Is employer group health insurance available to sole proprietors?

Sole Proprietors Group Health Insurance

There are millions of people who are expected to buy their health insurance through state-regulated marketplaces. Many among them are sole proprietors. On October 1, 2015, the state-based market places were recommended to start for consumer enrollment. According to the new Affordable Care Act, people who are self-employed and have no employees working for them are regarded as individuals. The same rule applies even when they may have been hiring contractors for delivering their services. Such individuals would be required to buy insurance plans either by facing a fee or for themselves.

How affordable care act may bring a difference?

Once the Affordable Care Act marketplaces are implemented, sole proprietors would find that more number of entrepreneurs are joining their ranks in the near future. Advocates in the field of health reforms believe that the new law would free the workers from the notion that they have to be under an employer to get the employer-sponsored health coverage.  An additional number of 1.5 million Americans will opt for self-employment in the year 2014. This is due to health-related reforms that are taking place under the Affordable Care Act. There are a large number of self-employed individuals who do not have health insurance. They may be researching for the various insurance choices available before them for the first time.

A small employer group has been defined by some states as those having employees in the range of 1 to 50.  But a majority of the federal states have specified that a company should be having a minimum of 2 employees for getting qualified for group health coverage. Individual states as well as insurance companies often lay down stringent and specific instructions for employer groups that are very small in size. This is to record that they are legitimate businesses and enjoy the required number of employees for preventing acts of fraud. As a part of this documentation requirement, employers typically have to provide documentation for payroll tax to validate those who are legitimate employees.

Earlier, it was permitted by some of the federal states to buy group health coverage and was known as states that assure coverage for “business groups of one”. The Affordable Care Act has done away with this choice of “business groups of one”. Rather all these sole proprietors have to now buy coverage from individual market either through outside the marketplace or from the marketplace directly.

When do you stop being a sole proprietor?

Once you recruit an employee, you would no longer fall within the scope of a sole proprietorship. But as a micro-business owner, there is no obligation for you to buy health insurance coverage for your employees. Such a status gives you the eligibility of purchasing insurance from your state’s small business exchange. This is also known as SHOP or Small Business Health Options Program Marketplace.

Do you live in Florida and run a business? If the answer is yes, FloridianQuote.com can help you with all your Florida insurance needs. It represents the insurance products of the top insurance companies. No matter which city you are living in (Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa or Miami), the company can help you with all your insurance related queries.

    

We are health insurance consultants | agents with many years of experience in the health insurance field and access to multiple health insurance company’s plans and pricing. We will work with each you to find the right group or individual health insurance plan to fit your needs and budget. Serving clients in and around Greater Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Florida and more. Contact us at 866-217-2873.