Smart Benefits: HRAs Can be Used for Premiums in 2020
Rob Calise, GoLocalProv Business/Health Expert
Smart Benefits: HRAs Can be Used for Premiums in 2020
Under the rule, starting in January 2020, employers will now be able to use individual coverage HRAs to provide employees with tax-preferred funds to pay for the cost of health insurance coverage that workers purchase in the individual market, subject to certain conditions. Because HRAs are tax-preferred, workers who buy an individual market plan with an HRA receive the same tax advantages as workers with traditional employer-sponsored coverage.
According to the Departments, the policy will provide hundreds of thousands of employers a better way to provide health insurance coverage. In particular, it will help small employers who have stopped providing insurance or struggle to offer coverage by enabling them to compete with larger businesses.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn addition to allowing individual coverage HRAs, the rule also permits employers that offer traditional group health plans to provide an excepted benefit HRA of up to $1,800 per year (indexed to inflation after 2020), even if the employee doesn’t enroll in the traditional group health plan, and to reimburse an employee for certain qualified medical expenses, including premiums for vision, dental, and short-term, limited-duration insurance.
For more information, read the Departments’ FAQ.
Rob Calise is the Managing Director, Employee Benefits of The Hilb Group of New England, where he helps clients control the costs of employee benefits by focusing on consumer-driven strategies and on how to best utilize the tax savings tools the government provides. Rob serves as Chairman of the Board of United Benefit Advisors, and is a board member of the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of RI Broker Advisory Board, United HealthCare of New England Broker Advisory Board and Rhode Island Business Healthcare Advisors Council. He is also a member of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), American Health Insurance Association (AHIA) and the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC), as well as various human resource associations. Rob is a graduate of Bryant University with a BS in Finance
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