Miramar is one of Broward County's most diverse and rapidly growing cities, home to one of the largest Haitian-American communities in the United States and a significant Caribbean-American population drawn to the city's master-planned neighborhoods, excellent schools, and relatively affordable housing by South Florida standards. Miramar's real estate market has remained consistently active — the city's Parcel B development corridor and suburban residential neighborhoods generate steady transactions, and local brokerages have built professional operations teams to handle the volume.
That workforce diversity and professional depth makes Miramar brokerages particularly well-positioned to understand the importance of equitable employee benefit design — and IRC Section 105(h)'s nondiscrimination requirements align exactly with that principle. A self-insured health plan that covers the managing broker but excludes or provides inferior benefits to W-2 administrative and operations staff fails both the letter of federal law and the spirit of building an equitable workplace. This guide covers the compliance framework in full.
A Miramar real estate brokerage typically employs a managing broker as the HCI and 4–8 W-2 operations staff — transaction coordinators, administrative assistants, client services representatives, and marketing personnel — as non-HCIs. The 1099 licensed agents, who make up the numerical majority of the brokerage's working population, are excluded from 105(h) testing entirely.
Miramar's multicultural workforce means the W-2 operations team often reflects the city's Caribbean and Latino demographic diversity. Many employees may have non-English language preferences. While this does not change the 105(h) testing calculus, it strengthens the case for proactive plan communication: providing bilingual benefit summaries and election forms improves enrollment rates and demonstrates good-faith compliance with ACA Section 1557 language-access obligations.
Eligibility Test. A self-insured plan must benefit at least 70% of all non-HCI W-2 employees. For a Miramar brokerage with 1 HCI and 7 non-HCIs, the plan must cover at least 5 of the 7 non-HCIs (71%). Covering all 7 eliminates any margin risk from the eligibility test.
Benefits Test. All benefits available to HCIs must be available to non-HCIs on identical terms. This includes reimbursement limits, eligible expense categories, coverage tiers, and dependent enrollment options. If the managing broker has access to an HRA with a $10,000 annual cap for any qualifying medical expense, each eligible coordinator must have access to the same $10,000 cap for the same expense categories.
When a self-insured plan fails either the eligibility test or the benefits test, the IRS calculates "excess reimbursements" — the benefits paid to HCIs that they would not have received under a compliant plan — and requires that amount be included in each HCI's W-2 gross income. The employer must withhold income taxes on the excess amount and include it in Box 1 of the W-2.
For a Miramar managing broker who received $8,000 in HRA reimbursements from a plan that excluded W-2 staff entirely, the IRS will likely treat all $8,000 as excess reimbursement — taxable compensation. This converts a tax-free benefit into ordinary income, generating unexpected tax bills for both the broker and additional W-2 reporting burdens for the brokerage's payroll team.
Step 1 — Choose the right plan structure. Fully insured small-group plans are exempt from 105(h). If the brokerage wants to use a self-insured arrangement (HRA, QSEHRA, ICHRA), it must commit to including all W-2 employees in eligibility and providing equal benefits across the board.
Step 2 — Draft a compliant plan document. The plan document must define the plan year, eligible employees, benefit levels, and enrollment procedures — without any compensation- or title-based distinctions in plan design. Retain this document indefinitely; it is the foundation of your compliance record.
Step 3 — Conduct annual testing. Build the W-2 employee census (excluding all 1099 agents), identify HCIs, and run the eligibility and benefits tests. Document results annually.
Step 4 — Communicate the plan to all eligible employees. Provide a Summary Plan Description to all eligible employees before the plan year begins. For Miramar's multilingual workforce, consider providing a Spanish or Haitian Creole summary if any employees have limited English proficiency.
Step 5 — Retain documentation for six years. Keep all plan records, testing data, enrollment forms, and related communications for at least six years from the relevant plan year.
Providing Benefit Materials Only in English. While not a 105(h) violation, failing to provide accessible benefit information to LEP employees creates ACA 1557 exposure and practically reduces enrollment among non-HCI staff — which can affect the appearance of plan administration even if not the technical test outcome.
Not Including Part-Time W-2 Staff in Testing. Some Miramar brokerages have part-time administrative staff who are W-2 employees. Unless the plan document legitimately excludes employees working fewer than a defined threshold of hours (consistently applied), all W-2 employees — including part-time — must be counted in the testing population. Selectively excluding lower-paid part-time non-HCIs while including full-time HCIs can cause test failure.
Talk to a licensed advisor about health plan nondiscrimination compliance for your Miramar real estate brokerage.