Can I change the benefit allowance during the plan year?
No. Your benefit allowance, the contribution amount you give each employee class, is set before your plan year starts and stays the same until your next renewal. This applies to both flat-rate and Smart Rates policies.
The rest of your ICHRA policy stays fixed for the plan year too: your employee classes, family scaling, contribution type (flat rate or Smart Rates) and waiting period. To stay compliant with federal ICHRA rules, StretchDollar keeps your policy the same for the whole plan year. Everyone in a class has to get the same terms, and your employees chose their health plans based on the allowance in their ICHRA notice. Learn more in Why your ICHRA policy can't change during the plan year.
What you can still do during the year
These are everyday updates to your employee list, not changes to your policy:
- Add new hires. They get the allowance for their class once their waiting period ends.
- Terminate employees who leave your company.
- Move an employee to a different class you already offer when their job actually changes, for example from part-time to full-time. Their new allowance applies from that point forward.
- Update an employee's number of dependents. Their allowance updates automatically using the family scaling you already set.
Want a different allowance? Plan it for renewal
Renewal is the time to change your allowance for the next plan year. The renewal period runs from October 15 to November 15. For the 2027 plan year, submit your changes by November 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT. See How do renewals work?
If something has changed for your business that you think can't wait until renewal, contact us at support@stretchdollar.com. We'll review it with our compliance team, but we can't promise a change before your next renewal.