By Hanan Rakine
Two massive, publicly traded insurance coverage firms lately revealed to buyers an intent to spend money on new employer-based well being reimbursement accounts as a possible development space for his or her enterprise. Referred to as Particular person Protection Well being Reimbursement Preparations (ICHRAs), these tax advantaged accounts allow employers to make an outlined contribution to staff’ premiums for a person market insurance coverage coverage. Ought to this technique bear fruit, and enormous numbers of staff transfer to the person marketplace for their well being protection, it might have a major impression on staff’ publicity to well being care prices in addition to for insurance coverage markets.
Background
In 2019, federal rules allowed employers to offer an ICHRA as a substitute of a bunch well being plan for workers to buy Inexpensive Care Act (ACA)-compliant particular person market insurance coverage. Workers with an ICHRA could also be eligible for Market premium tax credit (PTCs), relying on their employer’s contribution, however they can not use each the ICHRA and PTCs to buy a Market well being plan. As well as, to ensure that an employer’s ICHRA contributions to be made on a pre-tax foundation, the worker might solely buy an ACA-compliant particular person market plan off-Market. Employers who select ICHRAs can range the quantity they contribute to the ICHRA primarily based on staff’ age, giving older staff as much as thrice the quantity contributed for youthful staff, in the event that they wish to account for allowable age score within the particular person market.
ICHRAs could also be engaging to employers that wish to management and restrict their contribution to their staff’ well being protection, and notably to small employers which have struggled to maintain tempo with rising well being care prices. Nonetheless, ICHRAs have been gradual to realize traction. That is due partly to tax and administrative complexities, but additionally to some employers’ perceptions that the person market gives decrease high quality medical health insurance than the group market.
There are indicators that ICHRA enrollment is rising. The HRA Council, an trade group, reviews that ICHRA adoption grew 29 p.c between 2023 and 2024, with an estimated 5,000 corporations providing ICHRAs in 2024.
Well being Insurers – and Some States – See Potential Development Space
In latest calls with buyers, two massive publicly traded insurance coverage firms—Oscar Well being and Centene—are banking on continued ICHRA development. Oscar Well being CEO Mark Bertolini acknowledged: “We consider ICHRA’s time has come,” noting that many employers will see ICHRAs as a “hedge” in opposition to rising well being care inflation.
Centene CEO Sarah London touted her firm’s technique of promoting ICHRAs to small employers, utilizing the well being advantages platform Take Command. Each of those firms have a major presence within the particular person market, and wishful considering might underlie their methods. Nonetheless, if their wager on ICHRAs pays off, it might considerably change the best way many staff get hold of medical health insurance, notably for small enterprise staff.
On the similar time, some state lawmakers might view ICHRAs as a strategy to broaden protection choices for small companies. For instance, in 2023 Indiana enacted laws giving small employers a tax credit score in the event that they swap their staff from a bunch plan to ICHRAs; Texas legislators have thought-about related ICHRA-boosting proposals.
How would higher ICHRA adoption impression staff?
Staff shifted to ICHRAs who should not eligible for PTCs might be extra susceptible to rising premiums. Employers’ contributions to ICHRAs should not required to rise in accordance with annual premium will increase, or to mirror increased premium prices for some staff. Whereas some employers might select to extend their contributions to maintain up with medical inflation or variations of their staff’ premium prices, others might not.
ICHRAs will be notably dangerous for low-wage and older staff. Low-wage staff could also be financially higher off with PTCs and cost-sharing reductions in a Market plan than in employer-sponsored insurance coverage, however an ICHRA supply that’s deemed inexpensive underneath the ACA will make them ineligible for Market subsidies. Older staff might bear a higher share of the non-ICHRA funded premium because of particular person market age score.
Moreover, as a result of many employers will wish to make pre-tax contributions to ICHRAs, staff might want to buy their plans off-Market. Navigating the various plan selections obtainable, together with many that aren’t ACA-compliant, places staff liable to inadvertently shopping for a plan that fails to fulfill the necessities of an ICHRA. These shifted from group well being plans to particular person market plans might additionally face increased deductibles and fewer sturdy supplier networks.
What would wider ICHRA adoption imply for insurance coverage markets?
The proportion of small companies that provide medical health insurance has been declining over the previous decade. In 2021, 31.9 p.c of all small employers supplied medical health insurance to their staff in comparison with 43 p.c in 2008.
Many small employers look like switching from ACA-compliant group plans to level-funded well being plans. These quasi self-funded plans are the “highest development space” for insurers within the small-group market and an growing variety of group well being plan sponsors are utilizing level-funding plan preparations. In response to the Kaiser Household Basis, the proportion of small employers which have level-funded well being plans elevated from 13 p.c in 2020 to roughly 40 p.c in 2023.
Insurers are barred from utilizing well being standing to set the worth for state-regulated ACA small-group market plans, however they will achieve this for level-funded plans. This permits them to siphon away wholesome threat from the state-regulated small-group market, forsaking a smaller and sicker threat pool, and thus increased premiums for the small employers who stay. Every year, as costs rise for state-regulated small-group insurance coverage, extra employers with comparatively wholesome staff will shift to level-funded plans, a basic opposed choice “dying spiral.”
Some small employers might not qualify for level-funded plans due to the age or well being standing of their staff. Of their case, the alternatives are then to (a) take in premium will increase by shifting prices to staff or trimming wages, (b) drop protection solely, or (c) transition to ICHRAs. To the extent small enterprise employers select ICHRAs, it might lead to additional erosion of the small-group market, threatening its stability. On the similar time, the expanded use of ICHRAs amongst employers, massive and small, would increase particular person market enrollment, with the potential to impression particular person market premiums and insurer participation.
Conclusion
It’s removed from clear that employers are prepared in vital numbers to maneuver their staff into ICHRAs. Whereas two main carriers are betting that they are going to, questions concerning the affordability and adequacy of particular person market protection, in addition to administrative complexities, are more likely to trigger many employers to hesitate earlier than making such a change. Nonetheless, as premiums proceed to rise quicker than inflation for a lot of small companies, some employers might determine they have to supply an ICHRA or drop protection solely. In the event that they undertake an ICHRA, there are monetary dangers for workers and their households, in addition to potential market impacts that policymakers and regulators might want to monitor and deal with.
