New Data Shows Continued Expansion of Health Reimbursement Arrangements: Latest HRA Council ICHRA & QSEHRA Report

WASHINGTON, June 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The HRA Council today released Volume 4 of its annual report, "Growth Trends for ICHRA & QSEHRA," providing comprehensive insights into the adoption and impact of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) across the United States. The report focuses on 2024 to 2025, while setting the year over year growth into context from 2020 to 2025, and calls out "Founding Member" statistics from organizations which have provided data for all six (6) years. 

This latest volume underscores the significant growth in Individual Coverage HRAs (ICHRAs) and Qualified Small Employer HRAs (QSEHRAs) as flexible, tax-advantaged benefits solutions for employers and employees alike. The report aggregates data from fifteen HRA Council member organizations, offering details for enrollment trends, employer adoption rates, and which plans employees choose for themselves and their families. 

Key Findings from Volume 4:

• Applicable large employers (ALEs with more than 50 FTEs) are choosing ICHRA: Aggregated ALE adoption is up 34%, with some large employer cohorts showing 49% year over year growth from 2024-2025.
• Small employers (fewer than 50 FTEs) are adopting ICHRA as well as QSEHRA: Small business, non-ALE ICHRA adoption is up 52% among HRAC Founding Members.
• QSEHRA and ICHRA continue to be an on-ramp to benefits for small employers: 83% of employers offering ICHRA or QSEHRA in 2025 had not previously offered any coverage, while 17% transitioned from traditional group insurance.
• Employees cover more dependents: The dependent coverage ratio has grown to .67, meaning employees find the options and choice of ACA-compliant coverage so valuable their families are choosing their favorite health insurance via ICHRA and QSEHRA.

"The data presented in Volume 4 of our 'Growth Trends' report highlights the transformative impact HRAs are having on the health benefits landscape," said Robin Paoli, Executive Director of the HRA Council. "Employers are increasingly recognizing the value of HRAs in offering customizable and affordable health coverage options to their workforce, and employees and their families are finally empowered to choose which health insurance plans are best for them."

Two key insights drawn from employee trends highlight employee purchasing power and risk pool stability. For 2025, nearly 70% of employees selected Gold or Silver-tier Marketplace plans based on employer contributions through ICHRA and QSEHRA. Additionally, ICHRA and QSEHRA bring younger workers into risk pools, which encourages plan diversity and affordability in markets across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 

"The growth we're seeing confirms ICHRA is a sustainable, scalable model for employer-sponsored health benefits," said Eugene Sayan, Chairman of the HRA Council Board and Founder and CEO of W3LL, a Softheon company. "With strong momentum and growing policy support for ICHRA, this is the moment for collaboration among payers, administrators, brokers, benefit technology providers, and employers to make better health benefits available for all employees and their families."

As noted, this year's report analyzes both aggregated data from all currently participating Platform Members and a focused subset of data from "Founding Members." This longitudinal control view reveals:

• Even higher year-over-year ICHRA growth rates among HRA Council pioneers 
• A second wave of ICHRA vendors is onboarding larger employers at a growing pace

While HRA Council data is a statistically significant sample of overall U.S. adoption of ICHRA and QSEHRA, it represents data only from fifteen (15) member organizations. Given the nearly half million employees and dependents represented in this report, a conservative estimate of total ICHRA and QSEHRA offers nationally would encompass more than a million Americans, with this figure growing month by month.

For more information and to access the full Volume 4 report, please visit the HRA Council's Data Reporting Hub at www.hracouncil.org/report.

About the HRA Council

The HRA Council is a non-partisan, nonprofit trade association dedicated to educating employers, policymakers, and industry about defined contribution health and wellness benefits, and expanding health coverage access and affordability for American workers. Through collaboration with industry leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders, the Council provides education, research, and advocacy to support the evolution of employer-sponsored health benefits.

Media Contact:
Robin Paoli
Executive Director, HRA Council
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE HRA Council