Group health carriers and networks for employers

It is not a ranking, not a quote, and not an offer of coverage. Availability, network names, and product branding vary by state and by plan year. The contract, the official carrier directory, and a current proposal control what a group can actually buy.

Florida fully insured small-group carriers

For policies effective on or after January 1, 2026, the Florida Department of Financial Services publishes the official small-group ACA carrier list. On that list, small-group health plans are for employers with one to 50 full-time-equivalent employees. Self-employed individuals and family-only businesses are directed to the individual market. Plans may be available through SHOP, off SHOP, or both. County-level and on- or off-SHOP detail is on the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation tables, not something we invent on this page.

The 2026 indemnity and PPO marketers on that list are Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, doing business as Florida Blue; National Health Insurance Company; and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company. The 2026 HMO marketers are Av-Med, Inc.; BeHealthy Florida, Inc. (TruLi for Health); Capital Health Plan, Inc.; Florida Health Care Plan, Inc.; Health Options, Inc., doing business as Florida Blue; Neighborhood Health Partnership, Inc.; and UnitedHealthcare of Florida, Inc.

Ares's practical core remains companies with 2 to 50 employees, consistent with the rest of this site. A one-person firm often belongs in the individual market, which matches the DFS note above.

Start here for the carriers most Florida employers ask us about:

• Florida Blue small-group plans — official 2026 ACA product families BlueCare, BlueOptions, BlueSelect, and SimplyBlue, including fully insured and balanced-funded options Florida Blue describes for small businesses.
• Florida Blue small-group networks — how those named networks work and how to check a doctor in Florida Blue's official directory.
• UnitedHealthcare Choice Plus and UnitedHealthcare Navigate — national product families described in UnitedHealthcare's official small-business and SHOP materials, with the Florida contract name confirmed on the quote.
• UnitedHealthcare small-group plans in Florida — UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, UnitedHealthcare of Florida, Inc., and Neighborhood Health Partnership, Inc., as they appear on the 2026 DFS list.
• AvMed small-group plans and AvMed for Florida employers — AvMed Elect, Flex, and Elite, which AvMed publishes for groups with 2 to 50 employees.
• Florida Blue and UnitedHealthcare, compared — a side-by-side of official product facts, with no winner and no prices.

Capital Health Plan, Florida Health Care Plan, and TruLi for Health also appear on the official 2026 HMO list. We can include them in a Florida proposal when they fit the worksite counties. National Health Insurance Company appears on the indemnity and PPO list; we will confirm the current product type from official materials before describing it as a major-medical option.

Aetna, Cigna, Kaiser Permanente, Oscar, and AmeriHealth are not on Florida's 2026 ACA small-group list. Pages later in this directory discuss some of those brands only as the carriers themselves describe their group, level-funded, or self-funded products, and only with state-by-state confirmation.

How to check a network

Plan names often point to a network, but the group contract and the ID card control. A doctor who participates in one UnitedHealthcare or Florida Blue product is not automatically in-network for every product from that carrier. Use the official directory, search with the exact network name on the quote, and confirm again before care. The steps are on how to check a group health plan network.

Funding structures and other carriers

Some employers compare a fully insured small-group policy with another way to fund coverage. Those conversations belong next to the carrier pages, not in place of them:

• Aetna Funding Advantage — Aetna describes this as a self-insured plan administered by Aetna Life Insurance Company, with stop-loss offered by Aetna Life Insurance Company. It is not a Florida fully insured ACA small-group policy.
• Cigna Open Access Plus, Cigna LocalPlus, and Cigna Level Funding — network and funding options Cigna publishes for employer groups. Availability varies by state and year. Cigna is not on Florida's 2026 ACA small-group list.
• UnitedHealthcare All Savers Alternate Funding — a level-funded, self-funded design UnitedHealthcare and All Savers describe for many small and mid-size groups, with availability by state.

Employers who already use, or are considering, a professional employer organization can compare that model with a plan the company sponsors itself on PEO versus a group health plan, including Justworks, TriNet, Insperity, and ADP TotalSource.

If an ICHRA or a QSEHRA is the cleaner fit, administration is covered on ICHRA administrators, including Take Command, Thatch, and PeopleKeep.

For self-funded groups, see stop-loss insurance and Sun Life stop-loss. Dental, vision, life, and disability carriers we help employers compare include Guardian, MetLife, Principal, Sun Life group benefits, and Ameritas.

What we need for a proposal

To compare the carriers and structures that actually apply, we need a census (ages or dates of birth, ZIP codes or worksite states, and who is currently covered), the current plan or funding type if there is one, the states where people work, and the renewal date. We will use official directories and current carrier rules, not a generic rank.