Help for Finding Affordable Health Insurance

For many small business owners, finding affordable health care coverage for their employees can be a difficult and expensive process. As part of the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA), New York City’s Office of Citywide Health Insurance Access launched the NYC Health Insurance Link to help alleviate the stress and the cost of coverage by providing an easy-to-use and thorough look at plans available in NYC.

NYC HILink is a database of health insurance options consolidated to one site. The site offers a step-by-step process that allows small business owners, soleproprietors, the self-employed, and other individuals to answer questions about their business, and identify preferences that are important to them based on the needs of their company and employees.

Once they find a few plans that may meet their needs, small business owners are then offered tools to help make those plans affordable. They can compare prices, and are then given contact information for the healthcare providers they choose. All of this is located on their website, under “Make Coverage More Affordable” and also “Tax Benefits.”

“There are other sites that allow an individual to get a quote or get information about health insurance, but those sites are usually focused on a select group of insurance carriers or products,” says Marjorie A. Cadogan, executive deputy commissioner of the

Human Resources Administration’s Office of Citywide Health Insurance Access (OCHIA). “Our site has all of the carriers in New York City, and allows an individual to compare plans, not only from a private carrier, but also those that are funded by the state, and more.”