5 Best Health Insurance Options for Part-Time Employees in 2024

Part-time workers are not required to receive health insurance through an employer and end up having less access to affordable health insurance options as a result. It can be costly for the employer to offer comprehensive coverage to all their employees as a small business. The best health insurance options for part-time employees include HRAs, Concierge Medicine, and Care Memberships, and more.

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Best Health Insurance Options for Part-Time Employees

The best health coverage option will be the one that is within budget and offers coverage on relevant health services. Employers are not required to provide health insurance to part-time employees, even if they provide health coverage to their full-time workers leaving part-time workers to find options for themselves. A study found that 85 percent of full-time workers have health insurance compared to 24 percent of part-time workers.

Following are the best health coverage options available for an employer to offer or even as individual coverage. 

• Best for Employee Flexibility: HRAs
• Best for Alternatives to Primary Care: Concierge Medicine
• Best for Specialty Care: Health Insurance PPO Plan
• Best for Emergency Care: Catastrophic Coverage
• Best for Affordable Alternatives: Care Membership

Best for Employee Flexibility: HRAs

Health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) are a group health plan for employers to help employees pay for medical expenses. Employees have flexibility in choosing a health insurance plan to most closely meet their needs with financial assistance from their employer.

QSEHRA

Small businesses that don't offer group health coverage can help their employees pay for medical expenses through a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA). Employers with 50 or more employees are required to offer health insurance, but for a small business can be a costly expense. A QSEHRA can help pay for the cost of health care expenses such as premiums and coinsurance to employees with an individual marketplace plan with minimum essential coverage. 

With a QSEHRA, small employers can decide what they'll contribute to their employees’ health care costs, up to an annual maximum set by the IRS. Employees pay their provider or insurance company for their health care costs, then submit proof of payment to be reimbursed by the QSEHRA. Reimbursement is tax-free. The QSEHRA amount provided to employees affects the premium tax credit employees are eligible to receive with their Marketplace health plan.

ICHRA

Employers can utilize a federal program called the Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA) to offer part-time employees a monthly tax-free allowance to purchase an individual health insurance plan. Additionally, health benefit memberships provide an alternative form of medical coverage that is affordable to both the employer and employee while providing basic medical coverage.