Section 125 Employee Benefits
Real benefits for your employees.
At zero cost to them.
Most business owners have never heard of Section 125. The ones who understand it wish they had found it sooner. Real benefits could start on your next payroll run.
This is not insurance.
It is something better.
Section 125 is an IRS tax code that has been on the books since the 1970s. It allows certain qualified benefits to be paid for on a pre-tax basis directly through payroll. That tax savings is what funds the entire plan.
Here is how it works in plain language. When an eligible employee enrolls, a specific deduction is structured on their paycheck. The tax savings created between their federal, social security, and FICA obligations generates a delta, a gap between what they were paying in taxes and what they pay now. That delta covers the cost of the benefit plan entirely. In most cases there is money left over that goes back into the employee's paycheck as a small bump.
The employee pays nothing out of pocket. They get real benefits. And they take home a little more money than they did before.
On the employer side, because payroll taxes are a 50/50 split between employee and employer, the company also stops paying FICA on every enrolled employee's deduction. That adds up to an average of $750 per employee per year in direct savings to the business. It shows up on the very first payroll run. Not at the end of the year. Not as a refund. Immediately.
The compliance story alone is unlike anything I have seen. I am going to walk you through all of it.
Real benefits.
Real access.
Zero out of pocket.
Not a discount card. A comprehensive benefit plan that covers the employee and up to five family members, a spouse and four children, across every major category of health and wellness.
Primary Care
Access to a dedicated primary care physician virtually or in person for ongoing and chronic care needs.
Urgent Care
On-demand urgent care access for illnesses and non-emergency needs without waiting rooms or surprise bills.
Mental Health
Counseling and mental health support included in the plan at no additional cost.
Prescriptions
All generic medications completely free. Name brand pharmaceuticals drastically reduced.
Dental and Vision
Dental and vision coverage included alongside annual screenings and imaging services.
The Whole Family
Coverage extends to the employee's spouse and up to four children. Six people total under one plan.
Your employees win.
Your bottom line wins.
Nothing changes about your existing insurance.
This plan does not replace your employees' major medical coverage. It stacks on top of it. Employees who already have insurance through your company now have access to an additional layer of benefits that can reduce how often they actually need to use that major medical plan, which over time can help protect your rates.
For employees who currently have no coverage, the plan includes a minimum essentials coverage option that creates the baseline qualification they need to enroll. For the first time, those employees get access to real health benefits.
The savings to your business are immediate. Because you are no longer paying FICA taxes on the portion of payroll covered by the Section 125 deduction, the average employer saves $750 per enrolled employee per year. That is not a projection. It is a function of how payroll taxes work and it reflects on your very first payroll run after implementation.
$750
Avg Annual Savings Per Employee
In reduced FICA payroll taxes. Shows up on the first payroll run. No waiting.
$0
Cost to the Employee
The entire plan is funded by the employee's own pre-tax savings. Nothing comes out of their pocket.
6
People Covered Per Employee
The employee, their spouse, and up to four children are all covered under one enrollment.
Three independent validations.
One program you can trust completely.
The first question most business owners ask is whether this is legitimate. It is a fair question and I respect it. Here is the full answer.
The program is designed by Dr. Jawad Arshad, a former emergency room physician at Henry Ford Hospital, one of the largest healthcare organizations in Michigan. He left clinical medicine in 2018 to build WOW Health, a discount medical provider organization, and later launched UnifiWell specifically around the Section 125 tax code. He is not a salesperson. He is a physician who built a compliance-first program from the ground up.
Three independent validations are in place.
First, a top law firm specializing in employee benefits has issued a legal opinion letter confirming the program's structure, advanced tracking, and utilization model are compliant and legal to operate.
Second, a publicly traded accounting firm, one of the largest in North America, has reviewed the program from a tax and accounting standpoint and issued its own opinion letter confirming compliance. Publicly traded firms cannot put their name on something that is not clean. They have investors and fiduciary responsibilities that make that impossible.
Third, an IRS advisory firm comprised of former IRS agents and auditors has issued an indemnification letter for all enrolled clients. Their letter states that in their expert opinion the program is 100 percent compliant. They have also added all clients to their errors and omissions insurance policy, which covers the employer dollar for dollar in the event of any audit, investigation, or reclaiming of fees.
An IRS non-action letter is also in place, which is the closest thing to direct IRS approval that exists for a program like this.
The tax code governing this program has no changes scheduled until at least 2030.
I do not bring things to people I care about without doing the work first. I did the work on this one.
The qualifications are straightforward.
Here is what you need.
Built for businesses with an existing workforce. If you have full-time employees and any of them have major medical coverage, you very likely qualify. The team will confirm eligibility before any commitment is required.
Your business has 20 or more full-time employees
At least some employees have an ACA compliant major medical health plan
You run a standard payroll through a payroll system
You are open to a 30-day onboarding process to get the plan live
Employees without major medical coverage are not excluded. A minimum essentials coverage plan can be added to qualify those employees, extending the benefits and the savings to your entire workforce.
The review is free.
The savings start on day one.
There is no cost to find out whether your business qualifies. The team will review your employee count, your current health plan structure, and your payroll setup and give you a clear picture of what your savings would look like before anything is implemented.
If you want to talk it through with me directly first, call me. I will tell you exactly what I told the last business owner I spoke to about this. The truth, straight.
Or call Todd directly: 858.610.6092
This page was built by Todd Cahill. Todd is not a tax advisor and this is not tax advice. The Section 125 program is administered by UnifiWell and fulfillment is provided through WOW Health. Eligibility is determined based on your specific workforce and payroll structure. Consult your tax advisor for guidance specific to your situation.