To offer Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) health 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 see if you qualify.
  • Note: 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 — generally workers averaging 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. (However, you can offer coverage to part-time employees if you choose.)

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

• Employees with other health coverage aren't counted as rejecting your offer.
• Use the SHOP Minimum Participation Rate Calculator to see how many of your employees must accept.
• Some states have different minimum participation requirements. See if this affects you.
• If you don’t meet your minimum participation requirement, you can enroll between November 15 - December 15 any year. During this time, the participation requirement isn't enforced.

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

• Visit this page, select your state, and see how to access SHOP insurance in your state. We’ll show you next steps.
• See what to do if your business operates in multiple states.

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: 711) weekdays from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET. Agents and brokers selling SHOP coverage can use this number too.

More answers: SHOP Eligibility