For many brokers, renewal season has become harder to navigate year after year.
Premium increases continue to pressure employer groups. Clients want more control, more transparency, and a clearer path forward. At the same time, brokers are expected to deliver strategic guidance while managing increasingly complex plan conversations.
That shift is one reason more brokers are exploring ICHRA.
Across the country, brokers are using Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements to help employers rethink traditional group health plans and approach healthcare benefits with more flexibility. Interest continues to accelerate. According to the 2026 ICHRA Report, the percentage of employers highly likely to offer ICHRA grew from 24% to 39% in one year.¹
At zizzl health, we hear a similar story from brokers every day. They want practical solutions that help employers manage costs without sacrificing employee choice or creating unnecessary administrative burden.
They also want a partner that supports the broker relationship from start to finish.
Traditional renewals have become increasingly difficult to predict.
Many employers are seeing double-digit increases while trying to balance employee expectations, recruiting pressures, and long-term business planning. Brokers are often put in the position of explaining rising costs without having many meaningful levers to pull.
ICHRA opens a different kind of conversation.
Instead of renewing into another cycle of unpredictable premiums, employers can define a healthcare budget while employees choose the individual plans that fit their needs.
For brokers, that creates an opportunity to move from reactive renewal discussions to more strategic planning conversations.
One broker partner described it this way:
“For the first time in years, we were able to give our client options instead of another apology about rates.”
That shift matters.
Employers want advisors who can help them think ahead, not just react to annual increases.
That expectation is reshaping broker relationships. The report found that 20% of employers that switched to ICHRA brought in a new benefits consultant to help make the transition happen.¹
One common misconception about ICHRA is that it creates more work for brokers.
In practice, many brokers find the opposite when they have the right partner supporting implementation, education, compliance, and ongoing administration.
zizzl health was built to work alongside brokers, not around them.
This approach continues to be one of the biggest reasons firms choose to partner with zizzl health. Brokers remain at the center of the client relationship while gaining access to tools, guidance, and operational support that help simplify the process.
That matters because benefits consultants remain the single largest source of employers’ first introduction to ICHRA, accounting for roughly half of all first touchpoints in the market.¹
For many agencies, that support becomes especially valuable during onboarding and renewal planning.
Instead of piecing together multiple vendors and disconnected workflows, brokers can bring clients a more coordinated experience with a single strategic partner helping manage the process.
Healthcare expectations have changed.
Employees are used to personalization in nearly every part of their lives, and benefits are no exception. A one-size-fits-all group plan may work for some teams, but many employers are looking for ways to offer more flexibility across different employee populations.
ICHRA gives employees the ability to choose coverage based on their own healthcare needs, provider preferences, and financial priorities.
That level of choice can lead to stronger employee engagement and better alignment between coverage and real-life healthcare usage. In the study, 72% of employers offering ICHRA said employees value having more health insurance choices.¹
Brokers who introduce ICHRA strategically are finding that clients appreciate having another option on the table, especially when traditional plans continue to become more expensive.
Employers are also seeing financial advantages. Among employers that had offered both traditional group coverage and ICHRA, 65% said ICHRA created cost advantages for their organization.¹
Broker firms are also thinking about long-term positioning.
As more employers research alternative health benefit models, brokers who understand ICHRA are often better prepared to lead those conversations confidently.
That does not mean every client is the right fit for ICHRA. Strong brokers know when it makes sense, when it does not, and how to evaluate the full picture.
What matters is having the expertise to guide the conversation thoughtfully.
For many agencies, offering ICHRA solutions has become part of staying competitive in a changing market.
Broker sentiment is shifting quickly. The share of benefits consultants who said they would “never” sell ICHRA dropped from 22% to 8% year over year.¹
It helps brokers:
Bring forward-looking ideas to clients
Expand strategic planning conversations
Create more predictable cost discussions
Support employers looking for flexibility
Differentiate their advisory approach
Brokers consistently point to a few reasons they continue partnering with zizzl health.
zizzl health works with brokers, not around them. The broker relationship stays central throughout the process.
From onboarding to employee education, brokers have access to a team that helps simplify execution and answer questions along the way.
ICHRA can feel complicated when it is overexplained. zizzl health focuses on making complex topics easier for employers and employees to understand.
Many brokers view zizzl health as an extension of their team, helping support client conversations, renewal planning, and long-term strategy development.
Interest in ICHRA has accelerated as employers search for alternatives to rising group health costs.
The market is continuing to mature quickly. Employer awareness of ICHRA increased from 50% to 75% year over year, while employer confidence improved across every measured category.¹
That momentum is creating new opportunities for brokers who want to lead more strategic healthcare conversations and help clients evaluate a wider range of solutions.
The firms seeing the strongest results are often the ones willing to explore new models early, educate clients clearly, and build partnerships that support long-term success.
Many brokers are recommending ICHRA because it can offer employers more cost predictability, greater flexibility, and additional plan choice for employees compared to traditional group health plans.
No. ICHRA works best when evaluated carefully against an employer’s workforce, budget goals, geographic footprint, and benefits strategy. A strong broker partner can help determine fit.
zizzl health provides implementation support, employee education, compliance guidance, and strategic collaboration while keeping brokers at the center of the client relationship.
Yes. Broker relationships remain central to the process. Many brokers view ICHRA as an opportunity to deepen strategic client conversations rather than reduce involvement.
Rising healthcare costs, renewal volatility, and growing demand for employee choice are driving more employers and brokers to explore alternative healthcare models like ICHRA.
Brokers across the country are rethinking how they approach renewals, cost strategy, and long-term benefits planning.
If you are evaluating whether ICHRA could support your clients more effectively, zizzl health can help you explore the options, understand the operational considerations, and determine where the model makes sense.
Connect with the zizzl health team to learn how brokers are building stronger renewal strategies with ICHRA.
Reference
¹zizzl health and Deft Research, The 2026 ICHRA Report: How Employers and Benefits Consultants View ICHRA Today: 5 Key Insights, 2026.