If you are a small business owner, looking for options for health insurance coverage it is not a big deal. According to the law, employers with less than 50 full-time employees do not require to provide health insurance to their employees, but many employers still do so.
To get a small business group health insurance, your company should have 1 to 50 employees to be eligible; for more than 50 employees, you will need to apply for large group health insurance.
Offering group coverage is a perfect way to improve recruitment and retention. It can be an excellent option for many small groups instead of having employees get an individual health insurance plan. Getting insurance for a small group is much different from buying just for yourself or your family.
If you want to learn more details about the eligibility and number of employees that you need for a group health coverage, continue reading.
What are the Basics of Getting Group Health Coverage?
Small business health insurance, also known as group health insurance, is available to companies planning to offer medical coverage to their employees under a single policy. According to federal laws, you can have the one qualified small business to get group health insurance if they decide to buy it. If you are a small business and enrolling in the ACA-compliant plan, you cannot deny coverage based on the health of their employees.
One of the most critical questions that arise when we talk about group health insurance, is the number of employees you need for a group health insurance plan. In simple words, if you want to qualify for group health coverage as a business, you must have at least one full-time equivalent employee or qualified full-time employee other than the owner of the company and spouse.
Besides having a qualified full-time employee, your business must be considered a legal company entity according to its state’s regulations.
Who is Considered an Employee for Business Health Insurance?
If you are a small company, you will need at least one employee besides yourself or your spouse to be eligible for small business health insurance. One of the essential things is that your employee must be a full-time worker and must follow the guidelines set by the IRS:
- The full-time equivalent employee is not a full-time worker but in combination. Four employees who work 8-9 hours per week are equivalent to 1 full-time worker to determine eligibility for small business group health insurance. The employee who works for you at least 30-32 hours per week is considered a full-time employee.
If you are a small business owner, then all employees must pass the common-law test. By the rules of the IRS, a person who works for a small business should have to give the common-law test if the company owner has control over both the work the person does or the way the person goes about doing the work.
🡺 READ MORE: The Average Cost of Health Insurance for a Family of 4.
Valuable Facts About Applying for Small Business Group Health Insurance
If you are a business owner, you will want to offer health insurance to seasonal workers or part-timers. But remember that you usually enroll at least 70 percent for your uninsured coverage because they don’t count toward the 70% rule.
The 70% participation rule does not apply if you enroll in group health insurance from November 15 to December 15 of the year. That’s the way; you can qualify for group health coverage with fewer than 70% of eligible full-time employees.