HRA Administrator Information

Health Reimbursement Arrangements Administrator Information

Employers today are seeing all the news articles and press releases about HRAs, but most do not understand the flexibility and power of these arrangements. They will be coming to you, as an administrator, for the answers to their questions. This web site is designed to provide you with the information you need to answer their questions.

Show your clients how a properly designed, implemented, and administered HRA can save money and increase profits for an employer while providing a solid benefit foundation for his employees.

If you have any other questions about HRAs, email them to answers@hra105.com. We will be glad to answer your questions and, if we feel the answers would be of interest to others, we will add them to this site.

The following Health FSA rules do not apply to HRAs:

Use-it-or-Lose-It Rule. HRA regulations allow unused funds to be carried forward into future plan years.
Mandatory 12-Month Coverage Period. The HRA coverage period is not required to be 12 months.
Uniform Coverage Rule. In a Health FSA, the entire annual election (less any reimbursements) is available for reimbursement. However, in an HRA, only the employer contributions made to date (less any reimbursements) is ready for reimbursement.
Expenses have to be incurred during the current plan year. HRA regulations allow expenses incurred in previous coverage periods to be reimbursed if the employee was a participant at that time and remains a participant for the current coverage period.
Insurance Premiums are not eligible for reimbursements. HRA regulations allow health insurance premiums to be reimbursed.

Can an HRA be administrated through an FSA system?

No. The differences are too great. For instance, an FSA system does not handle the following:

Coverage periods less than 12 months.
Carry-over of unused funds
Co-Pays, co-insurance, and deductibles
HRA's method of tracking employer contributions
Claims for expenses incurred in previous coverage periods
Tracking of expenses by dependent by HRA

What does it cost to implement an HRA?

Costs vary between different solutions based on features and functions within the different applications. It is important to evaluate the system as a whole and not the bottom line by itself. By examining the system, you can truly see the differences in the programs. Although cost is an important factor, an administration system that does not properly address all the issues of the various plan design options is inefficient and worthless.