Rethink Your Employee Benefits: ICHRA & Stipends Explained

19 May 2026 · 0 min

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In this segment, Chrissy Myers and a co‑speaker discuss how employee health‑benefit design is evolving. They compare the tax treatment of health stipends—taxable to employees—with ICHRA (Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement) funds, which are not taxable but require more administrative work. The conversation highlights a shift from traditional group health plans toward offering employees individual health plans, stipends, or ICHRA options, giving workers greater choice in how they cover their health care.

You said for a stipend, they're taxable for the employee? Yes, yes.
Whereas if we look at the ICHRA model, they're not, but that requires some more administration on the group.
So when we talk about deconstruction, some of it is really about redesigning potentially what health insurance benefits for the employees look like. So they may no longer have a group plan, but they could have an individual plan. They could have a stipend and they could have a choice of what they want in an individual plan. They could be on an ICHRA where it's a little bit more managed.