Helping Small Businesses and Sole Proprietorships gain access to the efficiencies and purchasing power of a larger collective of employers for group health and pharmacy benefits.
WHAT IS A MEWA?
A multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) allows small employers to fund their group health benefits for their employees by joining with other small employers to gain the purchasing efficiencies and scale not otherwise available to them as individual employers.
A small employer is generally considered to be an employer with less than fifty employees, but larger employers can also join the MEWA Trust and get the same benefits.
A “Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement” is an employee welfare benefit plan or plans which are established or maintained for the purpose of offering or providing health care and related benefits to the employees and family members of two or more employers (including one or more self-employed individuals). The NWOBA MEWA operates under a Certificate of Authority from the Ohio Department of Insurance (DOI) and is regulated by both the Ohio Department of Insurance and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
THE NWOBA MEWA
Formally known as the Northwest Ohio Business Alliance Health and Wellness Trust, the NWOBA MEWA is available to small employers and sole proprietorships who are active members of a MEWA sponsoring organization.
Click to see the latest listing of MEWA Sponsors.
Established in 2022, the NWOBA MEWA Trust is the successor to the NWOBA fully insured plan created by the Northwest Ohio Business Alliance in 2018 and previously insured by Paramount.
The NWOBA MEWA is a self-insured plan consisting of individual small employer plans joining together through the MEWA Trust to fund their health care benefits programs.
In addition to enjoying the benefits of group purchasing together with other small employers, MEWA employers benefit from the non-profit structure and philosophy of the NWOBA MEWA. No money is paid out to shareholders (there are none) and any surpluses at the end of a year are retained within the Trust to fund future benefits and provide greater rate stability than a fully insured plan structure.