By zizzl Health
With the launch of Georgia Access for Business (GAFB), Georgia businesses and licensed agents have a more visible, state-supported way to explore, evaluate, and implement CHOICE Arrangement, formerly known as ICHRA.
The underlying model hasn't changed. What's new is Georgia's more intentional approach to making it accessible to employers and their advisors.
WABE’s coverage of the launch offers a closer look at the event and what the new program could mean for Georgia businesses.
The launch brought Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King together with CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and industry leaders in Atlanta. zizzl health CEO Raymond Seaver was there representing our team, as zizzl health and NFP helped deliver the technology and solution supporting GAFB's CHOICE program.
The name is new. The model isn’t.
CHOICE is the new name for ICHRA. The underlying benefits model remains the same.
An employer sets a defined contribution, and eligible employees use it toward qualifying individual coverage. Plan selection moves to the employee.
What GAFB adds is more structure around how employers and agents can evaluate and implement that model. Employers can explore their options through a state-based marketplace. Licensed agents remain part of the process. Decision support helps put CHOICE in context with other approaches.
CHOICE does not need to sit outside the traditional benefits conversation. It can be part of the same evaluation. A business can look at its workforce and budget, while the advisor can look at the individual market and the available group options. From there, they can decide whether a defined contribution approach deserves a closer look.
CHOICE does not need to win every comparison; it just needs a fair place in the comparison.
The broker still matters
Technology can simplify modeling and plan selection. It can also support enrollment and administration.
However, the benefits decision still needs human guidance.
Georgia Access strongly encourages employers to work with knowledgeable, licensed agents. GAFB also created a separate certification process for agents supporting the program.
That approach reflects something we see every day at zizzl health. The broker's role remains central to helping employers understand their options, evaluate whether CHOICE is the right fit, and consider the implications for their workforce. Technology supports that expertise by making the process more manageable.
Together, they can give employees a clearer experience, and that combination makes the model stronger.
How GAFB supports employers and brokers
The program offers a useful example of how states can provide more intentional support around an existing benefits model:
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CHOICE sits alongside other benefit options. Employers can evaluate the model in context instead of treating it as a separate conversation.
- Licensed agents stay involved. Employers still have professional guidance for a decision with real financial and workforce implications.
- The individual market becomes easier to explore. GAFB creates a more direct path between employer contributions and individual coverage available through Georgia Access.
- Employers and employees have additional support. The program includes decision resources and enrollment guidance for the people using it.
Together, these elements help make CHOICE more accessible to Georgia employers and their advisors, while keeping the benefits decision grounded in each employer's needs.
Why this matters beyond Georgia
Georgia Access for Business gives CHOICE a more visible path into the employer benefits conversation. It also shows a model for connecting a state-based individual marketplace with employer benefit decisions.
Georgia's approach offers other states and industry stakeholders a practical example of how additional education, technology, and advisor support can help employers evaluate an existing benefits option.
For zizzl health, this initiative builds on years of helping brokers and employers evaluate and implement ICHRA. Working alongside NFP, we're bringing that experience and technology to Georgia Access for Business, helping support a more accessible experience for employers, agents, and employees.
Georgia Access identified zizzl health as one of the industry partners involved in developing GAFB.
A more tangible CHOICE conversation
A launch is only a starting point.
The real measure will be how well Georgia Access for Business helps employers evaluate their options, supports brokers in guiding those decisions, and makes the experience manageable for employees.
Georgia's initiative gives the industry a concrete example of how state-level support can help bring an established benefits model into more employer conversations. Now comes the opportunity to see how that support works in practice.
That is a meaningful development for the CHOICE conversation.