Under the Insurance Partnership, small businesses that provide health insurance to their qualified employees can have part of their costs paid for by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The Insurance Partnership will pay you as much as $1000 a year for each qualified employee, including yourself if you meet the employee qualifications. The amount depends on the tier of coverage chosen by the employee.
Tier of coverage Insurance Partnership pays you
Monthly or Annually
Individual $33.33 $400
Couple* $66.66 $800
One adult, one child* $66.66 $800
Family $83.33 $1,000
*when offered by insurer
Self-employed individuals or couples are not eligible for Insurance Partnership payments. Please see the self-employed section below.
How it works
The total amount of your Insurance Partnership payment depends on the number of qualified employees you have and the tier of coverage they have.
Each month, the Commonwealth pays the total amount of your Insurance Partnership payment to your health-insurance intermediary or directly to you. Either way, you pay less!
Example
The following example shows a business with four employees (including you, the owner). Two of the employees are qualified under the Insurance Partnership. This chart shows how much the Insurance Partnership can save you each month.
Employer IP Qualified? Tier IP saves you
You No Individual $0
Employee 1 Yes Family $83.33
Employee 2 Yes Individual $33.33
Employee 3 No Family $0
Total savings: $116.33 per month
Your business may qualify
If you answer YES to these questions, your business may qualify for the Insurance Partnership.
- Do you employ no more than 50 full-time workers?
- Do you now, or do you later plan to offer comprehensive health insurance to your employees?
- Do you now, or do you later plan to pay at least 50% of the cost of that insurance?
Are you self-employed?
Self-employed individuals and couples are not eligible for Insurance Partnership employer payments. But you may qualify for the Insurance Partnership as an employee.
- Do you live in Massachusetts?
- Are you uninsured?
- Do you have a family income that meets program standards?
If you answered YES to these questions, please go to Insurance Partnership for Employees.
Criteria for employee eligibility
Your employees (full- or part-time) are eligible to participate in the Insurance Partnership if they:
- are aged 19 through 64;
- live in Massachusetts;
- have not been offered health insurance by you in the past six months and have not been eligible for health insurance through their spouse's employer in the past six months; and
- have a gross (pre-tax) annual family income that meets program standards.
Employee income standards
Your employee's gross family income (before taxes and other deductions) must be no more than 300% of the federal poverty level (FPL). These amounts are adjusted annually.
To apply for the Insurance Partnership, or to have one of our representatives visit your business, call:
Employee Benefit Resources
2 Hampshire Street
Suite 100
Foxboro, MA 02035-2896
Tel.: 1-800-399-8285 or 781-830-8282
You can also download the Insurance Partnership Employer Application (PDF) 
, fill it out, and mail it to the above address. Be sure to call if you have any questions.
Download the Insurance Partnership Employer Regulations
file size 1MB
.
This information is provided by MassHealth.