Other Options to Offer Coverage
Offering health benefits is a key part of attracting and retaining a dynamic workforce. DC Health Link is here to help DC small businesses understand all of their options. If offering a health plan is a bit too expensive for your business right now, you’ve still got options:
SPECIAL OPTION AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME
DC Health Link has waived minimum participation and contribution requirements through December 2022. To offer group coverage to your employees, you do not have to meet minimum participation and contribution requirements.
Annual Special Offer For Coverage Starting January 1
To make sure every DC business can cover its employees, we offer special flexibility for employers starting coverage on January 1st. Employers offering coverage starting January 1st do not have to meet the following standard eligibility requirements:
- Fifty percent minimum employer contribution toward employee premiums, and
- Minimum participation by two-thirds of eligible employees.
For example, you can still offer a plan if you can’t contribute towards the cost of coverage. You can also offer a plan if only 2 of your 7 employees who don’t have other qualifying coverage want to enroll. This reduces your employer cost of offering a health plan, but still makes a valuable benefit available to your employees.
Employers starting their plans on January 1 still need to meet all other eligibility requirements.
Offer a Health Reimbursement Arrangement
If you're not ready to offer health benefits to your employees, you can still contribute to your employees’ health care expenses tax-free by offering them a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA). An HRA is an account an employer funds that your employees can use to pay for medical care expenses. There are two types of HRAs – the Individual Coverage HRA and the Qualified Small Employer HRA – that your employees can use to pay premiums for an Individual & Family market health plan they choose. Use our SmartChoice for Business Tool to compare estimated costs of offering an HRA, offering a Small Business health insurance plan, or raising wages.
Brokers are available to help you understand your options at no cost to you. Find a Broker