Lake County employers: you may be overpaying $344–$671 per employee, every month

On plan year 2026 data, the lowest-cost small group plan in Lake County runs $671–$1,462 per employee per month depending on metal tier and age, while the equivalent lowest-cost individual-market plan runs $327–$791. That estimated $344–$671 monthly difference per employee is what an ICHRA strategy can potentially capture. Actual results vary with your census, ages, family mix and contribution strategy.

Not on its own. Ohio sets health premiums by rating area rather than by county, so Lake County prices identically to Cuyahoga, Geauga. What differs county by county is the employer base: Lake County has roughly 758 professional services establishments employing about 3,335 people.

An Individual Coverage HRA (ICHRA) lets you give each employee a fixed, tax-free monthly allowance to buy their own ACA marketplace plan instead of buying one group policy for everyone. Where individual plans cost materially less than group plans, the same benefits budget goes further. The tax treatment mirrors employer-sponsored insurance, and employees keep ACA-compliant major medical coverage.

Illustratively, at the county's plan year 2026 rate difference of $344–$671 per employee per month, a 75-employee company could see an estimated annual difference of $309,600–$603,900, capped by what it actually contributes today. A 37-employee company would be in the $152,736–$297,924 range. These are estimates from county-level market data, not quotes.

We run your actual employee census against real plan year 2026 Lake County rates on both markets and show you the real number, free. If the maths does not favour a switch for your company, we say exactly that and you keep your group plan. Roughly a third of the companies we analyse are better off staying where they are.