Offer health benefits to your team

Gusto currently supports benefits in all 50 U.S. states and D.C.

Supported benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Employer-paid life insurance
• Employer-paid short-term disability insurance
• Employer-paid long-term disability insurance
• Health Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Dependent care Flexible Spending Account (DCFSA)
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Commuter benefits

Follow the steps below to see quotes and choose the plans you'd like to offer your team. After you choose medical plans, you can view quotes for dental, vision, life, and disability coverage, or choose from tax-advantaged benefits like a Health Savings Account, Flexible Spending Account, and commuter benefits.

Once you choose plans and sign forms, we'll set up open enrollment. Eligible employees will receive emails when it's time to choose or waive coverage in Gusto.

Get started

Follow the steps below to see quotes right from Gusto.

1. Sign in to your Gusto admin account.
2. Go to the Benefits section.
   • If you don't see this, make sure you're in your admin account and have benefits permissions.
3. Click Health Benefits.
4. Choose Explore new plans.
   • If you already offer benefits, click I already have benefits and click here for next steps.
5. Under Explore Plans, click See Price Quotes.
   • To speak with a licensed benefits advisor, click Schedule a Call.

Step 1: Shop for health benefits

We partner with multiple nationwide carriers. Our licensed benefits advisors are available to help you select the best options for your team.

1. Start by reviewing what’s below Your company information. Here’s each item to review and what it means:
   • Eligible employees: This is how many people will be included in quotes and estimates of your company’s costs. Click edit if you’d like to change whether part-time employees are also included in the quotes.
   • Business owners: If there are any owners or officers of your company who are not on payroll but may want to enroll in coverage, click edit and enter their information. We’ll create a Gusto profile for them so they can participate in open enrollment.
   • Dependents: Click edit to add or remove any dependents from the quotes.
   • Company contribution: The percentage of employee or dependent premiums your company will pay for. Click edit to change this percentage.
   • Coverage start date: The date your benefits will begin. Click edit to see other start dates that may be available based on the carriers’ application deadlines.
   • Main company location: The main company address determines which carriers your company may be eligible for.
2. To see a selection of recommended plans, click Personalize plans. Complete the brief survey, then click See recommendations. Based on your preferences, recommended plans will be added to the top of the page.
   • You can change your survey responses by clicking Edit plan preferences.
3. Scroll to All Insurance plans to see more options.You can filter by carrier, premium cost, plan type, and more.
   • Click View full details to review a plan’s Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC). Check out our guide to reading an SBC.
4. The first plan you add will be set as the base plan. If you offer more than one medical plan, the base plan is used to determine how much the company will pay toward employee health insurance.
   • For example, if you choose a Silver plan as the base, set your contribution at 75%, and also offer Bronze and Gold plans, here’s what happens: If an employee picks a more expensive Gold plan, the company still only pays 75% of the Silver plan. The employee pays the rest. If they pick a cheaper Bronze plan, the company’s 75% of the Silver cost might cover most of it.
5. When you find a base plan you like, click Add plan.
   • If you receive an error message when adding additional plans, your chosen carrier may have a limit on the number of plans you can offer.
   • If you want to change the base plan: You’ll need to remove each plan you’ve added. Find the plan you’d like to set as the base and add it first. Then, add the other plans.
6. Once you’ve added the plans you want to offer at open enrollment, click Save & continue.
   • If you click Leave and finish later, your progress is saved.
7. To see a PDF of the company and employee costs for the plans you’ve added so far, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Download employee cost breakdown.
8. To see quotes for other types of benefits, find the type of coverage you’re interested in and click Add plan.
9. When you're finished selecting plans for each type of coverage you’d like to offer, click Save and continue.
   • Clicking Exit and continue later will save your progress.

Note that these quotes are estimates until you confirm employee eligibility details.

The estimated costs represent the maximum you would pay if all employees on payroll enroll. You can edit enrollee details in the next step to get a more accurate quote before submitting your benefits application.

Step 2: Confirm eligibility

Let us know who will be eligible for benefits.

1. Under Employee coverage, indicate whether you're offering benefits to all full-time employees, or to all full-time and part-time employees.
   • The ACA defines a full time employee as anyone working 30+ hours/week, though state rules may vary.
2. In the Enrollee eligibility information section, select each employee’s average number of hours worked and ownership status.
   • To make a selection for multiple employees at once: Click the checkbox next to either Select all or the names of each person you’d like to edit. Click Actions. Choose either Edit avg. hours worked or Edit ownership status. Select the status that applies and click Save.
   • If any owners or officers who may want to enroll in benefits are not listed here: Click Add an owner. Fill out their name, email, date of birth, and work location, then click Save. This creates a Gusto profile for them so they can participate in open enrollment.
3. Click Save and continue.
   • Clicking Exit and continue later will save your progress.

Step 3: Enter company info

Next, you'll choose a waiting period and provide some more company information for your application.

1. Select the waiting period for newly eligible employees.
   • The dropdown includes every option that your carrier offers.
2. Choose whether you want to waive the waiting period for this open enrollment period.
   • Selecting Yes means if there are any newly eligible employees, they can enroll in the new coverage at the same time as the rest of your team.
3. Identify whether your company files taxes as an S-Corporation.
   • If yes, select if you want to enable 100% company contributions for the premiums of 2%+ shareholders and their dependents. This setting is available because there are tax implications for the benefit premiums of S-Corp shareholders. Contact your accountant for advice.
4. Let us know the status of your company under your state’s Secretary of State.
5. Select the date your business was established.
6. Click Save and continue.
   • Clicking Exit and continue later will save your progress.

Step 4: Review plans and submit

1. Review your plan selections and company contribution for each line of coverage you’ve selected.
2. If you’d like to add any other types of benefits, scroll down to the Add additional lines of coverage section. Find the benefit you’d like to see quotes for and click the link in the tile.
   • If you add a new type of benefit, you may be prompted to fill out more information about your company to help us appropriately support your business.
3. Scroll down to the Sign required documents header. Click Sign form beside each document listed.
4. Check the acknowledgment checkbox for the Terms of Service and Compensation and Fee Disclosure.
5. Click Submit application.
   • Clicking Exit and continue later will save your progress for later.

We’ll review your application and contact you with next steps and the timing of open enrollment. Keep an eye on your email for next steps and any tasks to complete on the application checklist. Once it's time for your team to sign in to Gusto and choose or waive coverage, we’ll email all eligible employees.

Note: There's no guarantee the insurance carriers will approve your application. We’ll update throughout the process.

The insurance carriers may request more documents or information to process your application. If so, we'll email you and add the task to your application checklist in Gusto.

View the application checklist

Here's where to view outstanding tasks:

1. Sign in to your Gusto admin account.
2. Go to the Benefits section.
3. Under "Your new benefits application," click Complete tasks.
4. Items that require action from you are listed under "Application checklist." Click the name of any task to start it.

Complete tasks on the checklist

Here are tasks the checklist may include and how to handle them.

Provide info for [carrier name]

If this task on your checklist, your insurance carrier needs some more information to process your application. This could include details about employee absences or your workers’ comp policy.

For a "Provide info" task, click Start next to the task and follow the prompts to submit information.

Upload documents

If this task is on your checklist, your insurance carrier needs one or more documents to process your application. Here's how to submit a document:

1. On the checklist, click the Upload documents task.
2. Click Upload document.
3. Click Select File to choose the document, or drag and drop your file.
   • You can upload a .jpeg, .jpg, or .png up to a maximum file size of 20 MB.
4. Click Upload.
5. The "Status" column shows whether the document has been uploaded or accepted:
   • Requested: We’re waiting on you to upload the document.
   • Pending review: We’re taking a look to make sure the document meets the carrier’s requirements.
   • Accepted: The document is good to go.
   • Rejected: The document does not meet the carrier’s requirements. Take a look at the notes and re-submit.

Once you set up benefits with Gusto, here are a few things to know about your benefits management going forward.

Check your mailbox for your ID card

The insurance carriers send ID cards directly to each enrolled person. They typically arrive 7-10 business days after the benefits start date, though some carriers take longer. Head here for other options to find ID numbers and what to do if you need to go to the doctor before your card arrives. 

Pay your carriers on time

Pay your invoice directly to your insurance carrier(s). Gusto does not make invoice payments on your behalf. Read about how the funds move with payroll deductions and check out our carrier-specific steps to pay your carrier. 

Gusto handles all of your enrollments and deductions

All you need to do is keep your teams' employment details up to date in Gusto. Whenever you make changes (such as hiring and dismissing employees, or changing them from part-time to full-time), Gusto automatically takes care of their benefits and payroll deduction changes. What to expect:

• New hires: After their new hire waiting period is complete, Gusto emails eligible new hires when it's time to sign in to their account and enroll in benefits. You can estimate your new hire's benefits cost even before their coverage starts. 
• Employment changes: If someone's employment changes, be sure to update their employment status. If they're newly eligible for benefits (e.g. if you change their status from part-time to full-time), they're invited to enroll in coverage after their benefits waiting period is complete. If the change makes them ineligible for benefits (ex. they went from full time to part-time), Gusto lets the carrier know to remove them from coverage. Read more on eligibility here.
• Class changes: If you offer different company contributions to different types of employees, and an employee changes classes, update their class in Gusto:
  • Click the People section.
  • Choose the employee.
  • Then, go to their Job tab.
  • Under "Employment status," click Edit to set or change their class.
    • If this changes the company contribution they can receive, we'll email them with next steps to make any plan changes, if desired.
    • If their class changes from a benefits-eligible class to a benefits-ineligible class, their coverage will be canceled.
    • If they're newly benefits eligible with this change, we'll email them inviting them to enroll if desired. 
• Dismissals: When you dismiss an employee, their benefits are terminated, and we'll send them COBRA information. Here’s more info on termination payrolls and how final deductions work.
• Qualifying life events: If an employee experiences a life event that qualifies them to change their coverage, they can submit enrollment changes in Gusto. They must submit their request within 30 days of the event.

Find benefit information

To find details about your company benefits package, download a Summary of Benefits, add new lines of coverage, or view deductions, contributions, enrollment, and more, head to the Benefits section of your admin account.

For questions about claims and coverage, contact your carrier directly.

When to expect renewal and open enrollment 

When your company benefits are up for renewal (a year after they begin), Gusto will reach out to you to understand how the plans worked for you and help you choose your benefits package for the next year. Then we'll run a new open enrollment for your team.