Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About ICHRA

About ICHRA's

• What is an ICHRA?

  Before recent government guidance, employers could only meet their Affordable Care Act (ACA) obligations and avoid penalties by sponsoring a traditional group health plan.

  All this changed in 2020 with the new individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA) option. An ICHRA offers employers an effective alternative to the traditional way of providing health insurance to employees.

  Instead of offering a one-size-fits-all group plan, employers can now provide tax-free funding for all or specific segments of their employees to purchase health insurance that best meets their needs.

  This approach eliminates claim risk, provides cost predictability, and reduces administration for employers, allowing employees to select from a broader range of ACA health insurance options for themselves and their families.

• Will ICHRA help with costs?

  Employers are looking for ways to address the rising cost and administrative burden of providing healthcare plans without reducing or eliminating benefits.

  • Group plan premiums continue to rise, sometimes at double-digit rates.
  • Group plans can be complex to support.
  • One-size-fits-all group benefit packages don’t sufficiently address each individual’s healthcare needs.

  • Employers are looking for ways to address the rising cost and administrative burden of providing healthcare plans without reducing or eliminating benefits. Group plan premiums continue to rise, sometimes at double-digit rates. Group plans can be complex to support. One-size-fits-all group benefit packages don’t sufficiently address each individual’s healthcare needs.

• What else does an ICHRA include?

  By offering an ICHRA you can:

  • Eliminate claim risk and cost unpredictability
  • Reduce the administrative burden of designing and managing a group health plan
  • Empower employees to select from a wide array of portable ACA-governed individual health plans
  • Meet your ACA employer mandate responsibilities, thus avoiding those ACA penalties

Privacy Policy

Protecting your privacy is very important to us. This policy tells you why we collect information, what information we collect, and what we do with it. This privacy notice is for ICHRA.shop and other websites which we control.

Our website, ICHRA.shop doesn’t collect any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) about you unless you choose to provide it to us. We do collect other limited information from visitors who read, browse, and/or download information from our site. We will not knowingly disclose your personal information to a third party, except as provided in this statement.

By submitting personal information to The ICHRA Shop or by using our websites, you agree that we may collect, use and disclose any such personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and as permitted or required by law. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not provide your personal information.

• Why do we collect information?

  The ICHRA Shop is authorized to collect personal information during your application for health-related benefits and will confirm information that may affect initial or ongoing eligibility for all persons listed on your application. The information you provide is needed for the purposes of determining health insurance eligibility or other purposes permitted by law and to give you the best services possible if you choose to apply.

  You are allowing The ICHRA Shop to use Social Security numbers and other PII from your application in order to shop and apply for benefits and you release The ICHRA Shop from all liability for sharing this information with other agencies for this purpose.

• Types of information we collect

  Information you give us:  As part of the process, we will communicate with you or your authorized representative, and then provide the information to the health plan you select so that they can enroll those who are eligible in a qualified health plan. Information on race and ethnicity will generally not be provided to the insurance carriers, unless you are an American Indian or Alaska Native because that information could positively impact your benefits. We will verify your answers using information in our electronic databases and the databases of partner agencies. If the information you provide does not match these sources, we may ask you to send us proof of the information you provide.

  In order to contact you we store the personal information you provide in a record system designed to retrieve information about you by personal identifier (name, personal email address, home mailing address, personal or mobile phone number, etc.).  If you choose to receive alerts or e-newsletters, we collect your email address to complete the subscription process.

  Also, if you choose to provide us with PII through an email message, request for information, paper or electronic form, questionnaire, survey, or any other medium, we will maintain the information you provide only as long as needed or as required by law.

  The ICHRA Shop may get and share your information with other agencies that may include: Social Security Administration; Internal Revenue Service, Department of Homeland Security; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program; state Department of Revenue; other federal or state agencies; and Agents/Brokers and managing general agencies contracting with those agents/brokers, as applicable, which are certified by The ICHRA Shop to assist applicants/enrollees.

  Regulations that support obtaining and using this data can be found under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-152); the Social Security Act;  Colorado S.B. 11-200, the Colorado Health Benefit Exchange Act, codified at C.R.S. § 10-22-101 et. seq.; and the Easy Enrollment Program Act, codified at C.R.S. § 10-16-105.7, 10-22-103, 10-22-113, and 39-21-113, et. seq. Please note that this list is non-exhaustive, and other laws and regulations may apply.

  Information we get from your use of our website:  When you use our websites, we may collect certain information about your visit. Information is collected as part of overall performance and effectiveness monitoring and helps us measure the number of visitors to our site, make the site more useful, and improve our public education and outreach efforts.

  We automatically and continuously collect various types of information about your visit using various Web measurement software tools. This information includes, but is not limited to:

  • Domain from which you access the Internet
  • IP address
  • Operating system on your computer and information about the browser you used when visiting the site
  • Date and time of your visit
  • Pages you visited and your activity
  • Address of the website that connected you to our websites
  • Geographic location

  We may also use various types of standard website technologies, such as cookies, persistent cookies, and web beacons to improve our website's functions.

  If you disable cookies in your browser, turn on Do-Not-Track, or use anonymous browsing, this may affect the way that our website performs but should not affect your ability to shop or enroll.

• How your information is used

  We use the application information you provide to determine eligibility for enrollment in a qualified health plan. We also verify the information provided on the application, communicate with your authorized representative, and provide the information to the health plan you select.

  We may use the information you provide in computer matching programs with any of the following entities (including obtaining updated tax return information for a period of up to five years) in order to make eligibility determinations, to verify continued eligibility for enrollment in a qualified health plan, to verify individual identity, or to process appeals of eligibility determinations:

  • Other verification sources including consumer reporting agencies;
  • Applicants/enrollees and authorized representatives of applicants/enrollees;
  • Issuers of qualified health plans, as applicable, which are certified by the Colorado Division of Insurance;
  • Agents and brokers, as designated or nominated by the applicant/enrollee, who are certified by The ICHRA Shop to assist applicants/enrollees;
  • Financial institutions (banks, credit unions, etc.), including Network Merchants, Inc., for all ACH/ credit card payments;
  • The ICHRA Shop contractors engaged to perform a function for the The ICHRA Shop;
  • Other entities as required by law.

  The ICHRA Shop will also use the information you provide as part of the ongoing operation of this organization, including activities such as performing oversight and quality control activities, combatting fraud, and responding to any concerns about the security or confidentiality of the information. If you are already enrolled through The ICHRA Shop, we may share your information with other organizations or government agencies when necessary to fulfill a required Exchange minimum function.

  We do not sell any information entered into The ICHRA Shop website or systems.

  In addition, we may use the email address, phone number, or mobile phone number you provide in order to send you information regarding services related to the ICHRA Shop.  You may specify your preferences for communication in your account online or by contacting our Customer Service Center at 303-903-2054

• Protection of your personal information

  The ICHRA Shop is committed to protecting your information and will keep the information you provide private as required by law.  Significant protections are in place to ensure the privacy of your personal information. The ICHRA Shop systems are implemented in compliance with the security standards required under the Affordable Care Act, which are designed to protect customer information.

  You will be asked to provide only the minimum information necessary to determine eligibility for applicable programs or health plans.

• Access to your information

  You have the right to see whatever information we have about you. You also have the right to correct information if you find that we have any incorrect information on file. To request a review of this information, please contact the Customer Service Center.

• How ICHRA.shop uses third-party websites and applications

  ICHRA.shop uses various technologies and social media services to communicate and interact with individuals. These third-party website and application (TPWA) tools include popular social networking and media sites, collaborative software communities, and more. Examples include Facebook^®, Twitter^™, and YouTube^™.

  TPWAs are not exclusively operated or controlled by ICHRA.shop. Users of TPWAs often share information with the general public, the user community, and/or the third party operating the website. These actors may use this information in a variety of ways. TPWAs could cause PII to become available or accessible to ICHRA.shop and the public, regardless of whether the information is explicitly asked for or collected by us.

  ICHRA.shop sometimes collects and uses your PII if you made it available through third-party websites. However, we do not share PII made available through third-party websites except as necessary to complete activities. Your activity on the third-party websites we use is governed by the security and privacy policies of those sites. You should review the third-party privacy policies before using the sites and ensure that you understand how your information may be used.

  If you have an account with a third-party website and choose to “like,” “friend,” follow, or comment, certain PII associated with your account may be made available to Connectforhealthco.com based on the privacy policy of the third-party website and your privacy settings within that website. You should adjust the privacy settings on your account to match your preferences.

• Children and privacy

  We believe in the importance of protecting the privacy of children online. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) governs information gathered online from or about children under the age of 13.  ICHRA.shop is not intended to solicit information of any kind from children under age of 13. If you believe that we have received information from a child under the age of 13, please contact us at Brad@ichra.shop

• Links to other sites  

  ICHRA.shop links to other sites, government sites, and organizations involved with The ICHRA Shop functions. When you follow a link to an external website, you leave ICHRA.shop and are subject to the external site’s privacy and security policies. The ICHRA Shop is not responsible for the contents and privacy under-taking of any non- ichra.shop website and a link to a web page do not constitute an endorsement.

• Additional privacy information

  The changes will be posted directly to this privacy notice if we change our privacy policy. We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time.  If you have questions or concerns regarding this privacy policy, please feel free to contact us via the methods below:

  The ICHRA Shop Insurance Agency

  42253 Kingsmill Cir

  Elizabeth, CO 80107

  303-903-2054

  Brad@ichra.shop

  Effective Date: March, 2024

Broker Consent

• Legal Disclosure

  The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way unless specifically incorporated into a contract.

   

  This is intended only to clarify to the public regarding existing requirements under the law.

   

  This model consent form will not supersede any State Agent of Record, Broker of Record, or other form required by a QHP issuer for purposes of making commission payments to the proper agent or broker for assisting a particular consumer.

• Purpose Statement

  Registered agents and brokers assisting consumers in applying for and enrolling in Marketplace coverage must document consumer consent prior to accessing or updating their Marketplace information.

   

  CMS does not prescribe the manner in which agents and brokers must document consent. Instead, different formats may be acceptable for agents and brokers to use to document consumer consent, such as via a recorded phone call, text message, email, electronic document with digital signatures, physical document with wet signatures, etc.

   

  This model consent form is an example of how agents and brokers may document consent via a physical document with wet signatures.  Since this model consent form is a best practice for obtaining consumer consent, you may tailor the form to address the needs of your specific business model in addition to meeting the CMS requirement to document consent from a consumer prior to assisting the consumer enroll in coverage in the Marketplace, including prior to conducting a person search.

   

  For example, if an Agency is involved, you may clarify specifically who else within the Agency other than the writing Agent is able to view and use the consumer’s PII  to assist the writing Agent in enrolling the consumer in Marketplace coverage for compliance, commissions, or other relevant purposes as you see fit.  

• Agent Compensation Disclosure

  The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) requires health insurance agents to disclose compensation and indirect compensation earned

  on health plans to plan fiduciaries, for contracts entered into or renewed on, or after, December 27, 2021.

   

  In accordance with the law, this compensation disclosure is being provided by the insurance agent.