Florida is home to roughly 3.5 million small businesses — about 99.8% of all employers in the state — and a large share of them face the same fork in the road every year: buy a small-group health plan, or send employees to the individual ACA marketplace and help pay for it. The right answer in 2026 turns on three numbers — your headcount, your employees' wages, and the size of the individual subsidies your team would otherwise qualify for.
This is not a one-size decision. A 12-person professional firm where everyone earns a solid salary often comes out ahead with a traditional group plan, while a 20-person restaurant with mostly lower-wage and part-time staff frequently does better funding individual coverage through an ICHRA. Below is how to think it through for your own business.
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How Small-Group Coverage Works in Florida
Under Florida's Employee Health Care Access Act (Statute 627.6699), a small group is any business with 1 to 50 employees, and carriers must guarantee-issue coverage — your group cannot be declined or surcharged for employees' health conditions. The employer owns the plan, chooses the metal tier and network, and shares the premium with workers. Florida Blue, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, and Aetna are the major small-group carriers statewide, with plans and networks priced by each county's rating area.
The strengths of a group plan are simplicity and predictability: one plan, one renewal, one network for the whole team, and premium contributions that are tax-deductible to the business. The tradeoff is that everyone is in the same risk pool and the same plan, and an employee who would have qualified for a large individual subsidy gets no benefit from it inside a group plan.
How the Individual ACA Path Works
The alternative is to let employees buy their own individual ACA marketplace plans and reimburse them tax-free through an Individual Coverage HRA (ICHRA) or a QSEHRA. Because Florida runs on HealthCare.gov, employees in every county have a real menu of individual plans to choose from. Crucially, individual marketplace subsidies are tied to income — so for lower-wage workers, an individual plan plus a subsidy can cost far less than their share of a group premium.
The catch is the interaction between employer money and subsidies. If you offer an ICHRA that the IRS considers 'affordable' — meaning the employee's cost for the lowest-cost silver plan after your contribution is no more than 9.96% of household income in 2026 — the employee must use the ICHRA and cannot also take a premium tax credit. A QSEHRA reduces the subsidy dollar-for-dollar. For very low-wage employees who qualify for rich subsidies, sometimes the best move is a smaller employer contribution that preserves their subsidy eligibility.
Want a side-by-side of group vs. individual for your actual employee census? A licensed Florida producer will run both at no cost.
Get a Business Quote →The Decision Framework
Use these signals to point yourself toward the right path:
- Lean group plan if most employees earn above ~$60,000, you want one unified plan and network, and you have stable, mostly full-time headcount.
- Lean ICHRA if you have a mix of wage levels, multiple worksites or remote staff, or you want to fix your healthcare budget at a flat per-employee dollar amount.
- Lean QSEHRA if you have fewer than 50 employees, offer no group plan, and want a simple, capped reimbursement with less paperwork than an ICHRA.
- Consider individual + preserved subsidy if most of your team is lower-wage and would qualify for substantial marketplace tax credits.
Common Mistakes
- Defaulting to a group plan without checking whether employees would do better with subsidized individual coverage.
- Offering an 'affordable' ICHRA to low-wage staff and unintentionally cutting off subsidies they valued.
- Forgetting the SHOP-only Small Business Health Care Tax Credit, worth up to 50% of premiums for groups under 25 employees with average wages below about $66,000.
- Comparing only premiums, not networks — the cheapest plan is no bargain if it excludes your team's doctors.
Two Quick Florida Examples
The professional firm. A 10-person Tampa engineering office where everyone earns $75,000 to $120,000 will see little or no individual-market subsidy at those incomes, so the pooled pricing of a small-group plan usually wins. The group plan gives the whole team one network, the business deducts its contribution, and a group under 25 employees could even qualify for the SHOP tax credit if average wages were lower.
The restaurant. A 22-person Fort Myers restaurant with mostly tipped, lower-wage, and part-time staff is the opposite case. Many of those workers would qualify for generous individual subsidies, and a year-round group plan fits poorly around seasonal scheduling. An ICHRA — with a full-time class and a part-time class set at different contributions — typically delivers more value per dollar here, while letting lower-wage staff who get little ICHRA benefit keep their marketplace subsidy instead.
The lesson from both: the 'right' answer is a function of your specific wage mix and staffing pattern, not a blanket rule. Running your actual employee census through both models is the only way to know which path saves money for your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is small-group or individual coverage cheaper in Florida?
It depends entirely on wages. For higher-earning teams, a group plan is often the better value because everyone shares one negotiated rate. For lower-wage teams, individual ACA plans paired with income-based subsidies frequently cost less, and an ICHRA or QSEHRA lets the employer contribute tax-free. The only way to know for your business is to compare both on your actual census.
What is the difference between an ICHRA and a group plan?
With a group plan, the employer buys and owns one plan for everyone and shares the premium. With an ICHRA, the employer reimburses employees tax-free for individual ACA plans the workers choose themselves. ICHRAs offer more flexibility and a fixed budget; group plans offer a single unified network and simpler employee experience.
Can I offer a group plan to some employees and an ICHRA to others?
You cannot offer the same class of employees a choice between a group plan and an ICHRA, but you can split by class — for example, a group plan for full-time salaried staff and an ICHRA for part-time or seasonal workers. The classes must follow IRS rules. A licensed producer can structure this correctly.
Does Florida require small businesses to offer health insurance?
No. Florida follows federal law, so only employers with 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees face the ACA employer mandate. Businesses with 1 to 50 employees offer coverage voluntarily, usually for recruiting and retention, and benefit from tax-deductible premium contributions.
Can I switch from a group plan to an ICHRA mid-year?
Generally you switch at renewal rather than mid-year, because dropping a group plan triggers coverage changes for every enrolled employee and an ICHRA requires a 90-day advance notice. Many Florida employers evaluate the move a few months before renewal so employees have time to shop individual plans during the special enrollment period the ICHRA offer creates.
Related reading: Gulf Coast small business health plans, our Florida group health insurance requirements guide, and ICHRA for Florida small business. For individual options, see Sunstate Coverage.