Amid spiraling health care costs, Alaska's small businesses have a new health insurance option this year.

A health insurance plan created more than a year ago for Alaska nonprofits is now being extended to private employers, the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce and the Anchorage-based Foraker Group announced Tuesday.

The approximate 500 members of the state chamber -- ranging from repair shops to tug boat and tour operators -- can now apply to join the Foraker-created plan and offer health benefits to their workers.

In expanding the plan to potentially thousands more participants, officials from the state chamber and Foraker said they hope to make health insurance more affordable for Alaska's small employers -- many of whom can't afford it but wish they could because it would help them attract and retain good workers.

State and federal data shows that most small businesses in Alaska and elsewhere in the country do not offer health insurance to their workers.

"My future goal is to offer some sort of health insurance to my managers, but the reality is I could probably only afford dental or vision," said Michelle Novy, who owns the Run to the Sun Tanning Salon and Resort Boutique in Midtown Anchorage.

She said it hurts her business growth potential to not be able to offer the insurance. "If you can offer it, that's how you attract the best employees," she said.

NOT CHEAPER ... YET

For now, the plan offered by Foraker, which supports the state's nonprofits, isn't cheaper than the health insurance options already available to Alaska businesses.

Its key difference from other options is its major focus on keeping those costs in check by encouraging healthier lifestyles among workers. By using a similar approach over the past 17 years, the city of Juneau has been able to provide its workers some of the most affordable health insurance premiums in the state, according to Foraker.

The potential for further cost savings will increase significantly as more employers use the plan. Once the insurance covers roughly 1,000 people, Foraker will have the option to create group rates. For now, the pool remains small. About 30 nonprofits around the state, with 400 employees, participate.

One nonprofit employer pleased with the plan so far is Kathie Wasserman of the Alaska Municipal League, which lobbies on behalf the state's local governments. The AML has five employees.

"This has worked very well for us," Wasserman said. "There's the incentive that as more people join, rates will come down even more."

She also praised the coverage in the plan, administered by Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska as "very good."

"It shows you what people can do with a little bit of innovation," she said.

The plan offers three medical options, two of which require high deductibles in return for cheaper rates. Employers that join the plan must pay 75 percent or more of the premiums for its employees. The plan also offers dental coverage, life insurance and long- and short-term disability coverage.

'NEED IS THERE'

Less than half of Alaska firms -- about 46 percent in 2008 -- offer health benefits to their employees, according to federal statistics.

But most Alaska businesses have fewer than 10 employees, and those very small companies were the least likely to offer health insurance in 2008 -- about 23 percent of them did so.

A need exists for pooling together the state's employers, said Wayne Stevens, who heads the state chamber. With health care costs soaring by double-digit percentage points every year, "This is our best attempt to provide what our members are looking for," he said.

The Foraker Group has several strategies to help reduce health-care costs for its plan participants.

It offers pre-tax health savings accounts to its participants and requires employers to create a health risk management program within their organizations. The idea is to promote better health and increase worker productivity.

Foraker's plan participants who face medium to high health risks are also eligible for free health coaching and a health risk assessments. Those two offerings are being subsidized through 2011 by the Rasmuson Foundation.