Fort Collins, CO (PRWEB) March 27, 2007 -- HSA for
America, the nation's leading provider of Health
Savings Accounts and HSA-qualified
health insurance plans for individuals and families, reports record numbers
of small employers signing up for Health
Reimbursement Arrangements. Employers are using HRAs as a way to
legitimately reimburse individual health insurance premiums to their employees,
saving 50% over group rates.
HRAs
are special employer-funded accounts set up to reimburse specific medical
expenses directly to employees. They came into being when the IRS issued
Notice 2002-45 and Revenue Ruling 2002-41. Because individual health
insurance premiums are much less expensive than group coverage, HRAs can allow
employees of a small business to obtain much less expensive, permanent individual
health insurance coverage that is not tied to their employment.
"This
is working best for small businesses where all employees and their family
members can easily pass the health questionnaire that is part of applying
for individual coverage," says Wiley Long, president of HSA
for America. "The employer no longer has to worry
about administering a group health insurance plan, and the employee no longer
has to worry about losing their coverage if they quit their job."
HRAs
are sometimes referred to as Section
105 plans after the section in the U.S. Tax Code that governs them.
The employer establishes the expenses, along with the annual caps, that will
be reimbursed. Qualified
HSA expenses could include health insurance premiums, preventive expenses
such as check-ups or smoking cessation programs, and other out-of-pocket medical
expenses. The reimbursement is considered to be a tax-free fringe benefit
for the employee.
Many
small business employees are also setting up an HSA
within their Health Reimbursement
Arrangement. "Health Savings
Accounts are allowed with an HRA, as long as the HRA does not reimburse
expenses that would otherwise go toward the deductible of the HSA-qualified
health insurance," added Long.
Health
Reimbursement Arrangements require very little administration, and are
simple and inexpensive to set up. HSA for
America is conducting a free teleseminar on Thursday, March 29,
at 2pm Eastern, titled "Individual Health Insurance For Small Business Employees".
To sign up for the teleseminar and to get more information on how small businesses
are using HRAs, visit our HRA
page.
HSA
for America is a nationwide brokerage firm specializing
in individual and family health insurance plans that are qualified to work
with Health Savings Accounts. HSA for
America represents many different insurance companies, offers instant
online quotes, online applications, and comparisons of HSA administrators.
