News
Plain-English updates on CHOICE Arrangements (ICHRA), compliance deadlines, legislation, and the market forces shaping your employer clients' renewals.
Employers have new flexibility for 2025 ACA reporting, including the option to furnish Forms 1095-C on request instead of mailing them to everyone. Here are the 2026 deadlines, the changes from two December 2024 laws, and what ICHRA sponsors need to report.
CFOs don't need the regulatory history of ICHRA. They need to know what it costs, how predictable that cost is, what the tax treatment is, and where the risks are. Here's a framework for a finance-first conversation heading into 2026.
Family premiums rose 6% to $26,993, small-firm deductibles average $2,631, and more than a third of covered workers at small firms are in level-funded plans. Here are the 2025 KFF findings brokers can use in renewal meetings this season.
Classes are what make ICHRA flexible, and the minimum class size rule is what trips up hybrid designs. Here's how the 2019 rule's 10 classes work, when minimum sizes apply, and what to settle before the October 3 notice deadline for January 1 plans.
Unless Congress acts, the enhanced ACA premium tax credits end on December 31, 2025. Proposed 2026 Marketplace rates are already climbing. Here's what the change means for small employers, ICHRA participants, and employees who buy their own coverage.
The IRS set the 2026 required contribution percentage at 9.96%, up from 9.02% for 2025, after changing how premium growth is measured. Here's how the new figure affects group plan contributions, ICHRA allowances, and penalty exposure for 2026 plan years.
The reconciliation law signed July 4 dropped the House's CHOICE arrangement provisions, so ICHRA rules are unchanged. It did expand HSA eligibility, make the telehealth safe harbor permanent, and raise the dependent care FSA limit. Here's a broker's rundown.
The budget reconciliation bill the House passed on May 22 includes three sections that would codify individual coverage HRAs under a new name, add a small-employer tax credit, and open cafeteria plans to Exchange premiums. Here's what's in the text and what it would and wouldn't change.
For applicable large employers, an ICHRA allowance has to clear the IRS affordability test or the employer risks a penalty. This walkthrough covers the 2025 percentage, the safe harbors, and a worked example you can adapt.
Individual coverage HRAs have been available since 2020, but many employers still haven't heard of them. Here's a refresher on how ICHRA works and why it deserves a place next to fully insured and level-funded quotes this renewal season.
Upload a census, run the affordability test with IRS safe harbors, and deliver a proposal with your agency's branding.