How four women-owned businesses approach health coverage
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The founder of MarieBelle, Maribel Lieberman started her boutique chocolate business in 2000 at a tiny storefront in Nolita, New York. Since then, Lieberman has opened a flagship store in Soho, a cacao bar, a factory in Brooklyn, and three shops in Japan. She has 45 employees.
She learned by doing, she says, and never interpreted gaps in her knowledge as obstacles. Instead she saw them as opportunities to evolve as a business owner. When she first purchased a health care plan for her company she wasn’t aware of all the ins and outs of choosing an insurance provider, so she selected the one she already used with her family. However, she soon gained more knowledge about all the intricacies involved in the health care decision-making process through running her business for longer.
She realized she needed to enlist a trusted health care professional to guide her through the complexities of each plan. Thus, Lieberman began working with an insurance agent who tells her about all the benefits of each plan she’s considering, what’s covered and not covered, premium costs, prescription costs, and the deductible. Now that she’s armed with all the information about each plan, she weighs her options strategically and selects the most optimal plan for her team.
Some of Lieberman’s workforce consists of younger people who don’t always want to pay for health care because they don’t believe they need it. Lieberman encourages them to participate in her company’s health care program anyway. “I love preventative rather than getting sick and deal[ing] with it…” she says. She engages her employees of all ages in the health care benefits available to them by speaking to them candidly about its importance and relaying information she learned from her insurance agent.
All Aces Inc. facilitates wellbeing in the workplace through collective care
Led by executive director Jennifer Hanlon Wigon, this Boston-based day shelter provides healthy meals, hygiene access, personal care items, medical care, substance use counseling and more to local women. The organization serves women experiencing homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and domestic abuse. “We really meet each woman where she’s at and offer a great array of services but we let each woman take her own journey,” says Wigon.
Women’s Lunch Place’s compassionate philosophy extends beyond care for Boston’s women in need to its 29 dedicated employees. Wigon emphasizes that she and her leadership team focus on both physical and mental wellness for their staff because they experience a high amount of secondary trauma in their line of work.
Women’s Lunch Place is a safe haven for both vulnerable women and its employees
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Just getting your business started? Know your options
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan are part of Point32Health, a nonprofit health and well-being organization.
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Dr. Atyia Martin, CEO and Founder of Boston-based All Aces Inc. guides businesses, nonprofits, and the government on their journeys to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in their work cultures. According to Martin, “Our foundational value… is collective care and it’s this idea that we are interdependent and our ability to do self-care is dependent on the organization’s ability to create space to do that.”
The company sets aside key date ranges three times a year during which they do not commit to any major client engagements. Instead, employees are encouraged to focus on internal strategic projects or professional and personal development. Alternatively, employees can use this time to take a vacation with their families or simply to invest in their own self-discovery.
Health care is an important part of the organization’s values. Martin’s team informs job candidates about All Aces’ health care offerings during the recruitment process. The company’s workforce consists of both full-time and contracted employees, yet contrary to many business’ practices All Aces Inc. provides contracted staff with benefits. Martin aims to find benefits that are affordable yet comprehensive.
“About three times a year, as a part of our collective care time we check in with folks on these types of issues… how are you doing with the benefits we offer? What do you need?” says Martin.
She builds check-ins with her staff into her routine to make sure they’re thinking about everything that contributes to their sense of well-being, including health care. Martin continuously reminds her team of their benefits, how to tap into them, and asks them about their experience with their current provider. She says she even considers switching health care plans if she receives feedback that their current plan isn’t meeting the needs of some of her employees. “It’s a harder way to live, to be responsive to what employees need,” she says. “But it’s less effective and has longer term costs associated with it… when we don’t ask these questions and we don’t help our employees to understand what’s available to them.”
Over 5.4 million new businesses were formed in 2021 and 49% of new entrepreneurs are women, according to a survey by Gusto. One of the many important considerations these women will face as they grow their businesses is navigating health care decisions for their team. Castle Group, MarieBelle, Women’s Lunch Place, and All Aces Inc. are four small businesses that have been there.
Here's how these women-led businesses have taken an empathetic approach to building benefits, listening to the needs of their employees, and evolving their health and well-being offerings to be more inclusive for all.
Sandy Lish and Wendy Spivak serve as co-founders and principals of The Castle Group, a public relations and event management firm based in Charlestown, Mass. Every year the pair compares all the insurance options available to them to determine which is best for their employees and the company as a whole. They always make sure to choose a plan that has an affordable deductible and includes mental health benefits.
Once they’ve chosen a plan, they alert their 36 employees and hold a company-wide meeting to discuss the plan’s offerings. It’s crucial to Lish and Spivak that their workforce understand the benefits available to them. They realize it can be very difficult to comprehend what’s covered and what isn’t or what falls under the deductible and doesn’t, amongst other logistical considerations. “It’s really education and helping them understand what they’re actually eligible for,” says Spivak. “We feel a responsibility to walk the team through it so they can take advantage of all the benefits.”
With remote and contracted work on the rise, older employees are evaluating how they can use the benefits of their age — from social security payments to health care options to their wealth of experience — to create a next chapter that they find fulfilling.
Redefining “retirement age.”
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Building a business from the ground up is a colossal, intricate undertaking and health care is just one of many considerations entrepreneurs have to contend with. Lieberman says when she first started MarieBelle in 2000, she didn’t even think about insurance because she was so focused on producing, selling, and getting her product to market. She also only had one employee working at her store at the time.
Just getting your business started? Know your options
By Christine Lavosky
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Lieberman realized that she needed insurance when her company grew beyond a small group of people and she opened her factory in 2004. She learned that working in a factory has many safety implications since the labor involves heavy machinery and subsequently purchased liability insurance for her factory employees as well as health insurance for all her employees.
Memories from the early stages of the health care process
After the co-founders of Castle Group settled into their business and their health care plan, Spivak recalled the two of them thinking, “What else can we add to our plan and how can we get the best value for our employees and the company? How do we offer the most for the most affordable price for them?” They’re able to support their staff in a much more robust manner than they were at their company’s inception. The business offers more specialized coverage now — whereas at the beginning they only had the resources to offer individual and family, they now have individual, individual plus spouse, partner, individual plus child or children, and family.
Refining health coverage and educating staff about benefits
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These leaders support their staff by providing them with the robust, comprehensive coverage every employee deserves
WOMEN'S LUNCH PLACE | Boston-based day shelter provides healthy meals, hygiene access, personal care items, medical care, substance use counseling and more to local women.
MarieBelle partners with a trusted professional for guidance
Every year, the organization’s health care administrator conducts a scan of all the health insurance plans available in Massachusetts and compares their offerings. This administrator goes the extra mile to ask Wigon’s staff members whether their doctors are in network in the plan.
Wigon also talks over prescription fees, emergency room costs, and copays for special treatment with her benefits administrator and her team during an all staff meeting in order to view the host of plans available from a holistic lens. The plan she chooses always covers mental health counseling in addition to physical benefits. Wigon makes sure her whole staff is educated about the details of their health care so they can take full advantage of them.
Cost is also a factor in Wigon’s ultimate choice of a health care plan because they’re a small agency, but she recognizes that jumping to a new plan every year for the sake of company savings would make her employees feel unsettled and nervous. She stays consistent as much as possible to not disrupt their sense of stability.
The Castle Group’s commitment to a supportive work culture
Quality health care is the cornerstone of a supportive work environment
Whether you’re just setting out on a new company venture or are a proud longtime business owner, taking care of your employees’ health and wellbeing is key to a successful company. While these four women come from vastly different backgrounds and their companies range widely in the products and services they provide, one thing they all have in common is their investment in their staff’s health care.
Learn more about how Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a Point32Health company, can help small businesses build inclusive benefits packages to support individuals and their families.
Memories from the early stages of the health care process
Refining health coverage and educating staff about benefits
In stark contrast, Lish and Spivak, were in a position to place a high priority on health care when they first started their business. “At the beginning [I thought], I just need to be able to cover my rent and have health insurance… there’s no way we would ever be uninsured,” says Lish.
But if your small business is not in a position to offer your employees health care, there are still ways you can support them in their search for coverage. Try educating them about MassHealth, the state’s affordable health insurance plan enacted under the ACA. However, employees may choose to purchase private health insurance if it fits their individual needs better. Either way, fitting an employee stipend into your budget to offset the cost of individual insurance is a great option to consider. Once your business you feel ready to start offering benefits, professionals within the brokerage community can provide guidance on how to best select coverage for you and your workforce.
MARIBEL LIEBERMAN | Founder of boutique chocolate company, MarieBelle
The work environment can have a large impact on the type of health insurance a business owner chooses. It’s crucial to the safety and wellbeing of any staff for their leader to listen to the team when they voice their health care priorities, then choose a customized plan that aligns with those priorities and works with your budget.
The question of health care entered Martin’s consciousness as she expanded her business and brought on her first employee. She remembers thinking, “What is realistic for us as a small business who doesn’t have a lot of resources?” The process became a lot easier once All Aces Inc. was able to secure a partner that guided them through setting up their program. Additionally, finding her footing in the health care realm as a small business meant leveraging her insurance plan and all it came with.
DR. ATYIA MARTIN | CEO and Founder of Boston-based All Aces Inc.
SANDY LISH & WENDY SPIVAK | Co-founders and principals of The Castle Group
For Martin, the growth of her business and engaging more with health care over time taught her, “how consistently you have to engage with employees to remind them that the benefit is there.” Ensuring that her staff understand what is included and not included in their plans, the monthly costs, and prescription fees is paramount to her. She says, “[We] really made it easy for people to understand because it gets complicated really fast. And when you’re in the middle of something, it’s too late to figure out those types of things.”
Building a business from the ground up is a colossal, intricate undertaking and health care is just one of many considerations entrepreneurs have to...
Lieberman realized that she needed insurance when her company grew beyond a small group of people and she opened her factory in 2004. She learned that working in a...
After the co-founders of Castle Group settled into their business and their health care plan, Spivak recalled the two of them thinking, “What else can...
Just getting your business started? Know your options
Refining health coverage and educating staff about benefits
Memories from the early stages of the health care process
How four women-owned businesses approach health coverage
Building a business from the ground up is a colossal, intricate undertaking and health care is just one of many considerations entrepreneurs have to contend with. Lieberman says when she first started MarieBelle in 2000, she didn’t even think about insurance because she was so focused on producing, selling, and getting her product to market. She also only had one employee working at her store at the time.
In stark contrast, Lish and Spivak, were in a position to place a high priority on health care when they first started their business. “At the beginning [I thought], I just need to be able to cover my rent and have health insurance… there’s no way we would ever be uninsured,” says Lish.
But if your small business is not in a position to offer your employees health care, there are still ways you can support them in their search for coverage. Try educating them about MassHealth, the state’s affordable health insurance plan enacted under the ACA. However, employees may choose to purchase private health insurance if it fits their individual needs better. Either way, fitting an employee stipend into your budget to offset the cost of individual insurance is a great option to consider. Once your business you feel ready to start offering benefits, professionals within the brokerage community can provide guidance on how to best select coverage for you and your workforce.
Just getting your business started? Know your options
Building a business from the ground up is a colossal, intricate undertaking and health care is just one of many considerations entrepreneurs have to contend with. Lieberman says when she first started MarieBelle in 2000, she didn’t even think about insurance because she was
so focused on producing, selling, and getting her product to market. She also only had one employee working at her store at the time.
In stark contrast, Lish and Spivak, were in a position to place a high priority on health care when they first started their business. “At the beginning [I thought], I just need to be able to cover my rent and have health insurance… there’s no way we would ever be uninsured,” says Lish.
But if your small business is not in a position to offer your employees health care, there are still ways you can support them in their search for coverage. Try educating them about MassHealth, the state’s affordable health insurance plan enacted under the ACA. However, employees may choose to purchase private health insurance if it fits their individual needs better. Either way, fitting an employee stipend into your budget to offset the cost of individual insurance is a great option to consider. Once your business you feel ready to start offering benefits, professionals within the brokerage community can provide guidance on how to best select coverage for you and your workforce.
Reflections on health care decisions from day one
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Led by executive director Jennifer Hanlon Wigon, this Boston-based day shelter provides healthy meals, hygiene access, personal care items, medical care, substance use counseling and more to local women. The organization serves women experiencing homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and domestic abuse. “We really meet each woman where she’s at and offer a great array of services but we let each woman take her own journey,” says Wigon.
Women’s Lunch Place’s compassionate philosophy extends beyond care for Boston’s women in need to its 29 dedicated employees. Wigon emphasizes that she and her leadership team focus on both physical and mental wellness for their staff because they experience a high amount of secondary trauma in their line of work.
Women’s Lunch Place is a safe haven for both vulnerable women and its employees
Lieberman realized that she needed insurance when her company grew beyond a small group of people and she opened her factory in 2004. She learned that working in a factory has many safety implications since the labor involves heavy machinery and
subsequently purchased liability insurance for her factory employees as well as health insurance for all her employees.
The work environment can have a large impact on the type of health insurance a business owner chooses. It’s crucial to the safety and wellbeing of any staff for their leader to listen to the team when they voice their health care priorities, then choose a customized plan that aligns with those priorities and works with your budget.
The question of health care entered Martin’s consciousness as she expanded her business and brought on her first employee. She remembers thinking, “What is realistic for us as a small business who doesn’t have a lot of resources?” The process became a lot easier once All Aces Inc. was able to secure a partner that guided them through setting up their program. Additionally, finding her footing in the health care realm as a small business meant leveraging her insurance plan and all it came with.
Memories from the early stages of the health care process
CLOSE
SANDY LISH & WENDY SPIVAK | Co-founders and principals of The Castle Group
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan are part of Point32Health, a nonprofit health and well-being organization.
More
With remote and contracted work on the rise, older employees are evaluating how they can use the benefits of their age — from social security payments to health care options to their wealth of experience — to create a next chapter that they find fulfilling.
Redefining “retirement age.”
Turning Points:
Navigating Mental Health
podcast
A commitment to putting mental and emotional well-being first can be a turning point in life. From making meaningful connections in a digital world to mindfulness and meditation, hear the multitude of ways people can put their mental health first — and why each method is effective in its own way.