How it works

From one health plan for everyone, to a plan for every employee

Learn how Thatch replaces traditional group insurance plans with a health budget for every employee.

Employees choosing their own health plans from multiple carriers

Thatch is a smarter way to do healthcare

Configuring an employee health budget on Thatch

You set a health budget

You set an employee health budget and your team chooses the benefits that fit their needs. Each team member gets a unique budget based on their age, family size, and location.

Your team picks their own insurance plans

Your employees access insurance plans from the country's top carriers on Thatch, searching by doctors, hospitals, and prescriptions to keep the care they love. 93% say the plan-selection experience is good or great.

The Thatch marketplace of eligible health products and services

The remaining budget goes to other care

Employees spend their health budget the way that works best for them, combining their preferred health insurance plan with other eligible health expenses like therapy, prescriptions, and more.

Maggie Chapman, Director of People Operations, Crossroads

How group health plans became the status quo

Congress made employer health insurance tax-free 80 years ago, but only if the company chose the plan. This meant HR leaders were tasked with trying to find one insurance plan that would work for everyone, regardless of their healthcare needs.

A better approach to health benefits

In 2020, a new federal rule changed that. Employers can now give each employee a tax-free budget to buy the individual insurance plan that best fits their needs. But implementing this approach is hard — selecting coverage, managing payments to dozens of carriers, administering payroll, and complying with complex rules is more complicated than most HR teams can handle. That's where Thatch comes in.

Learn more about CHOICE, also known as ICHRA

A group plan for everyone replaced by individual plans from many carriers

Thatch is the only full stack platform with direct carrier relationships

Guided choice

Employees shop for individual health plans from top carriers, with personalized recommendations and help from licensed advisors.

Compliance included

We support you with IRS affordability tools and year round reporting.

One payment, many carriers

Thatch manages enrollment and payments to every carrier your employees choose, on time, every time.

A team of experts standing by

Account managers, benefits consultants, and licensed enrollment advisors are available when you or your team need personalized help.

93% of employees on Thatch say the plan selection experience is good or great.

FAQ

Most companies get up and running in minutes, but our team can help you understand your options and get your team enrolled.

If you're a larger team migrating from group health insurance, plan for about 6 weeks from signed contract to your coverage start date. That covers account setup, admin training, employee education, and open enrollment itself, with your Implementation Manager handing off to your dedicated Account Manager once you're live.

Upload your current employee census into our quoting tool. As you adjust your budget up and down, you'll see the affordability rules applied automatically and the cost for every employee, along with every plan available to them.

Once you like what you see, create your account directly from that quote — your chosen budget carries over with it. You can also schedule time with a Thatch representative to review your options at any point.

With an employee health budget, healthcare policy management is off your plate. You're responsible for three things: scheduling benefits invites, offboarding ineligible employees, and uploading Thatch-generated payroll deductions into your payroll system.

We work with more than 100 payroll providers to sync your employee roster automatically, and we can write deductions directly into most major payroll systems.

When employees review plan options, we prompt them to add their doctors, hospitals, and prescriptions so they can see network status across every plan available to them. If a provider's status isn't clear for a given plan, employees can ask Thatch to research it — we follow up by email within four business days. Licensed concierge brokers are also available for scheduled calls, including evenings and weekends.

In some ways, individual plans cover more. They're required to include all 10 essential health benefits, including maternity care, mental health, and prescriptions. Self-insured group plans aren't required to.

Cost-sharing is also closer than most employers expect: the average 2026 gold-plan deductible is $1,722, compared with $1,886 for employer coverage in 2025.

The real difference is networks. Individual plans generally build narrower local networks than a large-group PPO, which is part of what keeps premiums lower, and coverage for treatments like fertility care varies by state rather than being standard.

That's why choice matters. With an employee health budget, each person weighs plans against their own doctors, prescriptions, and family — something no single group plan can do for everyone.

No. Individual plan pricing is set by age, location, tobacco use, and family size, but never by health history or past claims. Unlike a small-group plan, where one expensive year can drive your renewal, individual coverage isn't experience-rated.

It depends on state and region — PPOs are less common on the individual market than in group coverage. You'll see every plan available to each employee when you set your budget, so you can check PPO options for your actual locations before you commit.

Most employees don't need much help: 85% choose their plan confidently on their own. The rest get one-on-one support from a licensed advisor. Ask Thatch, built into every employee's portal, is also available 24/7 for real-time answers.

Spanish-speaking advisors are available to help your employees with enrollment and plan selection. Ask Thatch detects and responds in dozens of languages, so employees get real-time answers in the language they choose. We also provide Spanish versions of all enrollment guides and collateral for you to distribute ahead of time.

Social Security helps employees 65 and older enroll in Medicare Part A and Part B. From there, our licensed Medicare team helps them add Part C, Part D, or Medicare Supplement Insurance. An employee health budget can reimburse all Medicare premiums once Part A and Part B are in place, or Part C on its own.

Claims are handled by the employee's insurance carrier — the number on their member ID card is the fastest route for a denied claim, a billing dispute, or a coverage question. Thatch helps employees choose a plan, understand what it covers, use their employee health budget, and navigate the claims process along the way.