Health Reimbursement Arrangement: Read all about it
Support your employees with tax-friendly HRAs
Give your employees a customized benefits plan to support their health (and happiness). You can reimburse your employees tax-free with your HRA and enjoy full-service administrative support.
HRAs are a popular alternative to traditional group health insurance. Your HRA gives you the freedom and flexibility you want to escape from the confines of group plans. With an HRA, you can expect:
- No more pricey renewals
- No more paying for things your employees don’t want or use
- No more group participation requirements
- No more taking on risk
Instead, you get the benefits of reimbursing your employees for health insurance, such as:
- Tax efficiency
- Flexible design
- Budget control
- Optimized benefits
- You can get out of the health insurance risk management game
HRA Plan Highlights
Take Command makes HRA administration simple and easy.
Flexible Designs
Customize a plan that fits the needs of you and your employees. Full-time, part-time, remote, hybrid — your HRA has you covered.
Simple HRA Administration
Take Command helps you with the design and management of your HRA. This includes process, compliance, reporting, employee communication and employer support.
No Contribution Limits
Employers can define unrestricted benefit budgets with no annual contribution caps. HRAs reimbursements aren’t subject to payroll or income taxes.
Want to dive into the details of HRAs?
Check out our HRA guide to learn more about how HRAs work, HRA benefits, and HRA administration.
HRA Health Benefits
A health reimbursement arrangement is a tax-advantaged benefits solution that allows employers to reimburse their employees for qualified health expenses, including individual insurance premiums. An HRA is eliminates the one size fits all group plan and gives employees the power to chose a health insurance plan that works best for them. Traditional health insurance plans that focus on a group model can be rigid, complicated and very expensive. With an HRA, you and your employees can find freedom in choice, and still get the benefits coverage you want.
What is an HRA Plan?
An HRA is an employer-funded group health plan in which employees are reimbursed (with tax-free dollars) for qualified medical expenses. There are two main types of HRAs: Individual Coverage HRAs (ICHRA) and Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA). QSEHRA is designed for small employers looking for employee health benefits, and ICHRA works for employers of all sizes. Some rules differ between the two HRA plans, and the makeup of your employees can determine the plan that suits your needs best. Check out our comparison article to learn more about the specifics of each and how they stack up.
How do HRAs work?
HRA health insurance is actually very straightforward. Employees select their preferred health insurance plan, pay for health care expenses upfront then the employer reimburses them. Employees and employer alike value the simplicity of this arrangement. Employees gain control of where they spend their money and chose the providers that they want. And employers can still offer health care benefits without being tied to a group plan and in a way that works for the business budget.
HRA plan administration in four simple steps.
- The employer designs their HRA plan. Pro tip – it’s even easier when you work with an experienced partner like Take Command.
- Employees purchase their preferred health insurance plan. Take Command even helps them do it and makes it super easy with tons of employee resources, including our window shopping tool.
- After employees purchase their plans of choice, they can then submit eligible reimbursement claims to the employer.
- Finally, the employer reimburses employees for all valid reimbursement claims.
This is a general set of steps that outlines the basic process of an HRA plan. For a more detailed explanation, check out our HRA benefits guide. The specifics of your plan set up will depend on which HRA you choose – QSEHRA or ICHRA. But one thing remains the same, the experts at Take Command are ready to help you at every step.
