Smaller employers – those with fewer than 50 full-time equivalents, are not required under federal law to offer health insurance at all. But there is no penalty for small employers for not doing so.

Healthsharing is especially cost-effective for this market, since small employers who offer healthsharing in lieu of health insurance as an employee benefit face no Affordable Care Act penalty for doing so.

There is a penalty for larger employers who don’t provide an employer-subsidized ACA-compliant health insurance policy for employees. But many forward-thinking larger employers still offer a healthsharing plan rather than a traditional insurance plan.

This is because healthsharing saves so much money compared to health insurance premiums, they still come out ahead, even with the penalty.