InsightsHelping Small and Mid-Sized Businesses Navigate Health Care

New research examines how small- to mid-sized businesses make health care decisions.

It’s been well-reported that small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are disproportionately burdened by health care – particularly against the backdrop of rising costs and a dynamic labor market. The JPMorganChase Institute and Morgan Health, a JPMorganChase division focused on improving employer-sponsored health care, are further exploring these challenges to offer granularity on how SMBs make decisions about their benefits offerings.

JPMorganChase is a trusted financial advisor to millions of SMBs across the U.S., and our teams are focused on uncovering potential solutions and innovations to help them better navigate health care costs and complexity.

A newly-released Institute study reveals that every year, one-third of small businesses¹ stopped paying for health insurance – despite their best efforts to maintain coverage. In parallel, Morgan Health commissioned research² to more precisely understand how SMBs make tradeoffs to keep health care coverage in place and areas where they need additional support or innovation.

The new Morgan Health report, Navigating Health Care: Five Takeaways for SMBs, found that:

1. Offering health care benefits is considered a fundamental business value for SMBs – and employees expect coverage, regardless of company size.
2. Making financial tradeoffs to maintain continuity in health care coverage is commonplace.
3. Relying on outside sources, like brokers, is necessary for SMBs, but they also spend significant time and effort researching and vetting recommendations on their own.
4. Implementing new, innovative solutions is deemed as a viable option to improve health care offerings, but limited bandwidth and information gaps hinder action.
5. Access to a centralized, unbiased and transparent resource hub is critical to health care decision-making.

Offering benefits is crucial for SMBs and their ability to grow and thrive. High-quality and robust benefits are a competitive differentiator for hiring and retention. Equally importantly, they support healthy and engaged employees – leading to a more productive workforce.