By trade

Health insurance for Texas plumbing contractors

Your plan’s cost, headcount and broker pay are in a public filing. Here’s what the filings show for contractors your size, and how to read yours.

For plumbing contractors with 100 or more employees.

Read the 52-contractor studies See a sample Plan Report

Short answer. Plumbing contractors generally file under business code 238220, the same code as heating and air-conditioning contractors, so the public filings cannot separate plumbing from HVAC. Peer figures here are for 52 Texas electrical, plumbing, and HVAC contractors with 75 to 300 employees, taken together, because separate validated cuts by trade are not published yet. Median broker pay is 5.3% of medical premium and $29 per participant per month. Median medical premium is $6,094 per participant.

What the public filings show

These figures are for 52 Texas electrical, plumbing, and HVAC contractors with 75 to 300 employees, taken together. Separate validated cuts by trade are not published yet, so the medians cover the three trades together.

In each company’s latest filing:

  • Median broker pay as a share of medical premium: 5.3%
  • Median broker pay per participant per month: $29
  • Median medical premium per participant: $6,094
  • Medical premium per participant, 10th to 90th percentile: $3,802 to $9,972

How the 52 were chosen.

Three things to check on your own plan

  1. Per employee and per covered person. Read both. A plan can look expensive per employee because it covers a lot of families. Study 1.
  2. How long since it was tested. Six years on one contract number means renewed, not marketed. Study 2.
  3. What a carrier change actually did. A move doesn’t always hold the rate. Study 4.

Before your next renewal

Questions people ask

What business code does a plumbing contractor use on the Form 5500?

Usually 238220, Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors, from the U.S. Census Bureau’s industry list. Plumbing and HVAC share that code.

What do Texas plumbing contractors pay for health insurance per employee?

There is no plumbing-only figure, because plumbing and HVAC share a code, and separate validated cuts by trade are not published yet. For 52 Texas electrical, plumbing, and HVAC contractors with 75 to 300 employees, taken together, the median medical premium was $6,094 per participant.

Why does cost per employee vary so much between similar companies?

Mostly who’s covered and how. Family enrollment, the share of employees on the plan, plan design and the price all move it. Study 1 shows a plan that looks expensive per employee and ordinary per covered person.

How do I see how long we've had the same carrier?

The contract number on your Schedule A carries over year to year. A contract number that stays the same means the plan was renewed, not marketed.

I built and sold a health insurance agency: grew it to 60 agents in about 3 years, then sold it. Licensed insurance agent since 2014: Texas license 2501238, NPN 17369817.

Want your own plan read the same way?

Send the company name to aloha@mattragudo.com. I pull the public filings and send back a one-page read. It’s built from the public record only, so no engagement is required.

Read the 52-contractor studies See a sample Plan Report

Questions first? Email aloha@mattragudo.com or book a 30 minute call.

Sources