Blog · For Employers
Ohio vs Georgia ICHRA 2026: 100% vs 42%
Same federal rules, same product, two states that border the same country and nothing else in common. For plan year 2026, 100% of Ohio's population lives in a county where an ICHRA has a real cost advantage. In Georgia it is about 42%, and the single largest employer market in the state, metro Atlanta, is not part of it.
The quick answer
An ICHRA only saves money where the individual market prices below the small group market. That is a local question, and the two states answer it very differently.
| Ohio | Georgia | |
|---|---|---|
| Population in a county clearing $200/employee/month | 100% | ~42% |
| Largest metro qualifies? | Yes (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati) | No (Atlanta ~$98) |
| Range across counties we price | $369–$1,010 | $337–$729 |
Ohio: every county, no exceptions
All 88 Ohio counties clear the $200 per employee per month bar at the silver age-50 benchmark for plan year 2026. That is unusual. It means the question in Ohio is never whether the local market supports an ICHRA, only whether your particular census and contribution strategy make it worth the change.
It also holds in the places with the employers. Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland all clear it comfortably, which is what separates Ohio from most states where the widest gaps are rural.
Georgia: the savings are where the employers are not
Georgia's widest gaps are real, and they are in counties with almost nobody to apply them to. Baker County prices around $729 per employee per month with a population under 3,000. There is no meaningful population of 25 to 250 employee firms there.
Meanwhile the counties holding most of Georgia's mid-size employers price close to their small group market. That inversion, savings in one place and employers in another, is the whole Georgia story.
Why metro Atlanta does not work
Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb and DeKalb between them hold roughly 3.5 million people and a very large share of the state's mid-size companies. All four sit at about $98 per employee per month at the silver age-50 benchmark for plan year 2026, less than half the bar we use.
Atlanta's individual market prices close to its small group market. There is no structural gap to capture, so for most Atlanta employers the honest answer is that an ICHRA is not worth the disruption. If your company is there, we will normally tell you that rather than build a case around a number that does not exist.
The eight Georgia markets that do
These are the Georgia counties where a meaningful gap and a real employer base occur together.
| County | Principal city | Silver age-50 gap | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dougherty | Albany | $729 | 85,038 |
| Lowndes | Valdosta | $717 | 118,257 |
| Floyd | Rome | $627 | 98,541 |
| Glynn | Brunswick | $589 | 84,566 |
| Bibb | Macon | $532 | 156,554 |
| Houston | Warner Robins | $532 | 164,117 |
| Muscogee | Columbus | $465 | 204,572 |
| Chatham | Savannah | $337 | 296,266 |
The general lesson
Most national writing about ICHRAs quotes an average saving. An average is close to useless here, because the number is a property of your local market rather than of the arrangement. Between these two states it swings from about $98 to over $1,000 per employee per month, and the same employer with the same census would reach opposite conclusions depending only on where the office is.
The practical version: ignore national figures, find your county, and price your own census against it.
Method and sources
Individual-market premiums come from the CMS Marketplace Public Use Files for plan year 2026. Small group benchmarks come from Ideon for the same plan year. Every comparison uses the lowest-cost plan at the same metal tier and age on both sides, in the same county and the same plan year. Population is from the US Census Bureau. The $200 per employee per month bar is our own threshold for a gap worth acting on.
All figures are plan year 2026 estimates and are not quotes, offers of insurance or guarantees of savings. Actual results depend on your employee census, ages, family composition, plan design and contribution strategy.
Questions
Does an ICHRA work in Georgia?
In parts of it. For plan year 2026 roughly 42% of Georgia's population lives in a county where the lowest-cost individual plan prices at least $200 per employee per month below small group. In Ohio that figure is 100%. Georgia works in mid-size markets like Albany, Valdosta, Rome and Macon, and generally does not work in metro Atlanta.
Why does metro Atlanta not qualify?
Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb and DeKalb all sit at roughly $98 per employee per month at the silver age-50 benchmark for plan year 2026, well under the $200 bar. Atlanta's individual market prices close to its small group market, so the gap an ICHRA depends on is not there.
Which state is the stronger ICHRA market?
Ohio, decisively. Every one of its 88 counties clears the bar for plan year 2026, from $369 to $1,010 per employee per month, and that includes the large employment centres rather than only the rural ones.
Georgia has counties saving over $700. Why is that not enough?
Because of where they are. Georgia's widest gaps sit in very small counties. Baker County is around $729 per employee per month with a population under 3,000, which means almost no companies in the 25 to 250 employee range to apply it to. Savings and employers have to be in the same place for the arrangement to matter.