Association Health Insurance: Learn How Small Businesses Are Banning Together To Secure Affordable Health Insurance

28 April 2021
 Categories: Business, Blog


Affordable health insurance is often considered a benefit that is exclusive to larger employers. This is because larger employers are able to take advantage of large group benefit plans that traditionally are not available to smaller groups. However, thanks to a specialized type of group insurance known as association health insurance, it is possible for small businesses and even self-employed individuals to now take advantage of the same buying power that larger employers have when it comes to securing affordable health insurance rates. 

What Is Association Health Insurance?

As stated above, association health insurance is a type of group health insurance. However, unlike large group insurance, association health plans typically do not require you to have a minimum number of active group members in order to qualify for discounted rates. Another key difference between these types of insurance is the way in which a group is defined. With large group policies, all active members will typically be required to either be employed by the same company or be immediate family members of an active group member. With association health insurance plans, each active member will simply need to be a member of an eligible association.

Who Qualifies As An Association?

Each association health insurance provider will have its own rules governing who qualifies as an eligible association. However, most providers will stick to a rather standard set of rules which represent the industry standard. Under these rules, members of an association will need to share at least one point of commonality. This point of common interest can be working in the same industry, the fact that all members are self-employed, or simply that all members are small business employees in the same city or state. This allows small businesses, gig workers, freelancers, and even sole proprietors to band together in order to create an association for the purposes of obtaining affordable health insurance. 

How Can You Take Advantage Of Association Health Insurance?

Since association health insurance plans are a type of group insurance, there will be quite a bit of paperwork involved in the process of negotiating a policy premium, enrolling members in the policy, and tracking all member premiums each month. Assuming that none of your active members have the expertise or desire to take on this job, you will likely find that the most effective way to begin taking advantage of this type of insurance policy is to work with a qualified insurance broker in your local area. 

For more information, reach out to a local association health insurance provider.


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