#Guide

If you've been shopping group health insurance in California for more than five minutes, you've probably heard both names. CalChoice and CCSB are California's two small group exchanges. They solve the same basic problem, they are not the same product, and choosing the wrong one costs real money. Here's what each one actually is, where they differ on carrier selection, contribution mechanics, and daily experience, and how to decide which one fits your group.

When you're ready to offer health insurance for the first time, the options aren't obvious. Group plans have participation rules that most 1-2 person companies trip over, ICHRA and QSEHRA exist but nobody explains when they're better than group and when they're not, and the advice you'll find online skips the parts that actually matter.

PEOs promise to simplify HR for small businesses — but at $100–200 per employee per month, they're not right for everyone. Here's an honest look at when a PEO makes sense, when it doesn't, and how to compare it against ICHRA and group health before you sign anything.

If you've looked into health insurance for your team and walked away more confused than when you started, that's not your fault. The industry is hard to navigate. Rules change by state, options interact in non-obvious ways, and most guides are written for people who already understand it. This one tries to be different.

Bay Area dental practices face a health insurance decision that most generic benefits guides don't address well: their teams are staffed differently, their hygienists often work part-time across multiple offices, and the Bay Area hospital landscape means the HMO versus PPO choice has real consequences for employees with existing specialist relationships. This guide covers how California's community-rated group plans work, why the carrier question matters more in this market than most, and what the three main options: group plans, ICHRA, and level-funded actually look like side by side.