Payments and benefits are evolving fast, from smarter ways for employers to manage healthcare costs to new technologies shaping how payments moves between businesses. At iStream, we keep a close eye on these shifts so you can stay informed and ahead of the curve. In this issue, we dive into ICHRA’s growing impact, the future of digital payments, and how modern workflows can reduce complexity and risk.
Industry News & Insights
Employers: there’s a smarter way to manage health benefits.
Providing employees with health benefits is especially challenging for smaller employers, where the cost of group insurance in some counties can be twice as expensive as coverage in the individual market.
What’s the potential alternative?
Enter the Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA).
Ohio employers that lowered their health care costs by moving to ICHRA through eHealth saved an average of 65% per employee compared to traditional group insurance.
We believe solutions like ICHRA, paired with smarter payment workflows, are the future of benefits.
– More News –
👾 B2B Digital Payment Market to Reach $27T by 2032: Report
Digital payments between businesses are expected to balloon in size by 2032, with a new report tipping the ecosystem to be valued at $27.8 trillion.
Several factors drive the projected valuation for B2B digital payments, including a rapidly changing business landscape and the need to integrate emerging technologies into existing workflows.
Read more
👨⚖️ Thorny Laws That ICHRA Vendors Should Consider
Some ICHRA vendors see themselves as merely the administrators of a simple employee benefit, so why would financial services laws and regulations apply to them?
The simple answer is that those user experiences, streamlined processes, and benefit administration services nearly always involve a financial component, whether its processing or facilitating payments and/or handling financial data.
Here we explore an array of financial services laws and regulations that may apply to many ICHRA vendor activities.
Read more
🏛 House Committee on Financial Services Demand Answers from Fed on Financial Fraud
The House Financial Services Committee is officially asking the Fed for answers on how it’s combatting the growing wave of payments fraud, including check fraud and fraud tied to instant payments.
Read more
Resources
Why ICHRA Administrators Choose iStream for Premium Payment Processing
The Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA) has redefined how employers offer healthcare. These plans provide employers with tax advantages, predictable fixed healthcare costs, and employees with the freedom to choose coverage that fits their needs.
But as ICHRA programs grow, so does the complexity of managing premium payments. Manual payment processes, delayed reconciliations, and compliance risks can create headaches for administrators and HR teams. That’s where iStream steps in.
Not Dead. Just Digital: How RDC Keeps Checks Moving
Despite rumors of its demise, the check is alive and well, especially in the B2B world. The value of checks processed continues to be in the trillions. In 2024, the Federal Reserve reported a total check value of $8.71 trillion, even as the number of checks decreased.
So how are forward-thinking businesses managing checks in a digital-first economy?
The answer: Remote Deposit Capture (RDC).
RDC allows businesses to scan and deposit checks electronically, saving time, reducing manual data entry, and enabling faster access to funds.
Read why RDC makes sense in 2025
Product Spotlight
Insurance Premium Aggregation (IPA)
The iStream Insurance Premium Aggregation (IPA) solution automates premium funding and removes the burden from employers, without adding complexity for employees.
With IPA, you can automate premium funding for voluntary benefits through payroll, ACH, or credit card. Under traditional models, employers are saddled with unnecessary responsibilities that can create delays, errors, and often puts both coverage and cash flow at risk.
💡 How It Works:
- Employees add a secondary payroll disbursement using a secure U.S. banking account number provided by iStream.
- Each payroll cycle, the specified contribution amount is automatically directed into the IPA account.
- Alternatively, payments can also be funded via ACH or credit card.
- iStream then splits the lump sum into the correct amounts for each provider and remits funds (with all supporting data) directly to carriers on a predetermined schedule.
✅ Features:
- Hands-off for employers: No more invoices, collections, or remittance headaches.
- Portability for employees: The process moves with them across employers, reducing lapses in coverage.
- Reliability for carriers: No late or underpayments, no cash-flow diversion.
- Efficiency for finance teams: Treasury management and accounts receivable are simplified with automated, timely disbursements.
Learn more and contact us today
Sign Up to Our Newsletter
Stay in the stream! Please take a moment to subscribe to our newsletter to receive insights, updates, and helpful resources tailored to your industry.