Insurance Benefits for Entrepreneurs

Building a successful business as an entrepreneur is hard work. Finding a quality, affordable insurance plan you need doesn’t have to be. Whether you are just getting started or you have a small business with a few employees, you may face special challenges when it comes to finding and getting insurance.

AWA works tirelessly to seek out top-quality benefits and resources to help our members to succeed in their personal and business endeavors. Through the group buying power of an association, as well as relationships with industry-leading benefit providers, our members receive discounted rates on health care, consumer and business products and services.

Which Insurance Plan is Right For You?

In order to make a smart health insurance buying decision it helps to understand the value of health insurance and why you need it. It may sound obvious, but many people don’t properly understand the basic purpose of insurance or how it works.

Having insurance can help you and your business in the following ways:

• Protect your finances by entitling you to discounted rates, shields you from unexpected medical costs, and can protect you from ACA tax penalties.
• Protect your health by improving your access to quality care, providing you with critical care for emergencies or chronic conditions, and encouraging a healthier lifestyle.
• Protect your business by shielding your business from personal medical costs and helping you hire and retain the best workers.

Entrepreneurs or small business owners often have special concerns and special opportunities when looking for coverage. There are three steps you can take to help guide you to the coverage you need.

Assessing Your Needs

Selecting the best health insurance plan for yourself and your business means making an informed choice and knowing your priorities, and those of your employees. What kind of coverage is most valuable to you and your employees? Is cost your number one concern?

Comparing Your Options

If cost is your number one concern, you’ll want to work with an agent to help you find the best coverage by comparing different plans and rates.

Our leadership team provides direction on the best benefits and resources that can help support our members, both looking toward what can be done today and what might be done in the future.

Applying For Coverage

Once you’ve selected an insurance plan that you’d like to apply for, our team can help you through the application process. You’ll want to be sure to answer all questions honestly and to the best of your knowledge.

Choosing AWA for Your Insurance Needs

If you choose to purchase health, dental, or vision insurance for yourself or your small business, you should ensure you understand what you’re getting and how it can help you and your employees. 

At AWA, we have several plans to choose from. Read on to learn more about our memberships and how they can help you and your business.

Fixed Indemnity Insurance Memberships

Fixed Indemnity Insurance is a form of health insurance that pays a fixed amount either per incident or period. The amount paid does not change based on the total charges of the doctor or medical professional.

It’s essential to have all the facts to decide if this is the right choice for you and your business. First, know that this coverage is not included in the ACA and, therefore, will not prevent a tax penalty for not having health insurance. Second, you do not have some of the protections the ACA provides. For example, fixed indemnity insurance is not required to cover pre-existing conditions and can have annual lifetime limits.

The AWA AdvancedHealth membership includes access to Fixed Indemnity insurance, along with valuable discounts and services to help entrepreneurs and their families.

Insured Dental Benefits

Like health insurance, dental insurance is designed to cover the costs associated with dental care. These costs can be quite high, especially if you need major dental work done. Dentists can charge thousands of dollars for a single procedure, which could create a financial loss for you and your business without coverage. This is why dental insurance is so beneficial.

AWA offers several options in dental benefits. Fully-insured benefits cover basics like dental exams, cleanings, and treatment, as well as more advanced dental issues such as endodontics, periodontics, crowns, oral surgery, bridges, dentures, and orthodontics. Dental indemnity benefits are also available and provide coverage for preventative care and covered procedures like fillings and extractions.

Purchasing dental insurance can be very beneficial for entrepreneurs or small business owners. It can help reduce the cost of routine and emergency dental work. It can also provide coverage for employees and their dependents.

See below for memberships that include access to insured dental benefits.

• AWA Dental Plus – This fully insured dental plan pays for services and procedures based on a graduating scale of benefits percentages that increase over three years.
• AWA Dental – These fixed indemnity dental plans pay for services/procedures based on a Table of Dental Procedures. Members know exactly what the plan will pay, procedure by procedure, before they go to the dentist.

Life and Accident Insurance Benefits

Life and accident insurance can protect the employees and contractors who work for you and their families in the case of death or disability. This is especially important if you run a business that involves a significant amount of risk. In the event that one of your workers is injured while on the job and is unable to work again, life and/or disability insurance can help keep that person and their family financially afloat.

These insurances can also be very useful in helping small business owners obtain financing. Lenders typically require entrepreneurs to purchase life and/or accident insurance to protect the people providing them with funds. This provides the lenders with an added level of security.

We have three membership levels to choose from for Life or Accident Insurance Benefits.

• AWA Life Plus ADD – This membership provides access to Term Life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment insurance benefits, which can help in the event of an unexpected accident.
• AWA Life Plus Triad – This membership provides individuals and families with affordable access to health care with easy-to-use benefits that start right away, like Term Life, Critical Illness, and Accidental Death & Dismemberment.
• AWA BasicGuard – Provides members access to Group Term Life Insurance benefits with Accident Only benefits during the 6 month waiting period and full benefits after the waiting period ends.

Contact Us With Questions

If you’re a small business owner, it’s important to understand the value of these types of insurance. They can help you protect yourself financially in the event of injury or illness and keep your workers protected as well. They can also help make it easier for you to obtain financing for your company.

AWA is here to help you and your business grow. Questions about the Affiliated Workers Association or what we offer? Complete our contact form and we’ll be in touch on how we can benefit you.