SureCo, the nation’s leading large-group Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA) administrator, today published its 2026 State of ICHRA Report, the most comprehensive longitudinal study of the ICHRA market to date. Drawing on three consecutive years of nationwide survey data from 1,500 HR professionals, employees, and benefits consultants, the report documents 2026 as the year ICHRA crossed from early-adopter experiment to mainstream benefits strategy.
Sponsored by healthcare technology company Oscar Health, the report reflects a market in rapid transformation. More than half of brokers (56%) are now actively recommending or implementing ICHRA, a first-time majority, while brokers who have moved at least one client to ICHRA has grown from 15% in 2024 to 37% in 2026. For three consecutive years, over 91% of employers who adopted ICHRA said it was the right move, and brokers report average client savings of approximately 15.5% after switching.
“ICHRA is no longer confined to edge cases or moments of disruption. It is increasingly being evaluated as part of the standard renewal process and is discussed earlier, modeled more rigorously, and positioned as a viable path forward, not just a fallback,” said Matthew Kim, CEO of SureCo. “What changed in 2026 is not just awareness or adoption, it’s how the entire market is behaving around it.”
The report traces ICHRA’s rise directly to a traditional employer-sponsored insurance market under extraordinary strain. Employer-sponsored family premiums reached $26,993 in 2026, a 26% increase over five years that outpaces both inflation and wage growth. Nearly 90% of surveyed employers reported a rate increase this year, with one in three absorbing a double-digit hike. More than half of senior benefits decision-makers (52%) say medical costs keep them up at night, and 94% have explored alternative cost-containment strategies. ICHRA proved to be among the most effective levers available, even in a year when individual market rates spiked an average of 15% following the expiration of enhanced ACA premium tax credits.
Despite strong momentum, the report also identifies education and employee support as ICHRA’s next critical frontier. The report concludes that the brokers, carriers, and administrators who invest in robust, human-delivered education will be best positioned to lead the market’s next phase.
“The structural case for ICHRA has been made. What determines who wins the next phase is execution; specifically, the quality of education and support employers and administrators deliver to employees,” Kim added. “As employers shift away from selecting a single plan toward enabling employee choice, success will depend on education, decision support, and a redefinition of the employer’s role in benefits. The quality of employee education and support provided by their ICHRA administrator directly impacts their satisfaction with the partnership.”
The 2026 State of ICHRA Report is based on research conducted by SureCo in partnership with independent research firm Censuswide. Responses were collected February 20–26, 2026, from a nationally representative sample of 1,500 HR and finance professionals, employees, and benefits consultants at U.S.-based companies with 150–2,500 employees. Behavioral data was drawn from a sample of 20,000 members of SureCo’s enrollment platform, spanning January 2021 through March 2026. The full report is available at sureco.com.
About SureCo
SureCo is the #1 large-group ICHRA administrator in the United States, with 13 years of tenure — the longest in the industry. Originally founded as an insurance brokerage, SureCo joined forces with a pioneering team that created the first group-to-individual coverage model and lobbied Congress to enable ICHRA in 2020. Today, SureCo partners with employers, consultants, and carriers nationwide, providing award-winning enrollment technology, direct carrier payments, compliance guidance, and comprehensive employee education with a 92% customer satisfaction score. Visit sureco.com.
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