A census
Ages and ZIP codes, no names needed for a first look.
Who we help · Business owners
A benefits package without a benefits department
Below fifty full-time equivalent employees you are not required to offer coverage. That makes this a recruiting and retention decision, which means it should be built around what your people actually value.
Group plan, ICHRA, or nothing at all?
A small-group plan gives you one renewal, one bill and a package employees understand. Carriers ask for minimum participation, usually a defined share of eligible employees enrolling, and a minimum employer contribution toward employee-only premium. Employees with other coverage can often be waived out of the participation count, which is how most borderline groups qualify.
An individual coverage HRA is the alternative. You define a monthly contribution by class of employee, they buy their own individual plan on the Marketplace, and the reimbursement is tax-advantaged. Your cost is capped and predictable, employees get choice, and you are not managing a renewal that jumps every year. The trade is that employees have to do their own shopping, which is where we come in.
We quote both. We will also tell you when neither makes sense yet, which happens with very small or very young teams where a stipend and honest guidance does more good than a plan nobody enrols in.
Who already has coverage
Spouse plans and Medicare affect your participation calculation.
Your budget per employee per month
Set the number first. It makes every other decision faster.
Current renewal, if you have a plan
So we can quote against a real number rather than a guess.
Whether you want one plan or choice
This is the fork between a group plan and an ICHRA.
Where it goes wrong
The mistakes we see most often
- 01
Missing participation by one employee. Waivers for other coverage usually fix it, but only if documented before submission.
- 02
Promising a benefit before the carrier has issued. Quotes are not coverage.
- 03
Crossing fifty full-time equivalents without noticing. The employer shared responsibility rules change at that line.
- 04
Letting a renewal auto-accept. We quote an alternative every year even when we recommend staying put.
Questions from business owners clients
Carriers generally set a minimum share of the employee-only premium. The exact requirement varies by carrier and plan year, so we check it against your census before you commit.
There is an administrator and a notice requirement, and it is more paperwork than a stipend. In exchange your cost is fixed and your renewal is not a negotiation. We walk you through the setup.
You can define classes, such as full-time, part-time and seasonal, and treat them differently within the rules. You cannot pick favourites inside a class.
Twenty minutes usually settles it
Bring your prescriptions, the doctors you want to keep and a rough income number. We do the rest.
Our help is free to you. We are paid by the carrier you choose, and the premium is the same whether you use us or enrol on your own.