A licensed third-party administrator
Premiums on medical insurance continue to increase at double digit rates. One way to reduce the premium is to choose a plan with a high deductible and use a Healthcare Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA) to partially cover this deductible.
The (HRA) is a specific allocation of employer dollars that are pledged to each plan member. The employer can elect to have the employee pay a portion of this deductible and the HRA will cover the remainder. At the end of the plan year, the unused dollars simply return to the employer or can be rolled over. Dollars in the HRA portion of the plan are only allocated when needed. The HRA account does not need to be pre-funded.
Many of our clients have been able to reduce their cost of medical benefits to their employees by using an HRA plan without reducing the benefit to the employee. HRA programs are designed to engage the employee in their own healthcare costs without reducing benefits. Furthermore, as the insurance premiums increase by a given percentage, that increase is on a smaller amount, as its basis has been reduced by the high deductible plan.