Requirements For Small Employers

Insuring small groups can be difficult and expensive because there are not enough employees to spread the cost around and make it more affordable per person. So, Florida created the Florida Employee Health Care Access Act to promote the availability of health insurance coverage to small employers regardless of claims experience or their employees' health status, and to improve the overall fairness and efficiency of the small group health insurance market.

Definitions

Dependent means the spouse or child of an eligible employee.

*****Eligible employee means an employee who works full-time, having a normal workweek of 25 or more hours. This includes a self-employed individual, a sole proprietor, a partner of a partnership, but does not include part-time, temporary, or substitute employees.

*****Guaranteed-issue basis means an insurance policy that must be offered to an employer regardless of health status, preexisting conditions, or claims history of the group, and if the policy is offered to the group then it must cover everyone within the group regardless of health status (no "carve outs").

*****Small employer means a person, any type of business, or association that is actively engaged in business, has its principal place of business in Florida, and employed an average of 1 to 50 eligible employees , the majority of who were employed in Florida.

Small employer carrier means an insurer that offers health benefit plans covering employees of small employers.