BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Sam’s Club has teamed with Aetna on a program designed to make it easier for small business owners to get health insurance coverage for themselves and their employees.

Aetna Marketplace for Sam’s Club is billed as the first mass retail-supported private health care exchange designed to meet the needs of both small business owners and their employees. The new offering is initially available in 18 states, and it is for Sam’s Club business members with two or more ­employees.

Small business owners rarely have time to shop for affordable health care options, much less manage individual plans for each employee, notes Sam’s Club senior vice president of health and wellness Jill ­Turner-Mitchael.

“Most of our small business members run what are called microbusinesses, which have four or fewer employees,” Turner-Mitchael says. “We’ve done some work with the Gallup organization, looking at some of the major concerns these business owners have, and health care keeps coming up near the top of the list, whether it’s providing coverage for themselves or for their employees.”

A Sam’s Club/Gallup poll has found that only 21% of microbusiness owners with at least one employee say they provide health insurance for their employees. And although microbusinesses are not large enough to be legally required to provide employee health insurance, attracting and recruiting talented employees can be much more difficult without this benefit.

The poll also found that 41% of employer microbusiness owners say they are concerned about a significant increase in the cost of providing health benefits in the next 12 months.

The Aetna Marketplace for Sam’s Club is meant to make offering health insurance easier and affordable for these business owners. The exchange features enhanced cost control, budget predictability and simplified administration for the business owners while allowing employees the ability to use online tools to choose the specific plan that best meets their needs.

“Basically we’re bringing the kind of health care availability and options big businesses can get to small business owners for the first time,” Turner-Mitchael says.

The health exchange is one of a number of new services Sam’s Club has introduced for its small business members. Sam’s Club president and chief executive officer Rosalind Brewer says small business owners — particularly owners of microbusinesses — can get bogged down with such noncore tasks as managing health care plans, payroll, legal forms, payment processing and travel.

“Whether they lead start-ups or seasoned firms, America’s small business owners are constantly strapped for time,” Brewer said. “To help, we’ve enhanced our suite of business member benefits to bring big-business benefits to small business owners at a value they ­deserve.”

Besides working with Aetna, Sam’s Club has teamed up with Execupay to offer an outsourced payroll solution, and with LegalZoom on legal services. It has also enhanced the travel planning and merchant payment processing services that it offers to business members.