Covaru is an independent insurance agency for businesses in California and Texas. We shop the insurance companies for you, set up the plan and explain it to your team in plain English or Spanish.
Free · No commitment
Who it’s for
The people you want to hire are weighing offers from companies that already have benefits. We build your first package so your offer holds up: health insurance, plus dental, vision and retirement if you want them. Then we explain it to your team in their language.
Why a first plan matters, in numbersThe renewal came in higher and nobody told you why. Send us the letter. We find out what moved and explain it back to you in plain words. Then we shop the other insurers for a better price on the same benefits and put it all on one page.
Is your increase normal? Compare itPlan types
Not sure which one fits? A group plan, a level-funded plan with a fixed monthly bill, or a monthly allowance (ICHRA) each employee spends on their own plan. We tell you which fits and what it costs.
The catch Three things. The insurer checks your group’s health first, with health questions for each employee or a look at past claims, and can say no or charge more. Some insurers want your team to have had group coverage last year. And because the law treats the plan as one you fund yourself, a yearly coverage form to the IRS, and in California to the state Franchise Tax Board, is your job, not the insurer’s; we make sure it gets done. Refunds in a good year usually need you to renew with the same insurer.
How it works A way to offer health insurance without buying a group plan. You give each employee a set tax-free monthly amount, which can be higher for older employees and for those covering a family, within rules we handle. They use it to buy a plan of their own on the individual market, or they can be on Medicare. A spouse’s work plan or a short-term plan doesn’t count.
What you control You control the budget, and you can’t offer the same group of employees a group plan and an allowance at the same time. We help each employee pick a plan and enroll, and each one shows proof of their plan every year, and confirms they still have it each time they ask to be paid back.
The catch An employee can’t use your money and a government discount at the same time, and if your amount is large enough that federal tax rules call the plan affordable, they lose the discount even if they turn the allowance down, so we estimate that for each person first from their age, home zip code and pay. Whether you can use it yourself depends on how your business is set up, and your accountant has the final say.
Life and disability A payment to an employee’s family if they die, and part of their pay, usually about 60 percent up to a monthly limit, if illness or injury keeps them from working.
Accident, critical illness and hospital plans They pay a set amount straight to the employee after a covered event, on top of the health plan. Usually employee-paid.
Health savings and spending accounts (HSA and FSA) Two ways employees pay medical costs before taxes: an HSA they own, paired with a high-deductible plan, or an FSA you sponsor. We set them up and never hold the money.
How it works
Step 1
No paperwork. You learn which options fit your team.
Step 2
Real monthly numbers from the insurers in your state, on one page.
Step 3
Take your time. Coverage usually starts on the first of a month, and if you don’t go ahead, you owe nothing.
Gold PPO
$X,XXX/mo
After you sign
When you start
For your employees, in Spanish or English. By video, or in person around San Francisco and Austin.
Sent to your payroll or accountant after enrollment and each renewal, with the plan document the IRS requires.
All year
We do the paperwork with the insurer, and report departures on time so people can keep coverage.
A denied claim or a wrong bill: send it to us and we work it out with the insurer.
Every year
From enrollment and the insurer’s reports: which benefits people pick and use, and which sit unused. Never anyone’s health details.
New quotes before the letter arrives, and a straight answer on whether to stay.
Questions
With a 15-minute call. We ask how many people you have, where they are and roughly what you can spend. Then we show you what a group plan and a monthly allowance would each cost per employee. You don’t need any paperwork for that first conversation. To buy a group plan in California you need at least one full-time employee on payroll besides the owner and spouse. In Texas you need two people working in the business, and a married couple who both work in it can count; with only two people, both have to enroll. A Texas business with 51 to 100 employees counts as a large group, and its price can depend partly on its own claims history. We check all of that on the call.
No. You offer the plan to full-time employees, usually those working 30 hours a week or more, and you can make new hires wait up to 90 days. Your share is often half or more of each employee’s own premium, and employees pay for a spouse or children. People who already have coverage through a spouse or a public program can say no, and you don’t pay for them. For a group plan, insurers usually want most eligible employees to join, about 70 percent in California and 75 percent in Texas, and people covered elsewhere don’t count against you. If you can’t reach that, federal rules let a small business enroll in a regular group plan between November 15 and December 15 without the minimums, for coverage starting January 1. With the monthly allowance option, the ICHRA, you pay only for employees who buy a plan.
A yearly tax filing. If you averaged 50 or more full-time employees last year, counting part-time hours toward the total, the IRS treats you as a large employer. You then send the IRS a yearly form and give each full-time employee one that shows the coverage you offered. We make sure it gets done.
A way to offer health insurance without buying a group plan: you give each employee a set tax-free amount every month, and they use it to buy a plan of their own. You pay only for employees who buy a plan. There is one catch with government discounts, so we check each person first. How it works, and the catch
The insurer checks your group’s health first and can say no or charge more. There’s also a yearly coverage form to file and a rule about refunds. The rest of the catch
A monthly allowance (ICHRA) is for employees on payroll, the ones who get a W-2. Contractors can’t join them. Group plans are mostly the same, with exceptions. In Texas, state law lets a group plan include independent contractors, and each insurer sets its own conditions. In California, most insurers take W-2 employees only. Either way you need employees on payroll too. If you have a mix, we count the employees and talk through the rest on the call.
Yes, fully. We are native Spanish speakers. The first call, the comparison, the enrollment meeting with your team and the day-to-day questions can all be in Spanish. Your employees can mix languages too.
Usually, yes. You sign a broker of record letter, a short letter on your letterhead or the insurer’s own form, telling the insurance company that Covaru now represents you. Your plan, your rates, your renewal date and your employees’ coverage don’t change. The insurer tells your current broker. Timing depends on the insurer: many make the change on the first of the next month, and until then you can usually withdraw the letter. We check your insurer’s timing first.
No. Send us the renewal letter and we can usually have other quotes back within two weeks. The insurer has to send that letter at least 60 days before the new rate starts: in California for every small group, and in Texas if you have 50 or fewer employees. If there isn’t time to move this year, we say so, help you with the renewal you have, and start 90 days out next time. See how your increase compares
Yes, as far as the insurer allows. We always see who enrolled, who said no and which plan level and extras each person picked. Level-funded plans usually come with monthly claims reports. With a standard small-group plan, insurers often share little about claims, because in a small group the numbers could point to one person. Either way you see totals, never who went to the doctor or why.
We ask for them only when you want quotes, through a secure link, and we use them for that and, if you work with us, to service your plans. If you decide not to go ahead, we delete the employee list you sent us, and we confirm that in writing if you ask. Two limits: if your team already signed applications, California law makes us keep those for at least five years, and the insurers and the general agency that quoted you keep their own copies under their own rules. We don’t sell information.
Those are the two states where we’re licensed today. If you’re elsewhere, ask anyway. Depending on the state, we may be able to get licensed there or point you to a broker we trust.
Didn’t find yours?Bring it to the first call. It’s free and takes 15 minutes.Get a free review
A 15-minute call, no paperwork, in English or Spanish.
or write to us at hello@covaru.com
$0
What our help costs you. The insurance company pays us, not you.