Healthcare for your clients: QuickBooks Online Payroll + Allstate Health Solutions

There are a lot of options for health insurance, but why shop around when a plan is available right inside QuickBooks Online Payroll? We know that the more you can advise your clients on how to improve their businesses, the more they will trust you and your guidance.

For many reasons, health insurance stands out as one of the most crucial benefits a company can offer. However, navigating the health insurance landscape can be complex and costly, especially for clients who are doing it for the first time.

To simplify the process, QuickBooks has partnered with Allstate Health Solutions, allowing you and your clients to effortlessly provide health insurance to employees directly from QuickBooks Online Payroll.

3 reasons to offer health insurance

Here are three reasons to help you discuss health insurance with your clients—and for your own firm as well:

1. Attract and retain top talent: In today's competitive job market, offering health insurance can attract skilled applicants and helps a company stand out from other employers. Offering a benefit like health insurance also demonstrates a commitment to an employees’ well-being, which can be a strong incentive for them to stay with a company for the long term.
2. Improve employee health and productivity: Employees will have direct access to necessary medical care and preventive services. This can lead to happier and healthier employees who can bring their best selves to work.
3. Cost savings: By ensuring that employees have access to preventive care, they can potentially avoid more expensive medical treatments for them down the line. Offering health insurance can help employees save money on taxes because their contributions toward employee premiums are typically tax-deductible.

Partnership with Allstate Health Solutions

The partnership between QuickBooks Online Payroll and Allstate Health Solutions makes it easy for small business owners to provide health insurance to their employees. Here are a few of the benefits:

Seamless integration: The integration between Allstate Health Solutions and QuickBooks is powered by direct APIs, allowing for an automated and streamlined experience. Once a client purchases a plan and employees enroll, all deductions will be automated within QuickBooks Online Payroll. This eliminates the need for manual updates and ensures accuracy in payroll management. 

A wide range of coverage: Allstate Health Solutions has access to more than 200 carriers, allowing clients to browse and compare different group coverage options for their team. In addition to medical coverage, they can also explore options for health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible spending accounts, and COBRA coverage. As you probably know, HSAs can let employees set aside money on a pre-tax basis to pay for medical expenses, reducing their taxable income and providing them with potential savings on healthcare costs.

Expert support: There is a dedicated team of Allstate Health Solutions agents who support QuickBooks customers. An agent can help businesses compare plans, explore health savings options, provide personalized recommendations, and apply for coverage. After enrollment, clients will continue to receive dedicated support in case they have any questions about their plan and to help make enrollment simple for the next year.

Supplemental benefits: In addition to medical coverage, Allstate Health Solutions offers supplemental benefits, including dental, vision, short- and long-term disability, and telehealth coverage.* These additional benefits can be added at no cost, providing comprehensive coverage for employees.

How to purchase health insurance through QuickBooks

Purchasing benefits through QuickBooks Online Payroll is a simple and straightforward process. Here's how your clients can do it:

• Sign in to their QuickBooks Online account.
• Go to Payroll, then Benefits.
• If interested in a new group health insurance policy, select Find my plan. They can see various plans, and prices, speak to an agent, or get a quote for medical or supplemental coverage from Allstate Health Solutions.
• Once they have completed the application, Allstate Health Solutions will work with them to finalize the details and enroll employees to access health benefits.

If your clients are already offering health insurance, here's what they need to know

If your clients already offer health insurance, but want to take advantage of the partnership with Allstate Health Solutions, they can switch their broker through a “broker of record” change. The process is simple and can bring meaningful benefits. Here’s what you need to know about a broker of record change to pass on to your clients:

No change in costs or coverage: Switching to Allstate Health Solutions as the broker of record does not affect plan costs or coverage because they are keeping the same plan. They will continue to pay the same premiums and access the same benefits, as long as the carrier is supported. There will also be no gap in coverage and they can start this process at any time of the year. 

Automated deductions: By connecting a company's existing plan to Allstate Health Solutions through QuickBooks, they can benefit from automated deductions within payroll. This eliminates the need for manual updates and ensures accuracy in payroll management. In addition, clients can add supplemental coverage, such as vision and dental, when it suits their needs.

Dedicated support: During the enrollment season, they can work with a dedicated agent from Allstate Health Solutions to review their current plan and determine if there are better coverage options for their business.

To connect an existing plan to Allstate Health Solutions, simply go to the Benefits tab in QuickBooks Online Payroll and click on the option to Connect existing plan. 

Businesses will be guided through the process of providing necessary information and electronically signing a letter to begin the broker of record change. After the letter is digitally submitted, the carrier will assign Allstate Health Solutions as your new broker. This process usually takes a few weeks.

How to get started

To explore options and costs, clients can log in to their QuickBooks Online Payroll account. Or, if they have any questions about selecting the right plan—or need to know how small business health insurance works, they can call 800-477-1202 to speak with an Allstate Health Solutions representative.

Disclaimers:

Health benefits: Health Insurance information is provided by Intuit Insurance Services Inc., a licensed insurance broker, through a partnership with Allstate Health Solutions. Requires acceptance of Allstate's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Intuit Insurance Services is owned and operated by Intuit Inc. and is paid a percentage fee of insurance policy premiums by Allstate Health Solutions in connection with the services described on this page.

Supplemental benefits: Carrier availability, plan availability and pricing will vary based on location. Integrated support for long and short term disability, term life and voluntary life upcoming.