Health insurance options for owner-only businesses
Sole proprietors often cannot buy small group plans because carriers require at least one non-owner employee on payroll. Meanwhile, individual plans and ICHRAs carry high costs that make coverage unaffordable, forcing some single-employee business owners to spend the majority of their income just to stay insured.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Staying on a domestic partner's insurance plan
- 2Looking into ICHRA plans through services like Thatch
- 3Exploring bundled payroll and benefits providers like Collective, Gusto, or ADP
- 4Looking into creative setup options
- 5Searching outside the ACA marketplace
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“She works for a non-profit and we found out that the rates are going to almost double this year, which would take the majority of her paycheck, basically working for insurance.”source ↗
“Owner only businesses can't buy a small group plan in most states, carriers want at least one non-owner employee on payroll, and an ICHRA can't reimburse a sole proprietor with nobody to reimburse.”source ↗
“Has anyone had success accessing a group health plan outside of the ACA marketplace as a solo practice/business of one?”source ↗
“My daughter has an out-of-network doctor she really needs to keep, but in NJ there's no out-of-network coverage available.”source ↗
“I'm a 1099 physician.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to manage money as a new 1099 contractor
- 6How to quit a corporate job to start your own business
- 2How should a new shop owner pay themselves?
- 4How to plan a business from scratch without missing key steps
- 6Funding my business out of my own pocket
- 2Should I switch to a high deductible plan if I need medical procedures?