If you have a full-time business with at least one full-time equivalent (FTE) employee, then you are eligible for the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). SHOP insurance is suitable for employers who want to provide their employees with affordable health insurance. Your organization must have 1-50 employees in order to purchase SHOP insurance.
The government offers employers four reasons to purchase SHOP insurance.
- SHOP offers you with a lot of choice and flexibility. It provides you with an opportunity to present your employees with a choice between a single plan and multiple plans, offer both health and dental coverage, decide how much you are willing to pay toward employees’ premium, determine if you wish to offer coverage for your employees’ dependents and decide how long your employees need to wait before enrolling.
- You can get valuable information about SHOP insurance on the official website and then make an informed choice. This will also enable you to compare various SHOP plans and prices, find premiums that are lowest in your area and determine your eligibility for SHOP.
- You can seek assistance from an agent, broker or a health insurance company to help you enroll in SHOP insurance. You can also visit the official SHOP website to know more.
- If you enroll in SHOP insurance and you have lesser than 25 full-time equivalent employees, you can save a lot of money by way of the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit.
In order to be eligible for SHOP insurance, you must meet the following requirements:
- Your business or non-profit organization must have an address in the state you are purchasing the coverage from.
- Your business or non-profit organization must have at least one full-time equivalent employee who is going to enroll in the coverage and is not the owner, business partner, or spouse of the owner.
- Your business or non-profit organization must have anywhere between 1 and 50 full-time equivalent employees.
- You must offer SHOP coverage to all the full-time equivalent employees.