Traits of the Best HRA Administrators
You likely already understand the importance of finding the best HRA administrators to create and manage a health reimbursement arrangement for your business. However, you may have additional questions: What should the best HRA administration look like? What features and services should they offer? How can you set the best HRA administrators apart from the rest?
Consider the following important attributes of HRA administrators. They should:
- Provide you with end-to-end service that is customizable to fit your needs. The best companies in this field can create an HRA plan, help you find it, promote it, and manage any financial requirements of the plan. In that capacity, they should provide complete customer service.
- Create customizable plans. Some companies have no familiarity with a Health Reimbursement Arrangement Administrator. Other companies have used them for years. As such, the best plans can provide you with a customizable array of options.
- Manage multiple HRA plans, including a QSEHRA or ICHRA.
- Assist you in making HRA-related decisions and provide answers to all your questions.
In other words, the best HRA administrators can offer all the HRA-related products you could ever need and help you determine which specific products suit your needs.
What is QSEHRA Administration?
A QSEHRA (Qualified Small Employers Health Reimbursement Arrangement) is a type of HRA meant to help small businesses and their employees set aside a certain amount of money, tax-free, for reimbursements. Unfortunately, you cannot administer a QSEHRA yourself. This restriction is due to HIPAA and a variety of related federal regulations. As such, there is no such thing as a self-administered QSEHRA.
What does this mean? You must find a QSEHRA third-party administrator with experience in this area who can handle your business needs, work with you to provide customized solutions, and understands the QSEHRA requirements of the federal government. The best QSEHRA administrators should meet these needs and provide you with an array of information, including:
- A QSEHRA plan document that lays out specific plans, eligibility requirements, and costs.
- Integration with your existing finance systems and payroll deductions.
- Customer service that can answer questions and provide you with the expertise you need.
QSEHRA providers have to understand an array of information and be able to help you and your team achieve maximum tax efficiency. In doing so, they can keep your employees happy. This benefit will help you create a culture of success, improve employee retention, and attract the best employees.
HRA Administration Fees
Regardless of what type of HRA you manage, you must pay HRA administration fees. These fees usually operate on a combination of a flat rate and per-employee price.
Every HRA administrator should be clear and transparent about how much their products cost. If you cannot easily find this information, you may consider finding a new company.
At Take Command, our pricing is clear. If you are looking for our starter plan, we charge $20 per month, per employee, and a $40 monthly platform fee. We are very clear about what you get for this price, which includes:
- Management of all payroll disbursements and compliance information.
- Support across a variety of communications mediums.
- Creation of a customizable HRA plan that fits your needs, regardless of if you are using an ICHRA or QSEHRA.
- Administration of our online platform that can enable you to manage your reimbursements and entire plan.
If you are looking for a customized solution for businesses with more than fifty employees, contact us today. We can walk you through a customized price and additional support options.
The Importance of HRA Administration Software
The HRA administration software you use will be critical to the success of your HRA plan. HRA administration software should come with an array of features, including:
- Easy access to all HRA documents, including your HRA plan document, compliance reports, distribution information, and total costs.
- Automatic billing, which ensures your account is current and your HRA is always funded.
- Intuitive and flexible set-up options that allow you to create, modify and administer your entire HRA from within the platform. You should be able to use an online platform to create a start date, determine who on your team will participate, and set an overall budget.
- On-boarding and administration tools that your business to easily enroll employees.
- Smooth integration with any HR software you are already using.
The importance of this software cannot be underestimated. However, as with any piece of technology, the success of your HRA will ultimately determine whether you can easily administer this program on your own and if you can get the help you need. At Take Command, we offer various support tools and an online demo that can ensure you and your team are as familiar with the process as necessary.
What are Health Reimbursement Arrangement Rules?
HRA requirements will change based on the company managing the HRA and the specifics of each plan. For example, there is no such thing as a self-administered QSEHRA: To establish a health reimbursement arrangement, a business must work with a third party that meets HIPAA requirements and has the necessary certification.
What does this mean for your business? Understanding health reimbursement arrangement rules can be extremely difficult. HRA rules for employers can be difficult to track, which may put your business in a difficult position. For example, what happens if an employee leaves your business? What happens to unused HRA funds? When can you enroll their replacement?
All of this makes it very clear: Your business cannot afford to work with a business that has a less-than-complete understanding of how HRAs work, how to customize them for specific businesses, and how to best support your business. When administered correctly, an HRA can add value and be an extremely useful employee benefit to your business. However, when executed improperly, they can be expensive and costly.
Ready to move forward with an HRA? Work with the best.
