New program gives employers health insurance option

Data remains sparse on how well a new program that gives employers a way to keep their health care spending at a fixed dollar amount is working and how many businesses are participating. But the region’s providers of health care options for businesses say they are seeing increased interest.

Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRA), known as “ick-ruhs,” became available in 2020 after being created in 2019 under regulations passed by the Trump administration in 2019. They allow employers of any size to reimburse their employees for some or all of the premiums that their employees pay for health coverage they…