Health insurance is changing, and agents who continue selling it the same way may miss one of the biggest opportunities in employee benefits. Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements, commonly called ICHRAs, give employers another way to fund employee healthcare. Instead of selecting one traditional group health plan for everyone, an employer can provide a defined contribution that employees use toward individual health insurance coverage.

But understanding what ICHRA is only the beginning. The bigger question for agents is how to sell it. In a recent conversation with Insurance Advisors Direct, Joe Markland of Enrichly shared how agents are approaching ICHRA differently, why employee costs should become a bigger part of the sales conversation, and how agents can use ICHRA to create opportunities beyond traditional group benefits. Here are the key lessons.

An ICHRA allows an employer to provide tax-advantaged funds that eligible employees can use toward qualifying individual health insurance coverage.

Instead of the employer choosing one plan for the entire workforce, employees can shop for coverage that better fits their individual situation. That changes the traditional benefits model.

Under a traditional group plan, the employer typically:

• Selects the health plan
• Determines the employer contribution
• Requires employees who enroll to choose from a limited set of options

With an ICHRA, the employer determines how much it will contribute, while employees have more choice over the individual coverage they select.

For agents, this creates a different kind of benefits conversation.

One of the strongest points Joe made was simple: Successful agents are not waiting for employers to ask about ICHRA. They are leading with it. He shared examples of brokers who have built significant books of business by approaching the market with a different message and expanding where they look for opportunities.

According to Joe:

“They lead with ICHRA.”

The lesson for agents is important. ICHRA should not necessarily be positioned as a backup option for an employer whose group plan has failed. It can be presented as an alternative way to think about financing employee healthcare. That creates a very different sales conversation.

Traditional group benefits conversations often start with the employer’s renewal.

How much did the premium increase? Can another carrier save the employer money?

Can the broker find a cheaper plan? Joe argues that agents should broaden that conversation.

Instead of focusing only on what the employer pays, look at what employees are paying too.

During the presentation, he discussed rising employee contributions and the financial pressure those contributions can place on workers.

His message to agents was direct: “Stop selling employer cost savings and start selling employee cost savings.” That may be one of the most useful positioning changes an agent can make.

An employer may believe it offers a competitive health benefit because it contributes a significant amount toward the group plan. But that does not automatically mean the benefit is affordable for every employee.

Joe used composite rating to illustrate the issue. Under a traditional group model, employees of very different ages may be asked to make the same contribution toward coverage even though the underlying value of that coverage can differ. For some employees, particularly younger workers, the required contribution may make the plan less attractive.

That can contribute to employees waiving coverage. Instead of simply asking an employer what its renewal looks like, agents can ask better questions:

• How much are employees contributing?
• How has that contribution changed?
• How many eligible employees waive coverage?
• Are younger employees participating?
• Are employees satisfied with the choices available?
• Could individual-market options create a better fit for some employees?

Those questions move the conversation away from selling a policy and toward solving a benefits problem.

Joe described the shift as moving from investing in plans to investing in people. That distinction matters. In the traditional model, an employer may decide that a particular health plan is the best use of its benefits dollars. But employees have different financial situations. One person may prioritize a lower deductible. Another may prefer a lower premium and the ability to direct available dollars toward an HSA or other eligible expenses, depending on the arrangement and plan.

ICHRA can give employees greater ability to choose coverage based on their own circumstances.

That creates a powerful message for employers: Instead of trying to determine which single plan works for everyone, give employees more control over the decision.

Joe used a simple comparison during the discussion. Walk into an employer’s parking lot.

Are all 300 employees driving the same car? Are they wearing the same clothes? Are they eating the same lunch? Of course not. So why assume every employee wants the same health plan?

Traditional group benefits can limit employees to one plan or a small number of choices.

With ICHRA, employees may have access to a wider selection of individual-market plans, depending on their location and market availability. That allows them to consider factors that matter personally, such as:

• Premium
• Deductible
• Provider network
• Prescription coverage
• Plan design
• Personal healthcare needs

For employers struggling to select one plan for a diverse workforce, choice can become one of the strongest parts of the ICHRA story.

Another practical takeaway from the conversation was to pay attention to employees who waive coverage. A group may have hundreds of eligible employees but significantly fewer enrolled in the employer-sponsored plan. Instead of treating those waivers as normal, ask why they exist. Some employees may have coverage elsewhere.

Others may simply find the employer plan too expensive or poorly suited to their needs.

High waiver rates can signal that the current benefits strategy is not working equally well for everyone. For an agent, that creates an opening to explore whether a different model could improve participation or employee choice.

Joe also challenged agents to think beyond direct employer prospecting. The successful agents he discussed were building relationships with other professionals who already serve employers.

Those sources included:

• Payroll companies
• Direct primary care organizations
• Voluntary benefits companies
• Professional employer organizations
• Accountants
• Other insurance brokers

This matters because ICHRA can create opportunities for agents who understand the individual insurance market to collaborate with professionals who do not. An agent does not necessarily have to find every employer directly. Build relationships with people who already have employer relationships but need individual-market expertise. That turns ICHRA into both a sales strategy and a distribution strategy.

Agents who have traditionally worked in individual health insurance may assume employer benefits are outside their wheelhouse. The discussion made the opposite case. ICHRA relies on individual health insurance. That means agents who already understand individual plans, networks, enrollment, and market differences may bring valuable knowledge to an ICHRA conversation.

At the end of the discussion, IAD highlighted this point specifically. Many agents who have worked in the individual market already possess foundational knowledge that traditional group brokers may not have. Instead of viewing that background as a limitation, agents can potentially use it as a competitive advantage.

Agents do not need to walk into an employer meeting and immediately ask them to replace their group health plan. Joe suggested a much lower-pressure approach. Offer to show the employer an alternative.

The conversation can be as simple as: “I’m not asking you to fire your broker. I’m asking for an opportunity to show you another way employees may be able to fund their healthcare.”

That removes some of the resistance. The immediate objective is not to force a decision.

It is to earn the right to compare. From there, agents can evaluate the current group arrangement alongside individual-market alternatives and help the employer understand the differences.

One of the recurring themes in the presentation was showing how a benefits strategy affects individual employees. Joe discussed examples where he compared group-plan costs with individual-market alternatives and then showed potential savings employee by employee.

This is important because a modest change in total employer cost may hide a much larger difference for individual workers. An employer may not be motivated by a small percentage difference in the total premium.

But showing how the change affects employees’ paychecks can make the issue more tangible. The message becomes: This is not just about what your health plan costs. It is about what your employees experience.

Another important distinction is how agents frame ICHRA. If it is presented only as a way to save money, it can quickly become another price-shopping exercise. Joe’s approach was broader.

He described a shift from purchasing health insurance to financing healthcare and building greater financial security. That gives agents more to discuss than premiums.

The conversation can include:

• Employee choice
• Employee contributions
• Healthcare affordability
• HSA opportunities where applicable
• Financial security
• Employer predictability
• Access to individual-market plans

That is a more strategic conversation than simply asking whether an employer wants a cheaper renewal.

One reason agents hesitate to enter the ICHRA market is the operational work involved.

Quoting, presentations, implementation, technology, enrollment, and employees in multiple states can create complexity. During the discussion, Joe outlined two ways agents can work with Insurance Advisors Direct and Enrichly.

Done-For-You Support

Agents who want more assistance can lean on the team for areas such as quoting, client presentations, implementation support, and enrollment assistance.

This can be especially useful for agents who are new to ICHRA or employer benefits.

Do-It-Yourself Support

Agents who want to be more hands-on can use the technology and support resources while taking a larger role in the process themselves. The goal is flexibility. An agent can start with more support, gain experience, and take on more responsibility as confidence grows.

Most importantly, the discussion emphasized that agents can maintain their client relationships and remain broker of record on business for which they are appropriately licensed and appointed.

The conversation also included a demonstration of the ICHRA shopping experience. Employees can enter the platform, review their available contribution, compare individual plans, filter options, review providers, and select coverage. The example demonstrated how an employee could see the employer contribution alongside plan costs and understand how different choices affect the dollars available.

This makes the concept of employee choice much more concrete. Instead of an employer deciding which plan everyone receives, employees can evaluate the plans available to them and select based on their individual needs.

A common misconception addressed during the Q&A was whether employees simply receive cash from the employer. According to the explanation provided during the session, that is not how the process works through the platform discussed. The employer does not simply hand employees money to spend however they want.

The platform and payment process are structured to facilitate payment toward the selected insurance coverage. This distinction is important when explaining ICHRA to employers who are concerned about how benefit dollars will be used.

Agents looking for ICHRA opportunities do not need to begin with: “Do you want an ICHRA?” Most employers may not know enough about the term to answer. Start with the problem.

Ask questions like:

• Are your employee health contributions increasing?
• How many employees waive your current plan?
• Are you comfortable choosing one health plan for your entire workforce?
• Are younger employees participating in your benefits?
• Would you like to see how individual-market options compare?
• Would giving employees more plan choice improve your benefits strategy?

Those questions uncover the pain before introducing the solution. That is a stronger sales process.

The most important message from this conversation is not that every employer should move to ICHRA. It is that agents should understand the model well enough to recognize when it deserves consideration. The agents Joe highlighted are not simply waiting for renewal season and competing on the same group plans as everyone else.

They are going to market with a different story. They are talking about employee costs. They are talking about choice. They are building new referral relationships. And they are using ICHRA to open conversations that traditional benefits strategies may not. For agents willing to learn the model, that creates a meaningful opportunity.

Employer health benefits are under pressure from rising costs, employee contributions, changing workforce needs, and demand for more choice. ICHRA gives agents another way to address those challenges. But the opportunity is bigger than simply learning how the arrangement works.

Agents need to learn how to position it. Start with the employee problem. Look beyond employer premium savings. Pay attention to waivers. Show employees what different options could mean for them. Build relationships with other professionals serving employer groups. Most importantly, do not assume you need to build the entire system yourself. With IAD and Enrichly support, agents can choose how involved they want to be while building the knowledge and confidence needed to grow in the ICHRA market.

Want to hear Joe Markland, Tammy Costrini, and Sherri Model dig deeper into the strategies agents can use to bring ICHRA to employer groups? Watch the full conversation to learn more about ICHRA positioning, prospecting opportunities, employee choice, the ICHRAos platform, and the support available through IAD and Enrichly.

Insurance Advisors Direct has more than 30 years of experience helping independent life and health insurance agents grow with carrier access, training, marketing support, technology, and hands-on guidance. We don’t just support agents. We partner with them.