Angel Construction Services: Making Healthcare Benefits Work for Small Teams

For Angel Construction Services, a small general contracting business based in California, offering health benefits had always felt out of reach. With just five full-time employees spread across multiple states, traditional healthcare plans didn’t fit.

Even though the company paid employees fairly, two team members, a husband-and-wife duo, still couldn’t afford coverage through the marketplace. “Even though we do pay our employees fairly, we had two employees who didn’t purchase health insurance through the marketplace because they thought it was too expensive,” explains Ashton Strauss. “With Vitable’s QSEHRA reimbursement, they were finally able to afford coverage and now actually have health insurance.”

The Challenge of Being Small but Nationwide

Like many small businesses, Angel Construction wanted to do right by their employees but felt stuck. “We don’t really qualify for a healthcare plan because we are so small, and we have employees in different states with different needs,” Ashton says. “The QSEHRA reimbursement is flexible enough for our little team, while also giving us an opportunity to help our employees with healthcare costs, which is something we have wanted to do for a long time.”

Vitable’s QSEHRA (Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement) is a tax-free benefit that allows small businesses to reimburse employees for healthcare expenses, including individual insurance premiums. Instead of offering a traditional group plan, employers set a monthly allowance, and employees use it to pay for the coverage and care that work best for them.

One added advantage: if employees qualify for premium tax credits on the marketplace, they can use both their employer contribution through QSEHRA and apply any remaining subsidy available. This makes health insurance even more affordable and flexible for workers.

Since launching their QSEHRA with Vitable, Angel Construction employees have made 111 claims and been reimbursed nearly $25,000, with a 100% utilization rate across the team. Every single employee has been able to use the benefit, proving its value to the whole company.

The company’s leadership, led by President Alison Strauss, had long been searching for a way to support employee health without the burden of complex, costly plans. When their PEO introduced them to Vitable, they finally found a model that fit.

Healthcare That Works for Everyone

The impact was immediate, both for the employees and for Ashton personally. “I have a medical condition where I need to visit a PT 2–4 times a month, and the reimbursement helps pay for that (while my actual insurance premium is on my husband’s employee plan),” she explains. “But then my husband-and-wife employees can pay for their insurance premiums and actually have health insurance.” This flexibility gave Angel Construction the confidence that they could offer meaningful support without sacrificing financial stability.

“The QSEHRA reimbursement is flexible enough for our little team, while also giving us an opportunity to help our employees with healthcare costs, which is something we have wanted to do for a long time.”

Simple, Smooth, and Stress-Free

Beyond affordability, Vitable delivered something else that mattered deeply to Ashton: ease of use. “From both an employee and an employer standpoint, the process is really smooth,” Ashton notes. “We are in an industry where some of our employees are less technologically advanced, and they’re able to submit easily.” For Ashton, a former product manager, that’s a major selling point, “Which I appreciate because some of my other systems I am on the phone for a while with my employees helping to explain how it works!”

By choosing Vitable, Angel Construction transformed what once felt impossible, providing real healthcare support to a small, dispersed team. For Ashton, the impact is clear: better support for employees, better care for herself, and a benefit that’s simple enough for everyone to actually use.