Auto Shop Health Insurance Up Again? 4 Ways to Pay Less [E245]

Thanks to our partners Promotive, WickedFile, and Overdryve

Did your health insurance renewal just land with another double-digit increase? Paying $800 a month for a group plan your techs could buy themselves for $500? Why can’t you just hand them the difference? Stephanie from Five Creek Automotive asked Hunt that question.

Hunt Demarest, CPA with Paar Melis & Associates, opens his own books. His premiums are up about 10% again, and covering one middle-aged employee in Maryland runs roughly $900 a month. He explains why rates keep climbing, and why a healthy 26-year-old tech will skip a $10,000-a-year policy. He also explains why a plan you won’t help pay for can cost your team more than the exchange. His rule of thumb: if you can’t cover at least half of single coverage, don’t offer it.

Then come the rules that trip owners up. You can’t reimburse employees for plans they buy themselves, which is why business plans often cost up to 25% more. A group plan through payroll turns a $1,000 premium into about $250 in tax savings and lets employees pay their share pre-tax. Hunt covers how to help a long-time tech without breaking anti-discrimination rules. He finishes with four options for when costs get out of hand: a raise in place of benefits, a high-deductible plan with an HSA, a PEO for larger shops, and a QSEHRA for smaller ones.

Whether you’ve offered a group plan for years or are pricing your first, this episode shows what the IRS will actually let you do.

Thanks to our partner, Promotive

Promotive has over 40 years of recruiting and automotive experience. If you need qualified technicians and service advisors and want to offload the heavy lifting, visit info.gopromotive.com/hunt

Thanks to our partner, WickedFile

Turn chaos into clarity with WickedFile, the AI for auto repair shops. Transform invoices into insights, protect cash flow, and stop losing parts, cores, or credits to maximize your bottom line. visit https://info.wickedfile.com/

Thanks to our partner, Overdryve AI

Overdryve is your AI-powered marketing operating system. It predicts slow weeks before they happen, automatically launches revenue-driving campaigns, tracks ROI down to the dollar, and optimizes performance in real time. Demo the Marketing Intelligence Platform at https://getoverdryve.ai/

Paar Melis and Associates – Accountants Specializing in Automotive Repair

Visit us Online: www.paarmelis.com

Email Hunt: podcast@paarmelis.com

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