ICHRA in Washington.
The ICHRA itself is federal — a fixed, tax-free monthly allowance your employees use to buy their own individual plans. What's local is the market underneath it. Here is what that market looks like in Washington.
The Washington market underneath it.
Washington runs its own exchange, Washington Healthplanfinder, and offers Cascade Care standardized plans alongside carrier designs. Carrier participation is issuer-specific by county, so an employee's real choice set depends on where in the state they live.
Where employees buy plans
Washington Healthplanfinder — the state's own exchange, or directly from carriers off-exchange.
How premiums are set
Premiums vary by age (up to 3:1) across 9 rating areas. No 2026 Exchange plan in Washington carries a tobacco surcharge — every carrier dropped tobacco rating as a condition of Cascade Care participation, an Exchange policy revisited each plan year. Cascade Care standardized plans make same-tier comparisons cleaner than in most federal-exchange states.
What we price here
Every individual plan in our live 2026 artifact for Washington — 39 counties across 9 rating areas, from government rate filings.
Washington questions.
What is Cascade Care, and does it matter for an ICHRA?
Cascade Care is Washington's standardized-plan program on Healthplanfinder. Standardized designs make plan-to-plan cost differences easier to price — useful when each employee is choosing their own plan under an allowance.
Does Washington rate by tobacco use?
For 2026 Exchange plans, no — every participating carrier dropped tobacco rating as a condition of Cascade Care participation. That is an Exchange policy revisited each plan year, not a statute, so we re-verify it annually.
See your Washington team's number.
Insurf, Inc. is not a licensed insurance agency, does not sell insurance, and receives no commissions; enrollment applications are submitted by an individually licensed insurance producer. This page is an educational overview — not an offer of coverage, not a recommendation to buy any plan, and not financial, tax, legal, medical, coverage, or insurance advice.