Health insurance costs play a large role in growing a business. When you offer insurance benefits, you are spending a great deal of money that may also be needed to buy new machinery, expand operations, or just pay the bills.

California's governor and other legislators, and even presidential candidates, continue to work on plans to insure the uninsured. One plan was bill AB 8, which would have made each employer (that doesn't offer a healthcare plan) pay a 7.5% payroll tax to help fund a healthcare program run by the government. Schwarzenegger vetoed that plan. Schwarzenegger's pet plan appears to be dying slowly because no one can figure out how he plans to pay for it.

As a small business owner, you can read about these plans and breath a sigh of relief that you aren't being forced to cough up money. However, don't take too big a breath. While none of the current plans seem to be making huge headway, it is a trend that means one of these days someone will come up with a plan that will be approved and put into action.

Offering a healthcare plan doesn't mean you need to pay for it 100%. In fact, I prefer you don't. I have found that when you offer "100% employer paid" benefits to employees that they will sign up for them regardless of need and you're stuck paying the premium. Even a $10 co-pay will often stop someone from signing up for your insurance if they are already covered by their spouse's. And it's not like they can get paid by both insurance companies anyhow. The secondary insurance will only pay if a particular benefit is better than what's paid by the primary insurer.

When creating benefit plans, think very carefully about what you offer and why. Health insurance is often a no-brainer because most people like that security. However, if you can afford additional benefits, find out if your employees would prefer dental insurance versus a retirement plan rather than just assume you "know what's best for them." Remember, a benefit is only a benefit if your employees really want it.