'Cash-for-coverage' health plans could win the elections, exec says

One of the winners of next week’s elections could be individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement plans (ICHRAs).

The new generation of employer-sponsored cash-for coverage health plans should emerge with strong bipartisan support in Congress, according to Stacy Edgar, the chief executive officer of Venteur, an ICHRA administrator.

For lawmakers on the right, supporting ICHRA plans is a way to promote increased competition in the health benefits market, Edgar said in a recent email interview.

For lawmakers on the left, supporting ICHRAs is a way to support the Affordable Care Act health insurance framework, by providing a source of cash workers can use to buy their own individual health coverage through the ACA public exchange system, Edgar said.

Related: HealthCare.gov hopes to profit from ICHRA boom

“This dual appeal positions ICHRAs as a unifier in health care policy,” Edgar said.

Edgar, who participates in HRA players’ HRA Council as well as serving as the head of Venteur, said she has seen little evidence of opposition to ICHRAs showing up in Congress.

Regulators completed the regulations shaping ICHRAs during the administration of former President Donald Trump.

The regulations have undergone only modest changes since President Joe Biden entered the White House.

“ICHRAs have demonstrated bipartisan support through their endurance across two administrations and multiple midterm elections,” Edgar said. “If there were significant opposition, it’s likely attempts to repeal them would have been made by now.”

When interacting with the HRA Council, policymakers from different political backgrounds express support for ICHRAs, Edgar said.

Edgar is hoping bipartisan support for ICHRAs in Congress will lead to Congress adding provisions formally codifying ICHRAs to the tax code.

That would provide greater stability for the employers and employees using ICHRAs, Edgar said.