Health Reimbursement Arrangement HRA's

[ILLMAS]

Read first:

 

http://www.sibson.com/publications/HCRI/march2013HRAs.pdf

 

Scenario

 

Let's say Sue is covered individually by the market place, Sue's employer provided an HRA which is tax fee to her, however Sue is a healthy individual and did not have any medical expenses in 2014 or 2015.

 

Questions

 

1.  Can Sue use this HRA to cover her ACA premium?

2.  What other benefits do you see to the employee besides it carrying over to the next year? (in Sue's case)

 

Thanks

 

MAS

[Jack from Ohio]

Read first:

 

http://www.sibson.com/publications/HCRI/march2013HRAs.pdf

 

Scenario

 

Let's say Sue is covered individually by the market place, Sue's employer provided an HRA which is tax fee to her, however Sue is a healthy individual and did not have any medical expenses in 2014 or 2015.

 

Questions

 

1.  Can Sue use this HRA to cover her ACA premium?

2.  What other benefits do you see to the employee besides it carrying over to the next year? (in Sue's case)

 

Thanks

 

MAS

1.  Employer cannot provide an HRA that is tax free.  Not allowed after Jan 1, 2014.

2.  The employer must add the money to boxes 1, 3 & 5 on the W-2.

3.  Sue can use the money for whatever she wants.

4.  Since it is not allowed, there is no benefit to the employer.

[JJStephens]

Employers can provide an HRA ONLY if offered in conjunction with an ACA compliant group health insurance plan--those HRA's are called 'integrated HRA's. 'Stand-alone' HRAs (i.e., any HRA that is not an integrated plan) are no longer permitted (as of 1.1.14).

 

It sounds like Sue's employer is offering a plan that is not permitted under current law--or at least that she is not eligible to participate in due to her having an individual marketplace plan. Therefore, the questions you posed are moot.