How does onboarding work for employees?

Once the Admin adds employees to their ICHRA Portal, each one automatically receives an email with everything they need to get started — an overview of how ICHRA works, tips for choosing a plan, and options to get help if needed.

The onboarding steps

1) Add a bank account
Employees add the bank account where they'd like to receive reimbursements. Funds are sent via ACH directly from the company's bank account — not through payroll. See Connecting a Bank Account and Making the First (Binder) Payment.

2) Choose a health plan
Each employee shops for a plan using the enrollment link configured for their state — this could be a HealthSherpa link (carrying your agency's agent ID), a state marketplace, or another carrier URL, depending on what's been set up for that state. See Enrollment Links & BOR States: What Agents Need to Know if a client asks why they're being sent to a specific shopping page.

3) Make their first payment and set up reimbursements
After enrolling and making their first (binder) payment directly to the insurance company, employees submit that as proof of coverage for reimbursement. Once approved by the Admin, reimbursements run automatically going forward — see How do my client employees submit auto reimbursements?

If an employee gets stuck before any of this happens

Missing invite emails and login trouble are common early blockers — see Helping an Employee Who Never Got Their Invite or Can't Log In.