HR manager and licensed agent reviewing ICHRA plan documents together

ICHRA Administrator: What Does One Actually Do, and Do You Need One?

Q: What's the difference between an ICHRA administrator and a TPA?

A TPA is the general term for a third-party administrator handling claims, compliance and recordkeeping; an ICHRA administrator is a TPA or software platform specializing in the ICHRA reimbursement structure specifically.

Q: Do I need an ICHRA administrator, or can I run it myself?

Federal law does not require hiring an administrator, but most employers use one because affordability safe harbor calculations and IRS reporting carry penalty exposure if handled incorrectly.

Q: What does ICHRA administration cost?

Platforms in 2026 typically charge $20 to $45 per employee per month plus a base platform fee; PeopleKeep starts near $89/month base, Take Command Health around $20 PEPM plus $40/month platform fee.

Q: Who enrolls employees in individual health plans: the administrator or an agent?

A licensed insurance agent enrolls the employee, not the ICHRA administrator. Some platforms bundle licensed agents; others expect the employer's broker or the employee to handle enrollment separately.

Q: How do ICHRA administrators differ from each other?

Administrators differ on whether licensed enrollment support is bundled, the depth of the employee self-service portal, and whether the platform targets small employers or applicable large employers.

An ICHRA administrator builds plan documents, runs affordability tests and processes reimbursements. It does not enroll anyone in an insurance policy.

TL;DR

An ICHRA administrator is a software platform or third-party administrator (TPA) that handles plan documents, class design, affordability testing and reimbursement processing under 26 CFR §54.9802-4.
Enrolling an employee in an individual health plan is a separate, licensed function; administrators like PeopleKeep, Take Command Health and Remodel Health either partner with licensed agents or require the employer to source one.
ICHRA adoption among employers with fewer than 50 employees grew 52% year over year in 2024-2025, according to the HRA Council data published by Remodel Health, pushing more small employers to ask who actually runs the paperwork.
Platform pricing in 2026 runs roughly $20 to $45 per employee per month plus a base platform fee, though exact figures vary by vendor and contract size.

What does an ICHRA administrator actually do?

An ICHRA administrator manages the compliance and logistics layer of a reimbursement arrangement: drafting plan documents, defining employee classes, running the IRS affordability safe harbor calculations, collecting proof of individual coverage, and processing monthly reimbursements through payroll or a dedicated portal.

Under the 2019 final rule (Federal Register 2019-12571) and 26 CFR §54.9802-4, an employer has to document the arrangement correctly or risk it failing to qualify as a group health plan for tax purposes. The administrator is the entity that keeps that paperwork current year over year, not the employer's HR staff working from a template.

What's the difference between an ICHRA administrator and a TPA?

A TPA (third-party administrator: an outside firm contracted to handle claims processing, compliance filings and recordkeeping for an employer's benefit plan) is the general term; "ICHRA administrator" describes a TPA (or software platform acting as one) that specializes in this specific reimbursement structure rather than traditional group plan claims.

The distinction matters in practice because an ICHRA administrator rarely touches insurance claims at all. Individual market plans process their own claims directly with the carrier; the administrator's job stops at verifying the employee bought qualifying coverage and then reimbursing the premium, tax-free, up to the allowance set by the employer.

Do I need an ICHRA administrator, or can I run it myself?

Nothing in federal law requires an employer to hire an ICHRA administrator; a small employer with legal and tax expertise in house could draft compliant plan documents and run affordability math manually. In practice, most employers use a platform because the affordability safe harbor calculations and IRS reporting carry real penalty exposure if done wrong.

Employers evaluating this question often weigh three factors: how many employees are enrolling, how many states those employees live in, and whether anyone on staff already understands IRS Publication 969 and IRS Publication 15-B well enough to defend the arrangement in an audit.

What does ICHRA administration cost?

ICHRA administration platforms in 2026 typically charge a base monthly platform fee plus a per-employee-per-month (PEPM) seat fee, commonly landing between $20 and $45 PEPM depending on the vendor. PeopleKeep's published pricing starts near $89 per month in base fees plus a per-seat charge; Take Command Health publishes a PEPM model starting around $20 plus a platform fee from $40 per month.

Remodel Health's ICHRA+ tier serves larger, applicable large employer (ALE) populations and does not publish flat pricing, quoting custom contracts instead. None of these figures include what a licensed agent charges separately for enrollment help, since agent compensation generally comes from carrier commissions rather than a platform fee.

Who enrolls employees in individual health plans: the administrator or an agent?

A licensed insurance agent, not the ICHRA administrator, enrolls an employee in an individual market plan. Administration platforms can provide decision-support tools, like affordability calculators or plan comparison dashboards, but the act of binding an employee to a carrier's policy is a regulated activity that requires a license in the employee's state of residence.

Some platforms, Take Command Health among them, keep licensed agents on staff as part of the bundled service; others, including most PeopleKeep accounts, expect the employer's existing broker or the employee directly to handle enrollment through HealthCare.gov's marketplace or an off-exchange carrier.

How do ICHRA administrators differ from each other?

ICHRA administrators differ mainly on three axes: whether licensed enrollment support is bundled in, the depth of the employee self-service portal, and whether the platform targets small employers or applicable large employers managing ACA reporting at scale.

Administrator	Model	Licensed enrollment support	Pricing signal
PeopleKeep	Self-service software	Not bundled; employer sources separately	From $89/mo base + seat fee
Take Command Health	Platform + in-house agents	Bundled	~$20 PEPM + $40/mo platform
Remodel Health (ICHRA+)	White-glove, broker-partnered	Via broker partner network	Custom quote
StretchDollar	SMB platform + embedded brokerage	Bundled	$40/mo + $8/participating employee

An ICHRA administrator manages compliance and reimbursement logistics; it does not enroll a single employee in a health plan, that step is a licensed function under state insurance law every time.

What should an employer ask before picking an ICHRA administrator?

Employers comparing platforms in 2026 commonly ask about four things: whether licensed enrollment help is bundled or separate, how the vendor documents the IRS safe harbor used (W-2, rate of pay, or federal poverty line under Rev. Proc. 2025-25), what happens to plan documents if the employer switches vendors, and how reimbursements are funded if an employee's individual plan is canceled mid-year.

The pending CHOICE Arrangement bill, H.R. 6703, passed the House 216-211 on December 17, 2025 and would shorten the required employee notice window from 90 days to 60 days if it clears the Senate. An administrator's contract terms around notice timing are worth checking now.

Comparing ICHRA administrators for your team?

InsureICHRA designs and runs ICHRA arrangements for employers nationwide and can walk through how administration and licensed enrollment fit together for a specific headcount and state mix.

What to do this week

Employers sorting out administration versus enrollment typically work through a short list before signing with any platform:

Running current headcount and state locations through an affordability calculator to estimate which IRS safe harbor applies.
Asking each vendor under consideration whether licensed enrollment support is included or billed separately.
Requesting a sample plan document to confirm it names the correct employee classes under 26 CFR §54.9802-4.
Reviewing contract terms for notice timelines in case H.R. 6703 changes the 90-day requirement to 60 days.
Consulting a licensed insurance professional about enrollment logistics separately from the administration contract.

Readers comparing specific tools can also run numbers through the ICHRA affordability calculator, and those tracking HSA interaction rules can review the IRS Notice 2026-05 explainer on how OBBBA's HSA provisions intersect with ICHRA design.

Disclaimer : InsureICHRA designs and runs Individual Coverage HRAs for employers anywhere in the United States, and publishes the research behind that work. We are not a law firm, an accounting firm or an insurance carrier, and nothing here is legal or tax advice. Enrolling an employee in an individual health plan is handled by licensed agents in the states where they hold a license. Information may become outdated and may not apply to your situation.: InsureICHRA diseña y gestiona Individual Coverage HRAs para empleadores en todo Estados Unidos, y publica la investigación que hay detrás de ese trabajo. No somos un bufete, ni una firma contable, ni una aseguradora, y nada de esto es asesoría legal ni fiscal. La inscripción de un empleado en un plan individual la gestionan agentes con licencia en los estados donde la tienen. La información puede quedar desactualizada.