For Businesses
Group Health Insurance in Minnesota
Employee benefits for small and mid-sized Minnesota businesses.
Often what decides whether a good employee stays. The market moves every year.
In Minnesota
A group plan can start on the first of any month, and the month you start becomes your renewal month. Minnesota's small-group special open enrollment, November 15 to December 15, is the one window where the participation thresholds are waived — for coverage effective January 1.
Written by Pat Bernauer, licensed Minnesota insurance agent (NPN 32897) · Updated
The short answer
A group plan is what a small Minnesota business offers its people when it wants to keep them, and it is more within reach than most owners assume. The federal small business health care tax credit can return up to half of what you pay toward premiums for two years, but only in narrow cases: it generally takes a SHOP plan, fewer than 25 full-time-equivalent employees, average wages under an inflation-adjusted limit, and you paying at least half the premium. We quote several carriers against each other at every renewal, because the market moves every year. We also handle the paperwork a plan brings with it, including Minnesota’s continuation rules, which reach employers with as few as two employees.
- Small business health care tax credit:
- up to 50% of premiums, for two years, generally only through a SHOP plan: fewer than 25 full-time-equivalent employees, average wages under an inflation-adjusted limit, and at least half the premium paid by the employer — Internal Revenue Service
- Continuation coverage:
- Minnesota’s law applies from 2 employees; federal COBRA from 20 — Minnesota Department of Health
How we can help
Tell us your headcount and your renewal date and we will tell you what is realistic before you commit to anything.
- Quote fully insured, level-funded and ICHRA against each other rather than assuming one of them.
- Show what a change costs your employees, not only what it costs the company.
- Run the enrollment meetings and handle the carrier paperwork.
- Come back to it before each renewal instead of letting it roll.
You’ll work with Pat or Spencer directly. Whoever quotes it is the person who answers when you call about it later.
We’ll come back to you quickly, and it costs you nothing either way.
Small group special open enrollment — 2027 coverage
For small employers. Group plans can start on the first of any month, and the month you start becomes your renewal month. This is the one window in the year when carriers must issue a plan for January 1 without the usual participation and contribution minimums.
- Enroll between:
- November 15, 2026 and December 15, 2026
- Coverage starts:
- January 1
A group plan can start on the first of any month — there is no open enrollment to wait for — and the month you start becomes your renewal month from then on, so a plan that begins September 1 renews every September 1. This window is the exception worth knowing: coverage effective January 1 without having to hit the usual participation and contribution thresholds. If employees on a spouse's plan are what keeps you under the participation line, this is your month.
Send us what you have
Fill in what you know. Anything you leave blank, we’ll sort out on the phone. It goes to Pat and Spencer, not to a call center.
More about Group Health Insurance
- Fully insured group medical plans
- Level-funded options
- ICHRA and individual-coverage strategies
- Group dental and vision
- Renewal marketing to competing carriers
- Contribution and plan design modeling
- Employee enrollment support and questions
Minnesota insurance guides