The individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA) is a new way for businesses and other organizations to offer employees health benefits.

Set to debut in January 2020, the ICHRA allows businesses of any size to reimburse employees tax-free for health care, including individual health insurance policies. The basic ICHRA structure works like any HRA, but there are unique guidelines businesses should consider when evaluating it for their organization.

In this post, we’ll explore how the ICHRA works. We’ll also go over how ICHRA administration works with a software automation provider to help you make the best choice for your organization.

Beginning January 1, 2020, U.S. businesses will have a new health benefits option: the individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA).

Created through proposed regulations from the federal government, the ICHRA allows businesses to reimburse employees tax-free for individual health insurance policies and other health care expenses.

The ICHRA represents an important step forward for HRAs. Though similar to the existing qualified small employer HRA (QSEHRA), there are several differences between the two, and some businesses may prefer the ICHRA.

If your business is interested in the ICHRA, stick with us. In this post, we’ll cover what to expect for the rollout of the new benefit next year.

One of the most exciting things about the prospect of the individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA) is its employee classes feature.

Employee classes, which allow businesses to draw distinctions among employees in benefits, have been tightly regulated in HRAs since the stand-alone HRA was eliminated in 2013.

When the ICHRA becomes compliant in January 2020, it will restore that feature. The ICHRA comes with nine different employee classes businesses can leverage while structuring benefit eligibility and allowance amounts. When used well, these classes will help businesses more effectively use their benefit to hire and keep valuable employees.

In this post, we’ll explain what the nine employee classes are as well as how to use them to define ICHRA eligibility and allowance amounts so they match your goals for health benefits.

Let’s get started.

As the Trump administration continues to scale back the Affordable Care Act (ACA), many small businesses have raised questions about which portions of the law are still in effect in 2019.

In large part, small business health benefits requirements are the same in 2019 as they were in 2018. Small businesses are still not required to offer group health insurance, and they still have several options for compliantly providing health benefits to their employees.

In this post, we’ll go over what you need to know to comply with the ACA in 2019. We’ll also discuss benefits options for small businesses that are compliant both this year and in coming years.

In January 2020, businesses will have a new health benefits option: the individual-coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA).

Created through new regulation from the Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services, the ICHRA is a partial restoration of the old stand-alone HRA. With the ICHRA, businesses can reimburse employees tax-free for individual health insurance and other medical expenses.

Here at PeopleKeep, we expect the ICHRA to help thousands of small businesses offer health benefits for the first time. But which businesses are eligible to offer the benefit, and which employees can participate?

In this post, we’ll cover ICHRA eligibility for businesses, their employees, and employees’ families.

Let’s dive in.