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      2026 benefitbay® Employer Renewal Guide

      ICHRA Renewal Process for Employers Using benefitbay®

      We are excited to provide a great renewal experience for your company's employees. The information below is an overview of the renewal process and will serve as a guide to ensure your company has a successful Open Enrollment season!

      July/August 2025:

      • Your Agent will reach out to you to set up your renewal conversation. This meeting should be scheduled before August 31st.
        • It will include timelines, changes to processes, and contribution discussions.
      • Be sure to review your company's budget and discuss with your agent if your company wants to make increases to your contributions for the 2026 plan year.
        • A review will take place to ensure your contributions are compliant with the 2026 ACA affordability standards if your company is subject to those requirements.
      • Review your company's User Roles on the contacts tab to ensure everyone is assigned accurately. The company's signer will be responsible for reviewing and approving the contract and the ICHRA plan document. Click here to review employer user assignments to ensure each business contact has the correct access.

      September 2025:

      • You will be notified when your contract is ready to sign. Please review and sign your contract no later than September 15th.
        • The contract will include terms and conditions, fees, and any added services that your company will participate in (e.g., 1095 reporting, COBRA, and Ancillary election options)
        • Final decisions regarding contributions will occur once rates drop in October (or later, depending on the state) and will be included in the ICHRA plan document 
      • Review your company profile in benefitbay for accuracy and make any necessary updates.
      • Update your company census (instructions below). It is important to have up-to-date salary and address information so that affordability can be determined accurately.
      • Schedule the 90-day notice to go out October 1st, 2025 (instructions below).
      • IF YOUR COMPANY HAS ANY MEDICARE-AGED EMPLOYEES, work with your agent to schedule employee education sessions.

      If your company's pay frequency or waiting period needs to be changed, please contact your agent and benefitbay Customer Success Manager BEFORE making any changes. 

      Census Update Project: 

      • Download your company census and begin updating any employee changes

      If your company utilizes the payroll integration, you may skip this step!

        • Here are the instructions to download the census
        • Please review and confirm all employees' personal and income information. You can make edits directly on the file. 
          • If you notice employees who have left the company but are still showing on the census, delete their information from the census and process their termination in benefitbay (here is the article to process a termination). 
          • Add any new employee's information to the bottom of the census. DO NOT ADD A BENEFITBAY ID#, as one will be assigned once the employee's information is added to the benefitbay platform. 
          • Update all current employees' information, especially salaries and personal addresses. This will ensure that an accurate ICHRA affordability analysis can be completed. 
          • Once you have completed the updates, work with your agent to upload the census to your 2025 Coverage Period in the benefitbay platform.

      We encourage you to have your census updated and uploaded to benefitbay by October 1st, 2025.

      90-day Notice:

      • Send the general 90-day ICHRA Notice to all employees. A personalized ICHRA Notice will be available to employees when enrollment begins.

      For compliance purposes, this notice should be sent by October 1, 2025.

      October 2025:

      • Once the updated census is uploaded, work with your agent to determine the 2026 contribution amounts for your company.
      • Once the 2026 contribution amounts have been finalized and your agent has locked the model, the company's designated "Signer" will log in to benefitbay and sign the 2026 ICHRA Plan Document.
      • Work with your agent to schedule employee Open Enrollment education for all employees. Some things to keep in mind for this education:
        • Employees who currently have coverage must TAKE AN ACTION STEP! There is no option for a passive renewal. They must go through the enrollment steps and choose to keep their current plan, change plans, or waive coverage. 
        • Employees enrolling in coverage will not have the option to change plans before 1/1/2026 if they regret the plan they chose. Employees should be advised to only hit the "submit my application" button when they are absolutely certain they have the plan they want.
        • Employees should be advised to only schedule one enrollment call with a benefitbay enrollment counselor. Appointments will be limited due to volume, and multiple appointments will hinder others from obtaining needed enrollment counseling.
      • We encourage your Human Resources team to provide employee communication before the start of Open Enrollment.

      During Open Enrollment:

      • You can monitor your company's enrollment progress for all employees. Here are the instructions for this option.
      • You can review the renewal report to keep track of which employees had coverage in 2025 but have not elected a 2026 plan. 
      • Redirect any employees who have platform questions or enrollment questions to support@benefitbay.com.

      ALL EMPLOYEES WILL BE REQUIRED TO LOGIN TO BENEFITBAY AND COMPLETE ENROLLMENT, EVEN IF THEY WANT TO RENEW THE SAME PLAN

      Congratulations! You've made it!