The coverage a big company gets
Can a one-person business get a real group health plan?
Yes.
A solo owner who takes a W-2 salary through an S-corp can join a large national group plan as their own group, priced on the whole group rather than on you alone. You join one that already exists, you do not build one. The coverage is a national PPO, paid through your own payroll. Run your number to see what it changes.
No name, no email, no phone to see your result. No salesperson, no one calling you.
We are not the plan provider. A separate licensed provider runs the coverage. We run the math and connect you.
Why almost everyone believes the opposite.
The belief that you cannot do this is not a mistake. It is what the official guidance tells you. A business with no employees gets pointed to the individual marketplace, because that is the default answer for a household buying its own coverage. And the newer option everyone is pitched, an ICHRA, needs a W-2 employee to point it at, which a true business of one does not have. So every honest source you checked sent you to buy alone.
All of that is about buying a plan. It misses a different move: joining a group that already exists, instead of building one or buying alone.
How a business of one joins a group.
A 500-person company gets better coverage at a better price than you can, because it buys as one large group instead of as one person. The structure that lets it do that is not closed to your size. As the owner, once you take a W-2 salary through an S-corp, you can be placed inside a large group plan the same way an employee at that big company is. The plan is a national PPO. Your premium runs through your own payroll. Your doctors stay the same.
There is a second reason the group route exists for owners specifically. A more-than-2-percent S-corp owner cannot take individual-market or ICHRA coverage from their own company on a tax-advantaged basis. Inside a real group plan, you can be on the plan with the same treatment a big-company employee gets. Your CPA confirms the treatment for your situation, and the same setup can also lower what you lose to taxes. The calculator shows that as a number.
The believability clause
You do not build a group. You join one that already exists.
Where the honest answer is no.
Eligible to join is not the same as better off. The structure has a clear line. Here is where it does not pay, said plainly so you do not waste a call finding out.
The math turns on your own income, not your team's. Below roughly $90,000 net, the flat per-person fee usually costs more than the structure saves you. The calculator will show you that on your own numbers rather than make you guess.
If you are already covered on a spouse's group plan, you have the thing this provides. Adding this is new cost with little to offset it. Stay where you are.
If you are young and healthy and already pay very little for a bare-bones bronze plan, that plan can stay cheaper than the structure. We will tell you so rather than talk you out of it.
We would rather tell you the answer is no for free than sell you a yes. That is the whole reason the yes is worth trusting.
Do not take our word for it. Run your own number.
Enter what you earn and what you pay for coverage now. You get two numbers back, free, with no name, email, or phone. Your personal finances: your tax and coverage cost today against what you would pay inside the group plan. And, if you have one, your company's payroll costs the same way. It runs live on the real 2026 federal and state tax tables. If it does not beat what you pay now, the screen says so.
Want it in writing? The full CPA audit report, generated for your exact numbers, is yours to hand your accountant, built to be checked line by line.
No name, no email, no phone to see your result.
How you know this holds up.
This is not a loophole and not a new idea. It is an established structure that companies have used for decades, run through a NAPEO-member, ESAC-accredited provider, on the Cigna national PPO, on the real 2026 tax tables. You see your number before we see you, and your own accountant can verify every figure in the full audit report. We tell you when it does not fit, because we only earn when it does.
What it costs.
The fee, first
One flat fee per person, month to month, no long-term contract. $150 per person a month for the full stack, the group plan plus the back office. $75 a month for compliance only, without the group plan. The fee does not climb when you pay yourself more or add a person.
Representative composite rates, set at enrollment. Your own number, fee and plan together against what you pay now, comes from the calculator.
Find your exact situation.
- Sole proprietor or single-member LLC, just you: yes, once you elect S-corp status and take a W-2 salary. Your CPA handles the election, the same kind they file all the time.Run it as a solo owner
- 1099 contractor or freelancer with steady income: yes, the same way. You set up an S-corp, pay yourself a W-2 salary, and join the group as the owner.Run it as a solo owner
- You have 2 to 25 W-2 people: yes, and the gate is your own income, not theirs. The structure is priced as one big group instead of a small one that re-rates every year.Run it for your team
- You just left a job and you are on COBRA, earning too much for a subsidy: yes, and there is a third option the marketplace will not show you.Run it
Not exactly any of these? Clear the income line above and run your number anyway. The engine does the work. You read the result. See your number →
Included with every active account.
We run a business too, so we include the things every owner actually needs, at no extra cost.
A professional email account
On your own domain, through Zoho.
$12 value
Legally binding e-signatures
A Documenso Pro account, for signing and sending real documents.
$300 value
Fast, AI Indexed, PEO Smart Page
Designed and hosted for you by devgento.com, built to be found by AI search.
$1,500 value
About $1,800 a year in tools, included.
Most brokers hand you a phone number. We hand you a business stack.
In the news
The 2026 cost shock made national news.
When the 2026 subsidies ended, the squeeze on owners and the self-employed was covered across the major networks. The cost structure was always there. The news just put it on everyone's screen.
Millions face the ACA subsidy expiry
The quiet fallout from higher ACA premiums
How the end of ACA subsidies is squeezing owners
Premiums set to skyrocket Jan. 1
Millions of Americans in limbo
Health premiums set to soar
Unedited segments from each network's own coverage. USA OPS is not affiliated with or endorsed by these outlets.
So, yes. Now see what it changes for you.
A business of one can get the same kind of group plan a big company gets. You do not build a group, you join one that already exists. Run the math free. No call, no email, no salesperson. If the structure does not beat what you pay now, the screen tells you so and you owe us nothing, because we only make money when an owner we connect actually comes out ahead.
Your exact 2026 number, free. The full CPA audit report when you want it.
The full eligibility question, answered.
Can a sole proprietor get group health coverage?
Yes, with one routine step. A sole proprietor elects S-corp status, takes a W-2 salary, and joins a large national group plan as the owner of their own group. You do not build a group, you join one that already exists. Your CPA handles the election. The coverage is a national PPO paid through payroll. Run your number to see what it costs against what you pay now.
Can a single-member LLC get a group health plan?
Yes. A single-member LLC elects to be taxed as an S-corp, the owner takes a W-2 salary, and the owner joins an existing large group plan. The LLC does not need other employees. You join a group that already exists rather than forming one. Coverage runs on a national PPO through your own payroll. The calculator shows whether the math beats your current plan, free and with no contact.
Can a 1099 contractor or freelancer get group coverage?
Yes, if your income is steady enough to pay yourself a W-2 salary. You set up an S-corp, run a salary through payroll, and join a large national group plan as the owner. A true freelancer with no entity buys alone on the individual market, which is the situation this structure is built to replace. Run your own number to see if it fits before you talk to anyone.
Can a self-employed person get a group health plan, or only individual coverage?
Yes, not only individual coverage. The default guidance sends a self-employed person to the individual marketplace, but an owner who takes a W-2 salary through an S-corp can join a large group plan instead, priced on the whole group rather than on one person. You join an existing group, you do not build one. The plan is a national PPO paid through payroll. The calculator prices it on your numbers.
Do I need employees to get a group health plan?
No. This is the most common misunderstanding. The newer ICHRA option needs a W-2 employee to point it at, but joining an existing large group plan does not require you to have any employees. As the owner taking a W-2 salary, you join the group yourself. A business of one qualifies. You do not build a group with staff, you join one that already exists.
Is it legal for a one-person business to be in a group health plan?
Yes. This is an established structure that companies have used for decades, not a loophole and not new. The coverage runs through a NAPEO-member, ESAC-accredited provider on a national PPO, on the real 2026 tax tables. Your own accountant can verify every figure in the full audit report we generate for your exact numbers. We are not the provider; a separate licensed provider runs the coverage.
What does a group health plan cost for a business of one?
Two parts. The plan itself, on representative Cigna national PPO tiers, runs about $589 to $879 a month depending on the deductible, set at enrollment. The service fee is a flat $150 per person a month for the full stack, or $75 for compliance only, month to month with no long-term contract. The fee does not climb when you pay yourself more. Your own number comes from the free calculator.
Do I have to give my contact details to find out if I qualify?
No. You run the calculator with no name, email, or phone and see your result on screen. It uses your inputs to show your tax and coverage cost today against the group plan, free. You only share contact details if you choose to unlock the full CPA audit report. Nothing is stored or shared until you request that report.