Group health insurance for Orlando employers

The local employer base

The Census Bureau's Statistics of U.S. Businesses for 2022 counts 63,094 employer firms and 1,192,927 paid employees in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metro area. 54,949 of those firms had fewer than 20 employees and employed 177,655 people. Another 4,452 firms were in the official 20-to-99-employee class, with 154,178 employees. The metro file does not publish a separate under-50 total. Ares' 2-to-50 core sits across those two official classes.

Those figures are for the official metro area named by the Census Bureau, which includes Kissimmee and Sanford as well as Orlando. They are not a city-limits count, and they are not a claim about any one industry.

What official surveys say about cost here

MEPS-IC 2025 Table IX.A.1 reports that 27.8% of private-sector establishments in this metro area offered health insurance — lower than the 39.8% published for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater and the 39.0% published for Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach in the same table. Among establishments that offer coverage, Table IX.A.2 puts the average annual premium at $8,599 for single coverage and $20,925 for family coverage, with average employee contributions of $1,773 (single) and $6,633 (family). The family average is lower than the figures published for the other two named Florida metros in that table. That is a survey result for enrolled employees at offering establishments, not evidence that every Orlando group will see a lower quote.

Statewide, Florida firms with fewer than 50 employees had average annual premiums of $9,742 (single) and $24,957 (family) in MEPS-IC 2025 Tables II.C.1 and II.D.1. Read those next to the national figures on the cost of small-business health insurance. Your proposal will be built from your census.

Florida's small-group rule, and who sells coverage

Florida's Department of Financial Services states that small-group health plans are for employers with one to 50 full-time-equivalent employees. Self-employed individuals and family-only businesses are covered through the individual market.

For policies effective on or after January 1, 2026, the Florida Department of Financial Services Small Group Market Carrier List names the marketers that advised the Office of Insurance Regulation they are offering ACA small-group plans. The indemnity/PPO list is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida d/b/a Florida Blue, National Health Insurance Company, and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company. The HMO list is Av-Med, Inc.; BeHealthy Florida, Inc. (TruLi for Health); Capital Health Plan, Inc.; Florida Health Care Plan, Inc.; Health Options, Inc. d/b/a Florida Blue; Neighborhood Health Partnership, Inc.; and UnitedHealthcare of Florida, Inc. County-level on- and off-SHOP availability is on the Florida OIR tables. Some of those HMO names are regional. We will only compare products the OIR tables show as available for the counties where your people work. Pages on Florida Blue, UnitedHealthcare, and AvMed describe products; they are not a statement that Ares is appointed with every carrier or that any carrier endorses the firm.

Continuation when someone leaves the plan

Federal COBRA generally applies to employers with 20 or more employees. For many smaller Florida groups, section 627.6692, Florida Statutes — the Florida Health Insurance Coverage Continuation Act — provides continuation when federal COBRA is not available. The statute's basic continuation period is 18 months after the date coverage would otherwise have ended because of a qualifying event, with a disability extension described in the same section. See COBRA for employers.

How we help an Orlando employer

You send a roster, work locations, what you offer today, and your renewal date if you have one. We confirm whether you sit in Florida's 1-to-50 small-group market and compare a fully insured small-group plan, SHOP, a level-funded design, an ICHRA or QSEHRA, or coverage arranged through a PEO. The method is on how to compare group health plans.