Unfortunately, if you’re a small business, there are no Obamacare subsidies for you to qualify for in order to help pay for your small business health insurance plan.

The good news is, there are still options for financial help when it comes to small business health insurance.

Obamacare subsidies are not the only financial help you could get for health insurance

Many people have heard about the health insurance subsidies that are available to people with certain incomes, but there are also forms of financial help out there that maybe don’t get as much attention in the news.

Although there are no subsidies for small business health insurance like there is for individual and family plans, you’ll be happy to know that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also includes the small business health care tax credit, which is meant to help small employers provide health coverage for their employees.

What is the small business health care tax credit?

Unlike Obamacare subsidies, the small business health care tax credit is not on a sliding scale based off each individual’s household income.

Qualification for the tax credit is based on your number of employees, their average salaries, and the amount contributed by the employer to employees’ monthly premiums. These factors will also decide how much you get for tax credit.

According to the IRS, in order to qualify for the small business health care tax credit, you must:

• Have fewer than 25 full-time employees
• Pay employees an average of $51,600 a year
• Pay for at least half of each employees’ monthly premium

You usually also need to buy a SHOP Marketplace plan in order to qualify for this tax credit for small business health insurance.

This article is for general information, and should not relied on for tax info, you can visit the SHOP marketplace to find more information on what type of plan you should buy for your small business.

Can I also get subsidies for my group health insurance plan?

There are two Obamacare subsidy types out there:

• Advanced premium credits
• Cost sharing reduction

The advanced premium credit, is based off of a sliding scale, and will help individuals pay for the monthly cost of insurance. Cost sharing reduction subsidies, on the other hand, can help reduce the cost of deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance.

If you believe that you should be buying individual health insurance, you can find plenty of Obamacare plans on eHealth, and you will be able to get Obamacare subsidies even when you buy online with us.

If you are paying for a group health insurance plan though, you will not be able to get Obamacare subsidies, since there are special types of financial support specifically meant for small business plans.

If you still feel that you won’t be able to afford to offer health insurance to your small business employees, you’ll be happy to hear that there’s another way to save on your small business health insurance.

Small business health insurance tax deductions

If you are a small business, in addition to having the chance to qualify for the small business health care tax credit, you can also deduct health insurance-related expenses from your federal business taxes. Some of the health-insurance related costs you may be able to deduct include:

• Premiums
• Contributions to HSA accounts
• Funds toward health reimbursement accounts (tax-advantaged dollars set aside for employees to buy their own health insurance)