New SBA Mandate Requires Outreach on ICHRAs: Small Businesses to Get Health Options Info

The Small Business Health Options Awareness Act of 2025 is straightforward: it mandates the Small Business Administration (SBA) to actively inform small businesses about Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs). Think of it as a required public service announcement for employers who are trying to figure out how to offer health benefits without breaking the bank. The law directs the SBA Administrator to make sure this information gets out through existing channels, specifically naming Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and SBA district offices (Sec. 2).

The Fine Print on Flexible Health Benefits

For most small business owners, health insurance is a massive headache—it’s expensive, complicated, and often leaves employees wanting more flexibility. ICHRAs are a tool that already exists, essentially allowing employers to give employees tax-free money to buy their own health insurance on the individual market. This bill doesn’t change the ICHRA rules, but it forces the SBA to make sure business owners actually know they are an option. The SBA must integrate this information into all its regular communications, including social media, press releases, and its official website, making awareness a required part of their standard outreach toolkit (Sec. 2).

Who’s Coordinating the Message?

This isn't just the SBA making up information on the fly. The bill clarifies that the informational materials must be developed in coordination with the “appropriate Federal agency,” specifically naming the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Labor (DOL) (Sec. 2). This is a good sign for accuracy. These are the agencies that actually write the rules for ICHRAs, so the information provided to small businesses should be reliable and consistent with current federal regulations.

Real-World Impact: Less Guesswork for Employers

So, what does this mean for the average person? If you own a small landscaping company with 15 employees, or run a local accounting firm, you’re likely already interacting with the SBA or an SBDC for loans, advice, or training. Under this new mandate, you’re now guaranteed to receive clear, coordinated information about ICHRAs. Instead of spending hours digging through confusing federal websites, the information about setting up a tax-advantaged health benefit option will be delivered to you through the channels you already trust. This is a purely informational bill—it doesn't create a new benefit or cost, it just makes sure existing benefits are widely understood, which is a low-cost, high-impact move for supporting small business growth.