Plan around the coverage your employees already have.
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard is Kitsap County's largest single employer, with about 14,000 mostly civilian workers, and Naval Base Kitsap employs nearly 39,000 people across its installations, according to the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance. Around the base sits a ring of smaller employers: marine and defense contractors, machine shops, the trades, retail and services.
For a small employer, that mix shows up on the census. Some employees are military spouses or retirees with TRICARE. Others are covered through a spouse's federal job. Count how many people expect to waive before you set contributions, because participation and your cost both depend on it, and confirm how each carrier treats waivers for other group coverage.
One federal rule matters here. An employer with 20 or more employees may not offer TRICARE-eligible workers money or other incentives to stay off the group plan. An opt-out payment offered to every eligible employee on the same terms is treated differently from one aimed at TRICARE users, so have any opt-out design reviewed before you announce it.
Three questions for a Bremerton census.
Who will waive, and why
Record each waiver reason: TRICARE, a spouse's federal plan, another employer plan or no coverage at all. That list tells you whether a carrier's participation minimum is realistic and whether dependent coverage is worth subsidizing. Our employee census page explains what we need to quote.
What your offer is compared with
Federal civilian and military benefits are the yardstick for many local candidates. You will rarely match them on medical alone. A clear employer contribution, dental and vision, and disability coverage for physical work often close more of the gap than a richer medical plan.
Where your people get care
St. Michael Medical Center finished moving its hospital from Bremerton to Silverdale in December 2025, when its new patient tower opened. Employees who used the old Bremerton campus now drive north for inpatient care. Ask which clinics and hospitals matter to them and check those exact locations in each proposed network.
Check the clinic, the drive and the ferry.
Care near home
Local starting points include Peninsula Community Health Services, which began as a downtown Bremerton clinic in 1987, and the St. Michael campus in Silverdale. These examples establish locations, not plan participation. Confirm each clinic and clinician in the specific network.
Staff who cross the water
Some Kitsap employers have staff who ride the ferry to Seattle, and some Seattle employers have staff who live in Kitsap. Your rates follow your principal business address, and Kitsap County sits in a different rating area from King County. For those employees, check networks on both sides of the Sound.
What Kitsap employers ask about TRICARE and spouse coverage.
Can we pay employees who have TRICARE to skip our plan?
Not if the payment is aimed at TRICARE. For employers with 20 or more employees, federal law prohibits incentives that target TRICARE-eligible employees to decline or drop the group plan. A cash option offered to all eligible employees through a compliant cafeteria plan is a different design. Have it reviewed before rollout.
Does a spouse's federal coverage count against our participation minimum?
That depends on the carrier. Many count a waiver for other group coverage differently from an employee who simply declines, but the rules vary. We confirm how each carrier counts waivers before a proposal reaches you.
We are a small contractor. Can we offer anything?
Yes. A small group medical plan can start with one eligible common-law employee, and voluntary benefits such as accident coverage can start at three, paid by employees through payroll.
What should we send first?
Your business address, target start date, any current plan and renewal, and where employees live. Then we will ask for the employee census. Keep medical details out of general emails.
The full package, locally.
Employee Benefits
Group medical, dental, vision, life and disability, level-funded and voluntary coverage.
Explore benefits →Business Services
COBRA, ACA compliance and pre-tax accounts, plus an enrollment platform at no added cost from us. Administrator fees may apply.
Explore services →Life Insurance
Term, whole life, final expense and key person coverage for owners and partners.
Explore life →Other areas we serve nearby.
Silverdale
Clinics and retailers hiring next to Kitsap County's largest private employer.
See Silverdale →Port Angeles
Olympic Peninsula employers where recruiting is hard and every referral means travel.
See Port Angeles →Sequim
Employers hiring next to a hospital district and the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe.
See Sequim →All Washington areas
Every city we serve, plus the small group rating area for each county.
See all areas →Quote your Bremerton group.
Send a census with waiver reasons noted. We will price contributions around the coverage your people already have.