Pittsburgh-area employers drawn to ICHRA health insurance

For business owners, the yearly anguish over health insurance rate increases at renewal time is the stuff of legend.

The simple math of such insurance is that rates are heavily dependent upon the number and size of medical claims submitted by employees, something the business owner — who usually foots the lion’s share of the bill — can rarely control.

A few expensive claims for cancer treatment or organ transplant within a small group, for example, can send the company’s health insurance rates skyward the following year.

Michael J. Quinn, CEO of Chestnut Ridge Counseling Services, knows the drill well. He’s worried about the 2026 rates for his Uniontown-based nonprofit, which insures 180 employees through a group plan offered by UnitedHealthcare.

Claim costs have been exceeding premiu