1. Cap your contribution when premiums rise, says Dean McSherry, CEO of Preferred Restaurant Services in Addison, Texas, which provides specialized services to more than 400 restaurants in 13 states. For example, if you pay $180 of a $200 premium (90 percent), and the premium rises to $250, continue to pay the $180 and hold the employee responsible for the rest.
   
   
2. Shift expenses by changing deductible or co-insurance amounts. Suppose you have a "rich" 80/20 co-insurance PPO plan, with maximum out-of-pocket costs of $2,000 and a $250 deductible. You could keep the plan but raise the deductible to $1,000, McSherry says. Or, you could change the co-insurance to 70/30. If you have hourly workers, you can further reduce your costs by switching to a "mini med" program at their expense, he says. A mini med is an indemnity insurance product that offers limited medical coverage and pays a fixed dollar amount for coverages provided. Employees have an option of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 maximum coverage limit per year and choose how they use the benefits. Mini med programs typically come with some prescription discounts.
   
   
3. Change your prescription offerings. Add a deductible to your pharmacy benefit of $250 or $500. Or offer a tiered plan: When new drugs come on the market, the employee pays more for those "preferred" medicines. They pay less for brand drugs that have been out longer and even less for generic drugs. You also can use prescription discount cards, which give employees price breaks when they shop for the lower-priced medicines.
   
   
4. Limit offerings to families. You may have to adjust the company contribution health insurance benefit for employees' families, says Robert Hurley, vice president of eHealth Insurance in Sacramento, Calif. Or, reduce the amount of your contributions towards the premiums of an employee's family members.
   
   
5. Supplement your plan with a Health Savings Account (HSA), Hurley says. If you're uncomfortable about cutting back on family benefits, HSAs are an attractive alternative. Your employees own the accounts and pay for routine medical costs with tax-free dollars. The account can accumulate for a nest egg, similar to an IRA. To offer HSAs to employees, you first need to institute an HSA-eligible, high-deductible health plan. Check with your provider to make sure your health plan qualifies.
   
   "When you look at HSAs, don't be afraid of the higher deductibles. It's where the marketplace is going," Hurley says. "If you had car insurance that paid for oil changes and the like, you'd never be able to afford it. We're saying with a high deductible that we can't afford the ‘oil changes,' but we'll be there for the big stuff. Work with your employees to educate them on the benefits of HSAs."
   
   You can tailor your health care coverage according to the size of your business. Here's how:
   
   Self-employed: If you're healthy, opt for a high-deductible plan that offers only catastrophic coverage. If you're supporting a family, consider an HSA to supplement your plan.
   
   Fewer than Five Employees: Facing a premium increase this year? Offset it by passing the full or partial cost to your employees. It also may be time to shop around for a new carrier and examine how you can implement HSAs.
   
   More than Six Employees: You probably already have an established PPO or HMO in place, and your employees may be reluctant to go for the higher-deductible HSAs. Consider changing deductible or co-insurance amounts and re-examining your prescription benefits.

When preparing to file your federal tax return, don’t forget your contributions to charitable organizations. Your donations can add up to a nice tax deduction if you itemize on IRS Form 1040, Schedule A.

Here are a few tips to help make sure your contributions pay off on your tax return.

You cannot deduct contributions made to specific individuals, political organizations and candidates, the value of your time or services and the cost of raffles, bingo, or other games of chance.

To be deductible, contributions must be made to qualified organizations.

Organizations can tell you if they are qualified and if donations to them are deductible. IRS.gov also has an exempt organization search feature to help you see if an organization is qualified. IRS Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations, lists all charitable organizations except those most recently granted tax exempt status. Pub. 78 is available online and in many public libraries. 

Only contributions actually made during the tax year are deductible. Credit card charges and payments by check are deducted in the year they are given to the charity, even though you may not pay the credit card bill or have your bank account debited until the next year.

If your contributions entitle you to merchandise, goods, or services, including admission to a charity ball, banquet, theatrical performance, or sporting event, you can d

educt only the amount that exceeds the fair market value of the benefit received.