ehealth (NASDAQ:EHTH) is now offering individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA) health insurance products and services on top of traditional health insurance options.
Corporations and business owners can use ICHRA to make premium contributions towards health plans selected by employees. An employee can choose the coverage that best suits their individual needs from a selection of available plans, and employers can choose their own contribution towards subsidizing the costs of their employees.
“In regions where we offer both ICHRA and traditional group health insurance products, we’ll now be able to help employers understand which may work best for their needs. For employers who want to provide health insurance for employees but can’t afford a traditional group plan, the ICHRA program presents a good solution. While ICHRA can accommodate groups of any size, it may prove especially attractive to smaller businesses,” said eHealth CEO Fran Soistman.
eHealth runs an online health insurance marketplace at eHealth.com, and eHealthMedicare.com, using technology that gives consumers health insurance enrolment options. The company has connected more than 8 million members with health insurance, Medicare options and other such plans since 1997. The company’s marketplace optins include Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement, Medicare Part D prescription drug, individual, smart business and other plans from over 200 health insurance carriers across 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Specific benefits of ICHRA for employers include helping businesses attract and keep workers. It gives employers the opportunity to define their own contributions, which can minimize risk and keep costs under control better than if the company only had group health insurance coverage. For employees, they have the option to select the ACA-compliant health plan that best suits their needs, and use employer disbursements to reduce their premiums.
Premium reimbursements from employees are tax-free and not reportable as taxable income, and when an employee leaves the company, they can take their plan with them.
ICHRAs are considerably different from the previous set of rules that forbade employers from reimbursing employees for individual market premiums. HealthSherpa estimates as of 2022 there are between 100,000 and 200,000 people with ICHRA benefits.
