The three ways a business with 1 to 50 employees offers health coverage, side by side: who can offer each, what it costs the employer, what employees get, and the facts about your team that decide it.
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One plan for everyone, a budget each employee spends on their own plan, or the same with a cap: the three structures do different jobs, and the facts about your payroll pick between them faster than any sales pitch.
A group quote, an ICHRA costing and the owner’s own plan all start from the same census: who is on payroll, their ages and home counties. Enter your ZIP and a licensed agent runs all four routes for your business, free.
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| Group plan | ICHRA | QSEHRA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can offer it | Any employer; 1-50 FTEs buy in the small-group market | Any employer, any size | Fewer than 50 FTEs and no group plan |
| What the employer does | Picks one or two plans, pays a share of the premium (insurers usually require a minimum share and minimum participation) | Sets a monthly allowance, by class if wanted; employees buy individual plans and are reimbursed | Sets an allowance up to the federal cap; employees buy individual plans and are reimbursed |
| 2026 limits | None on contribution | None | $6,450 self-only / $13,100 family a year |
| Employee’s marketplace credit | Lost if the group plan is affordable | Lost if the allowance makes the lowest-cost Silver affordable (10.22%% test for 2027); employee may opt out and keep the credit | Reduced dollar for dollar by the allowance |
| Owner’s own coverage | Owner can join; S-corp owner’s premium runs through Box 1 | More-than-2%% S-corp owners, partners and sole proprietors cannot take it tax-free | Same exclusion |
| Small-employer tax credit (Form 8941) | Available if the plan is bought through SHOP and the FTE / wage tests are met | No | No |
| Renewal | Annual rate increase lands on the employer | Employer budgets a number; increases land on the employee’s plan | Same |
The average employer-sponsored family premium reached $25,572 a year in 2025 with workers paying $6,850 of it (KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey), and single coverage roughly a third of that; a small employer’s share is whatever it chooses above the insurer’s minimum. An ICHRA or QSEHRA costs exactly the allowance times the number who take it. The state pages on this site show what an individual-market Silver plan costs at 40 in each county, which is what an ICHRA allowance actually buys.
The ZIP box above starts that census.