Alternatives to traditional group health insurance for Elyria employers
Four realistic options, compared honestly, including the case for doing nothing. The one that matters most in Lorain County is which market you buy from: the gap between them here is $344–$715 per employee per month.
How many employees do you have?
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The four options, honestly compared
| Option | When it fits | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Stay on your group plan | Your renewal is flat, your census skews older and richer benefits are a real recruiting lever. | You keep paying the small group floor, which in Lorain County runs $671–$1,462 per employee per month. |
| Shop carriers inside the small group market | You have not tested the market in two or three years and your broker has been passive. | Moves the number by single-digit percentages. You are still buying from the same community-rated pool. |
| Level funding or self-funding | A young, healthy, stable workforce, and enough headcount and cash flow to absorb a bad claims year. | You take on claims risk. A single catastrophic year can erase several good ones, and renewal underwriting can turn against you. |
| An Individual Coverage HRA (ICHRA) | Counties where the individual market prices well below small group. In Lorain County the gap is $344–$715 per employee per month. | Employees choose their own plan, so networks vary person to person. Worth checking against your team's actual doctors before committing. |
Why the county decides
An ICHRA is not automatically the answer. It is the answer where the individual market prices well below small group, and that is a local question. In Lorain County the plan year 2026 difference is $344–$715 per employee per month, which for a 75-employee company is an illustrative $309,600–$643,500 a year, capped by what you contribute today.
Related: what a company your size should pay · why your renewal keeps rising
Find out which option your company should actually pick
We price the options against your real census and Lorain County rates in the same plan year. Free, and if staying put wins we say so.
An estimate from county-level market data, not a quote.
Group-alternative questions
What are the actual alternatives to a small group plan for a Elyria employer?
Four: stay put, shop carriers inside the small group market, move to level funding or self-funding, or move to an Individual Coverage HRA. Each fits a different situation. Shopping carriers is the smallest change and produces the smallest result; level funding trades premium for claims risk; an ICHRA changes which market you buy from, which in Lorain County is where the $344–$715 per-employee monthly difference sits.
When is staying on our group plan the right call?
When your renewal is flat, your census skews older in a way that narrows the individual-market advantage, or rich benefits are a genuine recruiting weapon in your industry. Roughly a third of the companies we analyse are better off staying where they are, and we say so.
Is level funding a better option than an ICHRA?
It depends on risk appetite. Level funding can beat community-rated small group pricing for a young, healthy group, but you are accepting claims risk and renewal underwriting. An ICHRA does not transfer claims risk to you: you set a fixed allowance and your exposure is that number.
How is an ICHRA different from just cancelling coverage and giving a raise?
A raise is taxable to the employee and to you as payroll. An ICHRA allowance is tax-free to the employee and deductible to the employer, and it can satisfy employer mandate obligations when it is set at an affordable level. It is a benefit, not a wage increase.
Does the county really change the answer?
Yes. No other county we price matches Lorain County's premium table for plan year 2026, and the relationship between the two markets there is what decides whether an ICHRA is obvious or marginal.
Actual results depend on your employee census, ages, family composition, plan design and contribution strategy. Figures are illustrative ranges for plan year 2026, the same plan year on both sides of every comparison, from the CMS Marketplace Public Use Files (individual market) and Ideon (small group). Estimates, never quotes or guarantees.
See what your company could save
County-specific 2026 numbers, about 30 seconds, no contact info needed.
How many employees do you have?
See What My Company Could Save →30-second estimate. No contact info needed.