# Why Take Command is not worth it

Source: https://www.getprescience.com/guides/take-command-health-review
Author: Aditya Jain, MD, Cofounder and COO, Prescience
Published: 2026-11-07
Updated: 2026-11-07
Cite as: Aditya Jain, MD. "Why Take Command is not worth it." Prescience, November 7, 2026. https://www.getprescience.com/guides/take-command-health-review

Take Command is not worth it for most small employers: its reviews describe missed deadlines, months of wrong reimbursements and staff left uninsured, and Prescience Choice costs $20 per enrolled employee. Take Command has done the industry a favor by publishing its prices. Those prices are a per-employee fee plus a platform fee, on top of the money you reimburse. Take Command is not an insurer and does not offer a group plan. In an ICHRA the coverage is whatever each employee picks in the individual market, with shopping help from Take Command or another broker. Take Command's software makes that administratively tidy. It does not make the coverage better, and that is the part its marketing tends to leave out.

- **Worth it?:** No: Prescience Choice, $20 per enrolled employee
- **Larger groups:** Custom per-employee price plus a $100+ monthly platform fee at 50 and above
- **What it sells:** ICHRA and QSEHRA administration, no group plan
- **Prescience Diamond:** A group plan, not a reimbursement

## What Take Command customers report

Take Command has a 3.2 TrustScore on Trustpilot, and 27% of its 359 reviews give one star. Several come from long-time customers who say service fell apart after its new portal launched.

- **Staff without coverage.** A May 2026 admin wrote that wrong and conflicting answers from support left "our staff lacking health coverage for a period of a month."
- **Missed deadlines that cost employees.** An October 2026 employer wrote, "Take Command consistently misses important deadlines resulting in excess fees for our employees," that tickets go to an AI first, and that PDF claim upload has been broken for over a year.
- **Months of wrong reimbursements.** A three-year customer wrote in May 2026, "We are now on the fifth month of incorrect allowance reimbursements for our employees." A June 2026 employer wrote that approved expenses were left off a reimbursement report and still weren't fixed months later.
- **Billed for people who'd left.** A June 2026 employer wrote that Take Command "charged us thousands of dollars for inactive and terminated employees" and wouldn't refund it. An October 2026 reviewer was still billed a month after a "deliberately Byzantine cancellation process."
- **Told to enter fake life events.** A January 2026 client wrote that portal bugs stopped employees from waiving coverage, that he was advised to enter false life events as a workaround, and: "Want to talk to a human, budget 90 minutes on hold."

Take Command replies to about a third of negative reviews, and credited one customer after the fact. Read the [one- and two-star reviews on Trustpilot](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/takecommandhealth.com?stars=1&stars=2) yourself before you choose an ICHRA administrator.

## An ICHRA administrator with a good marketing engine

Take Command administers individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements. You set an allowance, your employees buy individual plans, and Take Command's platform handles eligibility, substantiation and reimbursement. It also sells a QSEHRA product for smaller employers. Its pricing is public, which in a category where nobody publishes anything is genuinely refreshing and worth crediting.

What it does not offer is a group health plan. This is not a technicality. There is no network Take Command negotiated, no rate table it holds, no insurer carrying your group's risk. Each employee buys an individual policy where they live, through Take Command's shopping platform or another broker, at whatever the individual market charges someone their age in their county.

That model can be the right answer for a small, distributed, young team. It is the wrong answer for a company with families and a recruiting problem, and the sales process rarely makes the difference clear because the software demonstration is identical in both cases.

> **The claim to check:** Take Command points to Lycoming College, which it says saved $1.4 million after moving to an ICHRA. That is a real result for an institution whose alternative was an expensive traditional plan. Your company's alternative is your own census, so run the numbers instead of borrowing theirs.

## Public prices, and why the total is still hard to see

Take Command publishes two price lists and they do not agree, which is worth knowing before a founder tries to compare it with anything. Its public pricing page, checked in October 2026, shows $25 or more per employee per month for employers with 1 to 49 employees, plus a platform fee of $40 or more a month. For 50 or more employees it lists custom per-employee pricing and a platform fee of $100 or more a month. Its 2025 benefits consultant guide gives a different shape: a $30 per employee service fee on the base package, $40 on the professional package, and a $100 monthly platform fee for 1 to 50 eligible employees. The spread between $25 and $40 per employee, and between a $40 and a $100 platform fee, is the reason to get the quote in writing. Either way the allowance you reimburse is separate and is the largest number in the equation.

I quote the public page above because it is the one anyone can check, and I quote the consultant guide alongside it because it is the one the sales conversation tends to use. A pricing page that says "$25 or more" is telling you the real number is a negotiation.

Two things about this deserve attention. First, the fee per employee is not trivial at scale. Second, the per-employee fee applies to every employee who joins the HRA, and to anyone who does not log in and waive, whether or not the plan they picked fits their needs. The platform fee is set by the number of eligible employees. You are paying for administration and compliance, and the amount of administration depends on the number of people, not on the quality of the outcome.

**Public pricing page, October 2026, with the 2025 consultant guide alongside**

| Item | Public pricing page | 2025 consultant guide |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 to 49 employees | $25 or more per employee per month | $30 per employee on the base package, $40 on professional |
| 50 employees and above | Custom per-employee pricing | $30 or $40 per employee, with a platform fee that rises by $100 a month for each 50 eligible employees |
| Platform fee | $40 or more per month (1 to 49), $100 or more (50 and above) | $100 per month for 1 to 50 employees |
| Reimbursement allowance | Set by you, and the largest cost | Set by you, and the largest cost |
| Health coverage | Not included. Employees buy their own | Not included. Employees buy their own |

**The full cost of a reimbursement program**

Illustrative. 20 eligible employees, of whom 10 join the HRA, at $25 per enrolled employee plus a $40 platform fee, with a $450 monthly allowance.

- Monthly administration: $290
- Annual administration: $3,480
- Monthly reimbursement for 10 users: $4,500
- Annual reimbursement: $54,000
- Total annual program: $57,480

The administration is about 6% of the program cost, and the reimbursement is the rest. Compare that $57,480 with a group plan quote on the same twenty people. Sometimes the group plan is more. Often, at this size, it is not.

## Your team's coverage is whatever the individual market sells them

In an ICHRA you do not buy coverage, you fund a budget. The employee buys coverage. That means your plan quality is not a decision you make, it is the sum of twenty separate decisions made by twenty people with varying amounts of patience and understanding.

The consequences are not abstract. Individual-market plans often have narrower networks than employer group plans. A specialist in a specific health system may not be in network. A drug that is covered under a group formulary may sit on a different tier, or require a prior authorization that was not needed before. None of this shows up until someone needs care.

The employee also has a cash-flow problem. They pay the premium themselves, submit documentation, and wait to be reimbursed. For a household with $2,000 a month in family premium, that gap is a real burden, and it falls hardest on the people least able to absorb it.

- **Ask what happens when an employee needs a specialist** outside the network of the plan they chose.
- **Ask about reimbursement timing.** Days matter when an employee is fronting a family premium.
- **Ask whether dependents are included** in the allowance and how family pricing behaves in the individual market.
- **Ask who answers a coverage question.** The administrator tracks receipts. It does not mediate a claim denial.

## The honest case for Take Command

I want to be straight about where this product wins, because there are real companies for which it is the best available option. A six-person startup with staff in five states cannot get an attractive group rate. A traditional group plan priced on a census of six, spread across five states, is often expensive and restricted. An ICHRA at least gives those six people tax-free money to buy where they live.

It also wins for companies whose staff previously had nothing. If the alternative to an ICHRA is no benefit at all, the ICHRA is strictly better and the administrative fee is easy to justify. The argument is not that the model is bad. It is that the model is being sold to companies that would be better served by a group plan, and the fee structure gives the salesperson every incentive not to mention it.

There is also a regulatory reason to use an administrator rather than doing it manually. ICHRA substantiation rules are real, and getting them wrong is expensive. Paying a specialist to handle compliance is a legitimate purchase. It is just not the same purchase as health insurance.

The failure mode I see most often is a company that chose an ICHRA at eight people and kept it at thirty. At eight it was clever: no carrier wanted the group, individual plans were fine, and the fee was small. At thirty the arithmetic has inverted. A carrier will absolutely want thirty employees, the group rates are better than anything thirty individuals can find, and the company is still paying per-employee fees to reimburse receipts. Nobody re-runs the comparison because nobody is being asked to.

So put a review date in your calendar even if you sign. The right structure at twelve people is not the right structure at forty, and the vendor is not going to call you to say so.

## Take Command versus a group plan, on the same census

Run this exercise before you sign anything. Take your census, get a group plan rate table for it, and calculate what an ICHRA would actually cost: the allowance multiplied by expected usage, plus the administration fee. Then compare, and include the network and the effort as cost items even though they do not appear on an invoice.

**Two structures on the same twenty-person team**

| Question | Group plan | ICHRA via Take Command |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Who picks the plan | You, from a rate table | Each employee, with optional shopping support |
| Network | One managed network | Twenty separate networks |
| Risk | Carrier, within the plan design | You, within the allowance |
| Admin cost | None, usually | $25 to $40 per employee plus a platform fee |
| Employee upfront cost | Payroll deduction | Full premium, reimbursed later |
| Recruiting message | A real benefit | A budget |

If the group plan is cheaper and broader, the ICHRA is buying you flexibility you did not need. If the group plan is unavailable or unaffordable, the ICHRA is a good solution to a real problem, and Take Command is a competent administrator of it.

**Get the group-plan side of the Take Command comparison**

Use the same employee census and employer budget for both routes. Compare the written group benefits with the individual policies and allowances employees would actually have.

[Compare my team's coverage options](https://www.getprescience.com/quote)

[Check the allowance affordability side](https://www.getprescience.com/tools/ichra-affordability-calculator)

## What to ask on a Take Command call

- What is the total monthly cost including the platform fee, on my actual headcount?
- What allowance level would make an individual plan affordable in each county where my staff live?
- What shopping support do employees get, and who answers a network question?
- What is the reimbursement turnaround, and do employees pay premiums upfront?
- Are there states or counties where the individual market is thin enough to avoid?
- What are the substantiation requirements, and who is liable if they are missed?
- Can we move to a group plan mid-year later, and what would that cost?

## Who Take Command fits, and who should buy a real plan

**My take by situation**

| Your company | Does Take Command make sense? |
| --- | --- |
| Under 10 people across many states | Often yes. A group plan is hard to price there |
| A young, healthy, geographically spread team | Yes, if they will shop |
| A team with families and children | Think carefully. Individual family pricing is steep |
| 20 to 50 people in one or two states | Usually no. Group coverage will be better |
| A company competing for senior hires | No. A budget is a weaker offer than a plan |

If your team is small or distributed, an ICHRA is the right structure and the question is only who administers it. If your team is big enough to be interesting to a carrier, buy the plan.

> **Prescience Diamond: A company health plan with an effective $0 deductible.** Diamond is a company group plan with an effective $0 deductible and a broad national PPO network, for one monthly cost fixed in your quote, with no admin fees.
> - **An effective $0 deductible** and simple copays shown before a visit
> - **A broad national PPO network,** plus providers we contract with directly
> - **24/7 physician-led care navigation** that books visits and explains costs
> - **Usually 10–20% below comparable fully insured coverage,** fixed in your quote, with no admin fees
> Best for teams of about 15 or more that want one great group plan. [Get a Diamond quote](https://www.getprescience.com/get-started?p=Employer&product=diamond)

> **Prescience Choice: ICHRA for $20 per enrolled employee per month.** If individual coverage is the right fit for your team, Choice is an ICHRA at $20 per enrolled employee per month with no setup or platform fee.
> - **You set a monthly allowance;** each employee picks and owns an individual plan
> - **$20 per enrolled employee per month,** with no setup or platform fee
> - **Works in all 50 states and DC,** so remote and multi-state teams fit
> - **Plan comparison, enrollment help and Crystal,** our assistant for benefits questions
> Best for small teams, teams in several states, and anyone pricing ICHRA. [Get a Choice quote](https://www.getprescience.com/employer/choice)

## Frequently asked questions

**Why is Take Command not worth it?**

Its reviews describe missed deadlines, months of wrong reimbursements, billing for terminated employees and staff left uninsured for a month. If an ICHRA fits your team, Prescience Choice runs one at $20 per enrolled employee a month with no setup or platform fee.

**How much does Take Command cost?**

Take Command publishes tiered pricing, and its two price lists differ. The public pricing page, checked in October 2026, lists $25 or more per employee per month for employers with 1 to 49 employees with a platform fee of $40 or more a month. For 50 and above it lists custom per-employee pricing and a platform fee of $100 or more a month. Its 2025 benefits consultant guide quotes a $30 per employee service fee on the base package, $40 on professional, and a $100 monthly platform fee for 1 to 50 employees. Ask for the written quote. The reimbursement allowance is separate and is usually the largest cost.

**Is Take Command a health insurance company?**

No. Take Command administers ICHRAs and QSEHRAs. It handles eligibility, substantiation and reimbursement, while employees buy their own individual coverage and your company funds the allowance.

**Does Take Command provide a network?**

Not directly. Each employee chooses an individual market plan with its own network, so there is no single network across your team. That is a meaningful difference from a group plan if your employees rely on specific doctors or hospitals.

**Is an ICHRA cheaper than a group plan?**

Sometimes. For a very small or highly distributed team, a group plan can be expensive and restricted, and an ICHRA may cost less. For a larger team in one or two states, a group plan is usually cheaper and broader, so run both numbers on your own census.

**Do employees pay before they are reimbursed?**

Yes. In an ICHRA the employee buys the plan and pays the premium, then submits for reimbursement. That cash-flow gap is worth asking about, especially for employees with family coverage.

**What happens if an employee's plan does not cover a needed service?**

That is between the employee and the plan they chose. The administrator tracks reimbursement, not coverage decisions, so network and formulary problems do not get solved by the platform.

**What is a better alternative to Take Command?**

If you want a group plan your company owns, Prescience Diamond provides one with an effective $0 deductible and a broad national PPO network, with no admin fees. If you want an ICHRA, Choice is $20 per enrolled employee per month with no setup or platform fee.

## Sources

- [Trustpilot, Take Command one- and two-star reviews (checked November 5, 2026)](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/takecommandhealth.com?stars=1&stars=2)
- [Take Command, Pricing (tiered per-employee fees plus a platform fee; checked October 2026)](https://www.takecommandhealth.com/take-command-pricing)
- [Take Command, 2025 Benefits Consultant Guide, HRA Hub Pricing (updated February 2025; checked November 10, 2026)](https://www.takecommandhealth.com/hubfs/1%20Documents/HRA%20Hub%20Launch/TCH_2024%20Benefit%20Consultant%20Compensation%20Guide%20-%20HRA%20Hub.pdf)
- [KFF, 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey](https://www.kff.org/health-costs/2025-employer-health-benefits-survey/)
- [HealthCare.gov, Individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements](https://www.healthcare.gov/small-businesses/learn-more/individual-coverage-hra/)
- [U.S. Chamber of Commerce, PEOs vs. insurance brokers](https://www.uschamber.com/co/run/human-resources/peos-vs-insurance-brokers)