Quality ratings of health plans

Learn about certain programs you may need on your computer to use features of HealthCare.gov.

Learn your options if you have or are offered job-based health insurance. 

You can deduct some expenses from your income on your Marketplace application.

Discover what expense items you can report on your Marketplace application. 

If you applied for a state health program, or you made changes to your state program information, you may get a letter telling you or someone on your application doesn’t qualify for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in your state. Your notice will explain that your state application information was transferred to the Health Insurance Marketplace®.

Before you can enroll in health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace®, we need to verify your identity to protect you and your personal information.

Learn how HSAs (Health Savings Accounts) can work with HDHPs to store pre-tax dollars for future medical costs - deductibles, copayments, more.

The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) has several tools to help you offer employee health insurance.

• The SHOP FTE Calculator
• The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit Estimator
• Minimum Participation Rate (MPR) Calculator
• Find Local Help
• See SHOP plans and prices

The SHOP FTE Calculator

• Calculates if your mix of full-time and part-time employees equals between 1-50 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. Generally, only businesses with 1-50 FTEs are eligible for SHOP.
• Have this information ready when using the calculator:
  • A list of all your employees, both full-time (those working 30 or more hours per week) and part-time (working fewer than 30 hours per week)
  • The number of hours worked per week by each part-time employee

GO TO THE SHOP FTE CALCULATOR

The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit Estimator

See if you qualify for the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit, and if so, approximately how much it would be worth.

• Have this information for the applicable tax year ready when using the estimator:
  • Number of employees who work at least 40 hours per week
  • Number of hours worked by all part-time workers who work at least 120 days per year
  • Total wages paid (the amount subject to Social Security and Medicare tax)
  • Total amount of health insurance premiums you pay for your employees

GO TO THE TAX CREDIT ESTIMATOR

Learn more about the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit.

Minimum Participation Rate (MPR) Calculator

• Helps predict if you’ll meet the MPR required to enroll in the SHOP coverage (in most states, at least 70% of employees must accept their insurance offer before the group can enroll)

• Have this information ready when using the calculator:

  • State where your main business office is located
  • Number of employees accepting coverage
  • Number of employees not accepting your SHOP coverage offer who don’t have other kinds of health coverage
  • Number of employees not accepting your SHOP coverage offer who are covered by other insurance (like another job plan, a spouse’s or another person’s coverage, COBRA, the individual and family Health Insurance Marketplace®, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans coverage, Indian Health Service coverage, or TRICARE).

GO TO THE MINIMUM PARTICIPATION RATE CALCULATOR

Learn more about minimum participation rates (PDF, 211 KB).

Find Local Help

• Find an agent or broker in your area who’s licensed and registered to sell SHOP insurance
• They can advise you on your coverage options, help you enroll and answer your coverage questions

GO TO THE FIND LOCAL HELP TOOL

Learn more about working with an insurance agent.

See plans and prices

• Use the link below and enter information about your business for a custom cost estimate.
• This tool lists all available SHOP plans in your area. If there are no SHOP plans in your area, you may also be able to get qualified small group health coverage outside of SHOP through an insurance company or an agent or broker. Visit find.healthcare.gov to see what private health plans outside of the SHOP may be available to you.

SEE PLANS AND PRICES IN YOUR AREA

Questions?

• Contact the SHOP Call Center at 1-800-706-7893 (TTY: 1-888-201-6445).

Get tips to help protect you from fraud, while getting you the coverage you need. Official government site.

You may qualify for the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit that could be worth up to 50% of the costs you pay for your employees' premiums (35% for non-profit employers).

See if you qualify for savings

Enrolling in a Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) plan is generally the only way for a small business or non-profit to claim the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit. To qualify for the tax credit, all of the following must apply:

• You have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees
• Your average employee salary is about $56,000 per year or less
• You pay at least 50% of your full-time employees' premium costs
• You offer SHOP coverage to all of your full-time employees. (You don't have to offer it to dependents or employees working fewer than 30 hours per week to qualify for the tax credit.)

TAKE ME TO THE TAX CREDIT ESTIMATOR

Higher benefits for smaller businesses

The tax credit is highest for companies with fewer than 10 employees who are paid an average of $27,000 or less. The smaller the business, the bigger the credit.

Questions?

• See all SHOP tools, calculators, fact sheets, how-to guides, videos, and other resources for employers.
• Contact the SHOP Call Center at 1-800-706-7893 (TTY: 1-888-201-6445).
• The Internal Revenue Service has more information about the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit.

More answers: The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit

To offer Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) health and/or dental insurance to your employees, your business or non-profit organization must meet 4 requirements:

1. Have 1-50 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs)

• Use the FTE Calculator to find out if you qualify.
• To qualify for SHOP, you must have at least 1 FTE employee other than owners, spouses, and family members of owners, and partners.

2. Offer coverage to all full-time employees

• Full-time employees generally work 30 or more hours per week.
• You don’t have to offer coverage to part-time employees — those averaging less than 30 hours per week — or seasonal workers. (But, you can offer coverage to part-time employees if you choose.)

3. Enroll at least 70% of the employees you offer insurance to

• Use the SHOP Minimum Participation Rate (MPR) Calculator to check how many of your employees must accept.
• Some states have different minimum participation requirements. Find out if your state has a different MPR.
• You don’t have to meet the minimum participation requirement between November 15 - December 15 any year.
• Employees with other health coverage aren't counted as “rejecting” your offer.

4. Have an office or employee work site within the state whose SHOP you want to use

• Learn how to access SHOP insurance in your state. We’ll show you next steps.
• Find out what to do if your business operates in multiple states.

Questions?

• Review all SHOP tools, calculators, fact sheets, how-to guides, videos, and other resources for employers.
• Contact the SHOP Call Center at 1-800-706-7893 (TTY: 1-888-201-6445).

More answers: SHOP Eligibility