Group health insurance
Offering health insurance helps you hire people and keep them. For a small business there's more than one way to do it, and a few of them come with tax help. We're licensed for health insurance in Tennessee and Kentucky.
Your options
- A small group plan
A health plan for businesses with 1 to 50 full-time-equivalent employees. You need at least one enrolled employee who isn't an owner, spouse or family member.
For example A 12-person machine shop picks a plan, pays part of each employee's premium, and everyone enrolls in the fall.
- The small business tax credit
Businesses with fewer than 25 full-time equivalents that pay at least half of employee-only premiums, and buy through the SHOP marketplace, may get a federal tax credit for up to two years in a row.
For example A seven-person office with average wages near $30,000 that pays half the premium is in range for the credit.
- QSEHRA
Instead of a group plan, a business with fewer than 50 full-time equivalents can reimburse employees, tax-free, for individual coverage up to a yearly limit.
For example A small bakery reimburses each employee's own policy up to the 2026 limit.
- ICHRA
Any size employer can reimburse employees' individual premiums, and set different amounts for different classes of employees, within federal rules.
For example A company reimburses full-time staff one amount and part-time staff another.
Numbers worth knowing
Federal
- For 2026, the tax credit starts phasing out above average wages of $34,100 and is gone at $68,200. Source: eitc.irs.gov
- The 2026 QSEHRA limits are $6,450 for self-only coverage and $13,100 for family coverage. Source: healthcare.gov
- The ACA's employer requirements apply once you average 50 or more full-time employees, counting full-time equivalents. Source: irs.gov
Tennessee
- Tennessee uses the federal SHOP, which generally needs 70% participation, waived when you enroll between November 15 and December 15. Source: healthcare.gov
Kentucky
- Kentucky's SHOP plans generally need at least half of eligible employees to participate, not counting employees covered somewhere else. Source: apps.legislature.ky.gov
Rules change. We checked these against the official sources in October 2026; call us before you rely on one.