer are usually pre-packaged plans from a major health insurance network.
So while you may technically get your health insurance from Gusto, your plan is actually provided by Blue Cross or United. You won’t get many options to choose from either.
These payroll solutions are convenient but usually aren’t tailored to your company’s needs.
Instead, you click on a few options, like how much of the premiums your team will cover individually and how much your company will pay, and then you are given a plan or two to choose from.
Unlike a payroll service, Pebble works directly with your HR team to find the best plan for your company. You won’t just choose from a few pre-packaged plans; you’ll be given the best options for your company.
And since Pebble works with all major insurance providers, you’ll also have access to the plans payroll processing companies offer, along with more tailored choices.
You can choose from PPOs and more traditional HMOs and explore additional benefits options like an HSA or FSA.
Pebble also has the option for direct coverage, which can save you money.
That’s something worth considering since benefits are getting expensive. NFP’s 2022 benefits trends report backs that up, showing that 36% of employers are focusing on cost containment when looking for healthcare alternatives. More benefit choices and customization were also important factors employers want to focus on going forward.
Startup business owners are often offered PEO (professional employer organization) plans as a way to outsource their human resource services. A PEO is often billed as a complete HR solution, taking care of your benefits, payroll, and even onboarding.
Some payroll services, like Rippling and ADP, offer PEO packages to combine health insurance and other employee benefits and will charge you a fee per employee.
That can save money when your company is small. After all, a few hundred or thousand per month for a handful of employees is much cheaper than hiring a few HR reps and signing everyone up for health insurance.
But while these companies will promise to save you money compared to running your own HR, they often start you out on low rates, only to increase these fees after a few years.
Outsourcing your HR also limits your growth. The cost per employee can discourage new hiring, and when you eventually outgrow the service, you’ll have to start your HR from scratch.
Migrating off of a PEO can be difficult too. Your company will need to hire new staff, shop for multiple services, and completely restructure departments.
Pebble is not a PEO. Instead, we work like a health insurance broker, researching the best plans for your company and helping you understand what each option will offer for you and your team.
The day-to-day administration of your health insurance is pretty important. You want to be sure the option you choose makes it easy for you and your employees to pay their premiums and get help.
When you compare employee health benefits providers, be sure to review a few key features to get a good idea of the support you’ll receive from whichever option you choose.
There’s a key difference between a payroll provider and Pebble whenever you need help with your health insurance. Payroll providers often direct you to your health insurance company’s phone number and instruct you to contact them with any questions. And that could mean hours on the phone with a huge corporation.
These payroll companies don’t usually have dedicated customer service for health insurance issues.
Pebble, in contrast, helps you with every step of the process, from onboarding to COBRA options. We can help you sign up dependents, find providers in your network, and understand your plan at any time.
One of the main reasons companies choose a payroll provider for their health insurance is convenience.
After all, if you’re already using Gusto for payroll, adding on health insurance is pretty easy. You can export your employee information, so setting up your new plans can be pretty painless. You can even automate payroll deductions from the platform.
However, you don’t have to select health insurance from your payroll provider to integrate with your payroll.
Pebble also has integrations with Gusto, Rippling, and even QuickBooks. You can export your payroll information from any of these services and still have the flexibility to choose a plan that suits your company.
Health insurance through your payroll provider can be a good alternative to traditional insurers. Their offerings are convenient and save time for busy small companies looking for insurance for the first time.
But Pebble isn’t a traditional insurance company.
Because we understand the difficulties startups face, we can offer the features smaller companies are looking for. When you look over the differences between a payroll provider and Pebble, you’ll see we bring many of the same conveniences they do without compromising your benefits.
Our goal is to bring affordable health insurance to millions of Americans, and we do it while being accessible and convenient too. Why not see how much you could save each month with Pebble?
