Yes, you can insure just one employee affordably, and the most practical way is usually an ICHRA or QSEHRA rather than a traditional group plan. You set a monthly budget, your employee buys an individual plan, and you reimburse them tax-free, with no participation minimums.
You hired your first employee. Maybe it’s a part-time office manager, a full-time technician, or someone who finally lets you stop wearing every hat in your small business. The first thing they ask about — after salary — is health insurance. So you start looking into group plans, and within about fifteen minutes, you’re drowning in minimums, participation requirements, and carrier rules that seem designed for companies ten times your size. Here’s the truth: yes, you can cover one employee affordably. But the path to getting there isn’t the one most people expect.
Why Traditional Group Plans Are Difficult for One Employee
Let’s start with the honest reality of small group health insurance. Many carriers that offer group plans in Florida — including Florida Blue, UnitedHealthcare, and Cigna — have minimum group-size rules, and in practice a group needs at least one eligible employee who isn’t the owner or the owner’s spouse. In practice, that usually means the business owner plus at least one W-2 employee. So if you’re a sole proprietor with one part-time helper, you may technically qualify. But there’s another obstacle waiting for you.
Group plans come with participation requirements. Most carriers require that at least 70% of your eligible employees enroll in the plan. If you have one eligible employee and that employee is already covered by their spouse’s employer plan and wants to waive your coverage, you may fall below the threshold entirely — which means the carrier won’t write the policy at all.
This isn’t the carrier being difficult. It’s how group underwriting works. The carrier needs a pool of insured employees to spread risk. One person doesn’t create a pool. So for many micro-businesses, the traditional group plan route simply doesn’t work.
The Solution Most Brokers Don’t Lead With: ICHRA
The Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement — better known as an ICHRA — was created specifically for situations like yours. Since 2020, the IRS has allowed employers of any size, including businesses with just one employee, to set up an ICHRA and reimburse employees for individual health insurance they purchase themselves.
Here’s how it works in plain language. You decide how much you’re willing to contribute each month — let’s say $350. Your employee goes to healthcare.gov and picks a plan from Florida Blue, Oscar, Ambetter from Sunshine Health, or any other carrier available in your county (note that Cigna and Molina are leaving Florida’s individual market for 2027). They pay their premium, submit documentation to you, and you reimburse them up to your set amount. The reimbursement is tax-free to them and tax-deductible to you.
There are no minimums. No participation requirements. No carrier telling you that you need two employees to qualify. If you have one employee and want to help them get covered, an ICHRA lets you do exactly that.
One subsidy rule to know: if the ICHRA is considered affordable (the employee’s cost for the lowest-cost Silver plan after your reimbursement is no more than 9.96% of household income in 2026, or 10.22% in 2027), the employee can’t also claim a marketplace premium tax credit. If it’s unaffordable, they can decline it and use the credit instead.
QSEHRA: Another Option for Very Small Employers
If your business has fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees and you don’t currently offer any group health plan, you may also qualify for a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA). The QSEHRA functions similarly to an ICHRA, but it comes with annual IRS contribution caps. For 2026, those limits are $6,450 per year for individual coverage and $13,100 per year for family coverage.
The QSEHRA is simpler to administer in some ways, but it’s also less flexible than the ICHRA. With an ICHRA, you can set different reimbursement amounts for different classes of employees (full-time vs. part-time, for example). The QSEHRA requires consistent reimbursement amounts across all employees. For a business with just one employee, the QSEHRA works fine — but most benefits advisors prefer the ICHRA for the flexibility it offers as your team grows. For a deeper comparison, see can I offer health insurance with just 2 employees.
What You Cannot Do: Add an Employee to Your Personal Plan
This comes up constantly, and the answer is a hard no. Individual health insurance plans — the kind you buy on healthcare.gov or directly from a carrier — cover the named insured and their legal dependents only. A dependent means a spouse or a qualifying child. It does not mean an employee, even if they work for you full-time. You cannot add an unrelated employee to your individual plan under any circumstance. Carriers will not allow it, and attempting to do so could void your coverage.
The Real Cost Math on ICHRA
Let’s put numbers to this so you can see what you’re actually looking at. A $300 per month ICHRA reimbursement costs your business $3,600 per year. Florida has no personal state income tax, so the savings are mainly federal: at a 24% marginal rate, that $3,600 deduction is worth roughly $864, and because reimbursements aren’t wages, you also avoid payroll taxes on that amount. Your real cost is closer to $2,700 per year — well under $250 per month — to provide meaningful health insurance support to your employee.
Compare that to a group health plan, where you’re typically required to contribute at least 50% of the employee’s premium and Florida small-group rates are proposed to rise about 11.4% on average for 2027, and you can see why ICHRA is such a useful tool for small businesses watching their margins closely. Our guide on how much to budget for employee health insurance benefits can help you set a number.
ICHRA reimbursement amounts vary widely depending on what the business can afford and what plans are available locally. In Volusia County, Orange County, and much of the I-4 corridor, several carriers offer marketplace plans, so your employee will usually have real options — though proposed 2027 individual rates are up an average of 15.3%, so price plans before you set your allowance.
Setting Up an ICHRA the Right Way
An ICHRA requires a written plan document before the first reimbursement is made. To set one up correctly, you need to:
- Establish a formal written ICHRA plan document
- Give employees at least 90 days’ notice before the plan year starts so they can shop for individual coverage
- Confirm employees maintain minimum essential coverage (a real health plan, not just a short-term plan)
- Keep monthly reimbursement documentation on file for tax purposes
The administrative burden is lighter than a full group plan, but you do need the paperwork to be correct to protect the tax treatment. A benefits advisor can set this up quickly — in most cases, a small ICHRA for one employee can be established quickly. Learn more in can I offer different health plans to different employees.
Which Option Is Right for Your Business?
If your one employee already has coverage through a spouse’s employer, a simple conversation about your ICHRA option may be all you need — it gives you flexibility to offer something meaningful without the group plan infrastructure. If your employee is currently uninsured or on a marketplace plan without much subsidy help, the ICHRA gives them real purchasing power and gives you a clean, tax-efficient way to invest in your team without overcommitting your budget.
The answer to “can I insure just one employee affordably?” is yes — and the ICHRA is almost always the cleanest way to do it for a small Florida business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get a group health plan with only one employee in Florida?
Possibly. Florida small group coverage generally requires at least one eligible employee who isn’t the owner or the owner’s spouse, plus carrier participation and contribution rules, often around 70% participation and a 50% employer contribution. If your only employee waives coverage, the group may not qualify. An ICHRA or QSEHRA avoids those minimums.
What are the QSEHRA limits for 2026?
For 2026, a QSEHRA can reimburse up to $6,450 per year for self-only coverage and $13,100 per year for family coverage. QSEHRAs are available to employers with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees that don’t offer a group health plan, and employees must have minimum essential coverage to receive tax-free reimbursements.
Can my employee get marketplace subsidies if I offer an ICHRA?
Only if the ICHRA is unaffordable. If the employee’s cost for the lowest-cost Silver plan, minus your reimbursement, exceeds 9.96% of household income in 2026 (10.22% in 2027), they can opt out and claim a premium tax credit. If it’s affordable, they can’t combine the ICHRA with a subsidy.
Can I add my employee to my individual health plan?
No. Individual health plans cover only the policyholder and eligible dependents, such as a spouse or children. An unrelated employee can’t be added, even if they work for you full time. To help an employee, use an ICHRA, a QSEHRA, or a small group plan instead.
If you’re a small business owner in DeLand, Volusia County, or anywhere in Central Florida and want to know which approach makes sense for covering one employee — ICHRA, QSEHRA, or a group plan — get practical guidance with no obligation. Michael McAllister, owner of Choice Health Insurance Brokers in DeLand, is a licensed broker appointed with 200 carriers (NPN 18229135) and there is no cost to work with him. Call or text 321-230-9536 or visit choice.healthcare to get started.