Employers Are Cautiously Studying Move to ICHRAs
Health care industry insiders say that employers of all sizes are beginning to take a serious look at moving some of their health benefits to Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) starting in 2022. However, ICHRAs face a somewhat uncertain future with the incoming Biden administration, and some experts aren’t convinced that they presently offer plan sponsors enough value to entice large numbers of firms to move away from traditional employer-sponsored insurance plans.
In July 2019, the Trump administration finalized new regulations for ICHRAs, giving employers greater flexibility to reimburse qualifying employees for buying their own health insurance policies (HPW 7/1/19, p. 1). According to HealthCare.gov, employers can “offer certain types of employees a traditional group health plan and other types of employees an individual coverage HRA,” but “can’t offer the same type of employees a choice between a traditional group health plan and an individual coverage HRA.”