Matt Noe is a benefits consultant and business development executive at OneDigital with over 26 years of industry experience. Matt works with existing clients as well as develops new relationships in the challenged industry market. He works with employers to align their employee benefits programs with the employer’s goals and that high performing business leaders need to compete in the market.

In January 2020, the Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA) began to make waves in the group health marketplace. The ICHRA allows employers of all sizes to provide a tax-free health benefit to employees while allowing employees to select and purchase individual insurance policies that are suited to their unique needs. ICHRA can revolutionize the way businesses approach healthcare, offering a new solution for employers struggling with rising health insurance premiums.

Matt Noe talks about ICHRA and its potential for reducing group health insurance costs. Matt believes that every employer has different objectives when it comes to ICHRA, and it's not always just about cost savings. Employers can modernize their approach to healthcare to attract and retain younger generations while still providing choices for Gen X and boomers. Matt also suggests that employers look at ICHRA from a global 3 to 5 year strategy and find a balance between employer objectives and cost savings.

Education and communication are key in helping employees make informed decisions about their healthcare plan. Many employees have little knowledge of their current group health insurance plan and obtain information through utilization during open enrollment. Shifting the employee's understanding to know what they need and that it is different from others is simple. Although, the hardest part of ICHRA is not modeling benefits, but rather relating the information to employees who have never thought about health insurance before.

Overall, ICHRA offers a new solution for employers who are tired of going through the same cycle every year to contain costs. It can help stabilize group health costs by putting employees in massive risk pools and offers various applications for businesses of any size.

Employers who are challenged by the construct of their current medical plans and have reached a ceiling in certain states, regardless of vertical, become potential candidates for ICHRA. With ICHRA, healthcare should be treated like retirement plans, and employers should be given tools and a bucket of funds to make decisions on employee healthcare.

Three Takeaways
1. Stabilize group health care costs.
2. Provide choices in health benefits.
3. Don’t be in the risk business.

“The fact that an ICHRA plan has no participation requirement is a beautiful thing for a staffing firm..” -Matt Noe

Resources

Email Matt Noe: matt@mibenefits.world
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/matt-noe-251aab4a

Email Mike Martens: mikem@firststaffbenefits.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/firststaffbenefits