The recent additions of Small Employer, Individual and Excepted Benefit HRAs means more opportunity to maximize value and reduce health care costs through flexible spending on an "as needed" basis. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Health reimbursement arrangements (HRA) are among the most overlooked employee health benefit products available. But, they can be crucial for companies that are switching to a lower premium plan by providing tax-advantaged financial assistance to cover employees' eligible out-of-pocket health care expenses.
So, what is an HRA? The concept itself is pretty straightforward: they are tax-advantaged accounts funded with employer dollars to pay employee expenses not covered by their health plan. Employers outline what expenses will be covered in an HRA summary plan document as outlined by the Internal Revenue Service Publication 969. As an example, an HRA could pay all eligible medical expenses, including premiums for health and long-term care insurance, or it could be limited to cover only dental or vision expenses. Most organizations contribute annually or monthly.
Recommended For You
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
