A tier-1 national network
The Cigna national PPO. Broad physician access, no referrals required, and it travels with you instead of holding you inside a regional network.
For single-owner businesses
Most PEOs will not take a business with one owner. Ours will review yours.
You net $80,000 or more and pay $700 or more a month for coverage. Put those two figures in and see your current path next to a group structure, before USA OPS has your name.
The group plan runs on the Cigna national PPO through our PEO partner, with MetLife dental and vision and Vestwell retirement. Coverage can start without waiting for open enrollment.
2026 change
What changed in 2026, and why nobody warned you.
The enhanced premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025. For 2026, income above 400 percent of the federal poverty line generally makes you ineligible for the credit. What you are quoted now is the full cost with the discount removed, which is why it does not read like a normal rate increase.
There is a second change that gets almost no attention. For tax years beginning after 31 December 2025, the cap on repaying excess advance credits was eliminated at every income level. Previously, if you underestimated a variable income, the amount you had to pay back was limited. That limit is gone.
Self-employed income is variable by definition. That combination, no cap and an income you cannot predict in January, is the part that will surprise people at tax time.
Headcount
Why every PEO said no.
Most PEOs will not write a company with no W-2 employees. An owner paying themselves through distributions or a Schedule C is not an employee in the way a carrier counts, so the file gets declined on headcount before anyone looks at the economics.
That is a rule about how the PEO is set up, not a judgement about your business. A structure that treats the owner as a W-2 employee of the co-employer changes what the carrier is looking at.
What the group structure opens up.
A single-member LLC, S-corp, or C-corp can be reviewed for the same group plan a larger employer would get.
Dental, vision, and retirement
MetLife dental and vision, and Vestwell retirement, through the same structure and the same payroll.
Room to hire
When you add your first employee, the PEO already runs HR, compliance, and payroll. Nothing has to be rebuilt.
The gate is $80,000 net and $700 a month.
Those two figures decide whether this deserves your time. You give income, state, entity, current cost, and household basics. The comparison comes back on one screen.
A positive result does not approve coverage. It means the case is worth the underwriter's questionnaire and direct provider pricing. A result that says stay put saves you a sales process.
There is no percentage of your payroll and no long lock-in. USA OPS is paid a flat fee.
What USA OPS is, and what it is not.
USA OPS is a flat-fee PEO broker and an independent referral partner. We show you your own number before you talk to anyone, and we guide the case from that first calculation through the handoff.
USA OPS is not the PEO. We do not sell, hold, underwrite, quote, enroll, or guarantee coverage, and we do not run payroll or HR. Our PEO partner is the employer of record and does all of that. It is NAPEO member and ESAC accredited, and operates in all 50 states.
Owners arrive here from COBRA, from a narrow regional plan, or from an individual plan that stopped making sense. You still answer the health questionnaire, and the underwriter has the final say.
Straight answers before you spend any time.
Will I definitely be approved?
No. The underwriter makes the final call. The calculator tells you whether the case is worth moving to that review.
Is this sold by USA OPS?
No. USA OPS is the conduit and service team. The PEO and licensed provider handle pricing, underwriting, enrollment, payroll, and administration.
Do I need employees?
No. That is the specific reason this exists.
Do I have to wait for open enrollment?
Not for the PEO path. If the provider accepts the file and confirms the start date, the transition can begin outside the annual marketplace window.
Next step
Run your numbers. If the structure wins, move to provider pricing.
If it does not, stop there.
General information only. Not tax or legal advice. Eligibility depends on entity, ownership, state rules, payroll setup, timing, and specific facts.
USA OPS is an independent referral partner. We do not sell, underwrite, enroll, or administer coverage. The PEO handles underwriting, enrollment, payroll, group coverage, and administration.