What's new for 2027
A short summary of each 2027 feature, with a link to where it's explained. Features roll out in stages: anything marked Coming soon is being rolled out and will be available soon.
4 available now · 77 coming soon
Available now
Group setup
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Group logo is optional New for 2027 Released 2026-10-15
You can create a group without a logo and add one later.
Employees
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More columns in the employee upload New for 2027 Released 2026-10-16
The employee upload template also takes gender, occupation, working hours, salary and date of hire.
Renewal and messages
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Group welcome message in the set-up email New for 2027 Released 2026-10-08
The account set-up email employees get starts with the group's own welcome message, if one is set in Group Messages.
Approvals and changes
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Brokers can approve on the Admin tab New for 2027 Released 2026-10-22
Brokers can approve and deny requests on the Admin Approvals tab too, not only their own.
Read more in Approvals Brokers
Coming soon
Being rolled out — available soon.
Signing in and getting around
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Email login code Coming soon
After your password, Abra emails you a 6-digit code to finish signing in. You can skip it on your own browser for a set number of days.
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Keyboard and screen-reader access Coming soon
The top menu, the Groups list and the enrollment steps work with the keyboard, statuses show as words, and errors and the current page are announced.
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Clear messages when something fails Coming soon
A failed save says so and keeps your entries; a list that can't load shows a Retry button instead of an empty table.
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Unsaved-changes warning Coming soon
Abra asks before you leave Group Information or ICHRA with edits you haven't saved.
Group setup
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Apt / Suite line and mailing address Coming soon
Group and employee addresses fill Street, Apt / Suite, City, State, ZIP and County separately, with an optional mailing address.
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Each enrollment period is its own plan year Coming soon
Elections belong to their enrollment period, so setting up 2027 never changes 2026 coverage. An ICHRA group has one enrollment period per calendar year.
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Admin phone number Coming soon
Admin users can have an optional phone number in their contact details.
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Admin permissions, including ICHRA and edit rights Coming soon
The permissions grid includes an ICHRA area, and admins can save, approve or send only where they have Add/Edit. View-only admins can still see requests and settings.
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Agent admins with their own NPN Coming soon
Brokers can mark a group admin as an Agent, with an NPN, license and carrier producer codes, so their NPN can be used as the agent of record.
Read more in Set up a group Brokers
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Terminate a group instead of deleting it Coming soon
Draft groups can be deleted; any other group is terminated from the Groups list, so its history is kept. Only Abra support restores a terminated group.
Read more in Getting started Brokers
ICHRA setup, plans and pricing
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Effective date lock Coming soon
Once an enrollment period exists, its effective date is locked until coverage starts. Abra support can change it, given the reason.
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ICHRA new-hire waiting period Coming soon
Set a new-hire start date rule and waiting days for ICHRA, separate from the group's general waiting period.
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Recommended plans by location Coming soon
Recommended plans are set per location and per plan year, and last year's lists can be copied forward.
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Show Recommended Plans Only: On, Off or Not set Coming soon
For ICHRA, set per enrollment period whether employees choose only from their recommended plans.
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Recommended plans: copays on cards and a broker override Coming soon
Recommended plan cards show copays, and brokers can save a plan that isn't on the list for an employee, with a reason kept on record.
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Plans and prices from HealthSherpa Coming soon
Groups quoted through HealthSherpa show plans employees can enroll in through their ICHRA, with live prices; unpriced plans are left out instead of showing at $0.
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Shopping waits for next year's prices Coming soon
Until a state's prices for next year are released, employees shopping for next year see a note instead of plans. The current year is never held back.
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County plan lists Coming soon
Brokers can have employees shop from a short list of up to eight plans per county and plan year, built with filters and published when ready.
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Employee home county and "Where employees live" Coming soon
Abra records each employee's county from their ZIP code, asks when a ZIP covers several counties, and shows where employees live.
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Mid-year county moves Coming soon
When an employee moves to another county, the change starts on the 1st of the next month, the employee sees a notice, and the broker is asked to review their plan.
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Rating-area classes and benchmark plans Coming soon
Set up one class per rating area with a benchmark county; the benchmark plan comes from that county's list and is priced there.
Contributions
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Contribution designs by plan year Coming soon
Contribution designs are kept by plan year, with classes and rules, age checks, and a finalize step, so 2027 changes never touch 2026.
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Every contribution maximum is monthly Coming soon
A maximum such as "up to $200" means at most $200 a month, whatever the pay period.
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ICHRA additional contribution comes from the employer Coming soon
For ICHRA, the additional contribution is added to the employer's share and taken off what the employee pays.
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No $0 prices from missing quotes Coming soon
A plan that can't be priced is left out, and an unpriced benchmark plan shows a message instead of a $0 allowance.
Group plans
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Plan and rate upload Coming soon
Brokers can upload a CSV of plans and rates. Uploaded plans are saved as drafts and go live only after review.
Read more in Group plans Brokers
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Plans that aren't renewing Coming soon
Untick Offer at open enrollment to stop offering a group plan at renewal; employees on it keep coverage until its plan year ends.
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Group plan price and tier check Coming soon
When an employee saves a composite-rated group plan, Abra checks the price and that the tier matches the family members chosen.
Employees
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Employee personal email Coming soon
Employees can have an optional personal email beside the work email.
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Masked SSNs Coming soon
Saved SSNs show as ***-**-1234 when staff edit an employee and on the employee's own About You and dependents. Press Show SSN to see or change it.
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Employees with no state Coming soon
Employees with no state on file get a No state badge, a count and a filter, so you can fix them before shopping.
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Import Elections names its enrollment period Coming soon
Import Elections shows which enrollment period the elections go into and asks you to confirm; you can pick between the open and current periods.
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Automatic employee sync to Ambient Coming soon
Employees in ICHRA groups sync to Ambient automatically when you add or change them.
Renewal and messages
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Renewal emails Coming soon
Brokers send three renewal emails for each renewal, with a preview, a send log, and Release stuck sends for sends that need a check.
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Non-Responder Action Coming soon
For each enrollment period, choose what should happen to employees who don't respond: carry forward, waive all, or notify HR. Applying it automatically at close is coming soon.
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Merge fields and Reset to Default in Group Messages Coming soon
Group messages fill in merge fields such as the employee's first name and deadline, and Reset to Default restores Abra's wording for that message type.
Employee shopping and enrollment
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Current coverage card Coming soon
Employees see what they have today and whether they've chosen next year's coverage, on the home page and on every enrollment step.
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Employer contribution card Coming soon
Employees see what their employer pays, per month and per paycheck, on their home page and while shopping.
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2027 choices saved separately from 2026 Coming soon
During open enrollment, an employee's choice is saved for 2027 and their 2026 coverage stays as it is.
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Life events shop the event's year Coming soon
For a life event, employees see plans and prices for the year of the event's coverage date.
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Clearer enrollment step names Coming soon
The enrollment steps "Enroll Benefits" and "Summary" are now "Choose your benefits" and "Review and submit".
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Monthly costs on plan cards Coming soon
Each plan shows the monthly premium, what the employer pays, what the employee pays and the per-paycheck amount; More Plans can sort by them.
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Carrier logos and exchange tags Coming soon
Plans quoted through HealthSherpa show the carrier's logo and whether the plan is sold off-exchange, on-exchange or both.
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How-to-enroll badges on plan cards Coming soon
Plan cards show how the employee would enroll: Apply in Abra, BCBS application, or Enroll on marketplace.
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Your doctors: in-network check Coming soon
Employees add their doctors, and each plan shows whether they're likely in network, with a link to check the carrier's directory.
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Your medications checklist Coming soon
Employees list their medications and get a link to each plan's drug list, with step-by-step help reading drug coverage.
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Coverage start date set for the employee Coming soon
Get Quote and More Plans show the coverage start date read-only, from the enrollment period, the new-hire waiting period or the life event.
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"Prices changed" re-quote Coming soon
If an ICHRA plan's price changed since the employee saw it, Abra stops the save, quotes again and keeps the plan selected.
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Record a plan bought elsewhere Coming soon
Employees can record an exchange or Medicare plan with a confirmation file; staff verify or reject it.
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Life-event coverage start rule Coming soon
Births, adoptions and placements start on the event date; other life events start on the 1st of the next month.
Approvals and changes
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Approvals show the latest version Coming soon
If an employee resubmits a request, you always see their latest version.
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December approvals Coming soon
In December you can still approve requests until the employee's current coverage ends.
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Expired requests Coming soon
Requests left open past their coverage window move to Expired, once Abra support switches expiry on for your group.
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Request history Coming soon
Each change request has a timeline showing when it was submitted, approved, denied or expired, and who acted.
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Changes outside the enrollment window need approval Coming soon
Outside an employee's enrollment window, every change goes through a change request and your approval.
Applications and payments
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Applications and the application queue Coming soon
ICHRA plan choices become applications that follow the employee's latest choice and wait in the queue until a broker submits them, from early December.
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Application routes Coming soon
Each application shows how it will be submitted: Apply in Abra, Finish on HealthSherpa, Enroll on the marketplace, BCBS application or Quote only.
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Apply in Abra Coming soon
For HealthSherpa plans, employees answer the application questions and sign inside Abra.
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Application signature Coming soon
Employees confirm and sign their application on the Review and submit step; a new plan choice needs a new signature.
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Confirm the agent of record Coming soon
Brokers confirm or change the agent NPN on each application before it goes to the carrier.
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Application status tracker Coming soon
Track each application from Draft to Active coverage, with its history, on the group's Applications page.
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Pay premiums from Ambient at submission Coming soon
When submitting from the queue, brokers can set the employee's Ambient account to pay the first and monthly premiums.
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Payroll amounts download Coming soon
Download each employee's premium, employer amount and employee share for payroll, with the share's tax treatment.
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BCBS of South Carolina enrollment file Coming soon
BCBS of South Carolina applications go in BCBS's own file, with a check before submission and one writing agent NPN.
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Funding warning on applications Coming soon
A yellow warning shows when the group's Ambient account may not cover the month's premiums. It never blocks anything.
Banking with Ambient
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Banking with Ambient Coming soon
ICHRA banking with Ambient: the employer's ICHRA funds and each employee's account for paying premiums, from the group's Banking section.
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Ambient setup checklist Coming soon
A checklist creates or links the employer at Ambient, invites the employer admin and sets up funding.
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Bank details read from Ambient Coming soon
Account Information shows the employer's bank name and last four digits, read live from Ambient.
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Funding suggestion, monthly check and funding log Coming soon
Abra suggests the first funding amount, shows a monthly funding check with what changed, sends reminders, and logs each deposit as it arrives.
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Payment methods from Ambient Coming soon
Each employee's payment method is shown read-only from Ambient, with the last four digits.
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Ambient card in a secure window Coming soon
Employees see their Ambient card inside Ambient's secure window; card details never pass through Abra.
Reports, quoting and notifications
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Report center Coming soon
Reports has a catalog of 12 reports with preview, columns and CSV, Excel or PDF export, plus saved reports and the existing downloads.
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Reports by as-of date Coming soon
Most reports take an as-of date, so you can see 2026 and 2027 coverage separately. Brokers can run reports across several groups.
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Quoting tab (Proposal Builder) Coming soon
Brokers build ICHRA and group quotes from a census, export proposals and save their quotes in Abra.
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Notifications bell Coming soon
The bell collects new applications, funding reminders and other items that need you.
The 2027 season at a glance
- 1Set upOctober
Plan year and dates, plans by location, contributions.
- 2EnrollmentFrom Nov 1, by group
Shop 2027 plans, renewal emails, approvals.
- 3CloseoutWhen the window ends
Non-responders handled, closeout email.
- 4ApplicationsEarly December
Sign and submit, pay first premium.
- 5CoverageJanuary 1, 2027
2027 plans start, allowance runs.
Each group's open enrollment window is set in its own enrollment period. 2026 coverage stays in force until the 2027 effective date.
Group plans follow each plan's own plan year, so their dates may differ from the ICHRA calendar above.
Looking further ahead? See Coming soon and Q1 2027: the new Abra experience.