Headlines about "Health reimbursement accounts (HRAs)"

Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
[Guidance Overview] Chart for Corporate Employers That Compares FSAs, HRAs and HSAs (PDF)
2 pages. (The Segal Group, Inc.)

[Opinion] A Reconsideration of Tax Expenditure Analysis (PDF)
87 pages. Excerpt: "This document, prepared by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation . . . reconsiders the utility of the JCT Staff's current implementation of tax expenditure analysis. . . . Driven off track by seemingly endless debates about what should and should not be included in the 'normal' tax base, tax expenditure analysis today does not advance either of the two goals that inspired its original proponents: clarifying the aggregate size and application of government expenditures, and improving the Internal Revenue Code." (U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Taxation)

[Guidance Overview] Georgia Gov. Perdue Signs Bill Establishing Tax Exemptions for Employer-Provided High-Deductible Policies
Excerpt: "The House bill is expected to provider insurers with $146 million annually in tax breaks. Employers are expected to save $64.8 million, and workers are expected to save $6.7 million, according to an independent analysis by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. " (KaiserNetwork.org)

American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations Study Shows Most Account Plans Use Preferred Provider Organizations
Excerpt: "Health savings account and health reimbursement arrangement sales could boost preferred provider organization enrollment. Researchers at the American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations, Louisville, Ky., have published data supporting that conclusion in the AAPPO's latest annual PPO market review." (The National Underwriter Company; free registration or paid subscription required)

Johnson & Johnson's Consumer-Directed Health Plan Is More Than a Band-Aid for Employees
Excerpt: "A corporate-wide culture of wellness and sophisticated marketing to a health-conscious population eased the transition to consumer-directed health (CDH) when New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson introduced a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) to its non-unionized salaried staff in January 2008." (AISHealth.com)

[Guidance Overview] Are Rollover and Transfer Contributions to Health Savings Accounts Permitted?
Excerpt: "Rollover and transfer contributions from Archer Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) and other HSAs to an HSA are permitted. They need not be in cash and are not subject to the annual contribution limits. . . . Rollovers from certain flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) are also allowed, subject to the rules of IRS Notice 2007-22." (Wolters Kluwer)

Controlling Health Insurance Premiums with FSA, HRA, HSA Plans
Excerpt: "Health insurance costs are rising much faster than inflation. But what can manufacturers do about it? One idea that seems to be working is giving employees 'ownership' in their health plans. A big problem is that employees are disconnected from the cost of healthcare. For instance, when asked in surveys, a surprising number of people think the doctor only receives their health plan's co-pay amount, $10 or $20!" (Penton Media, Inc.)

AAPPO 2008 Survey of Consumer-Directed Health Plans (PDF)
Excerpt: "Virtually all CDHPs, which includes health savings accounts (HSAs) and health reimbursement accounts (HRAs), are based on PPO networks. The hallmarks of the PPO delivery system – choice, access and flexibility – clearly are a factor in enhancing the CDHP model and promoting continued growth in CDHP enrollments." (American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations)

[Guidance Overview] Can I Have an HSA If I Have a Health FSA or HRA?
Excerpt: "Participation in a health flexible spending arrangement (FSA) or health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) may negatively affect an individual's HSA eligibility. Even with HDHP coverage, an individual also covered by a health FSA or an HRA that pays or reimburses qualified medical expenses prior to meeting the HDHP deductible generally cannot make regular HSA contributions. An individual's participation in one of these plans may also disqualify his/her spouse from an HSA." (Wolters Kluwer Financial Services)

State of the TPA Industry & Forecast for 2008
Excerpt: "We are already in the first stages of the biggest evolution in healthcare and its payment in the past 65 years. No matter what direction things might take politically, the TPAs & Stop-Loss who will survive and thrive are those who stay alert to the changes & opportunities . . . . Some TPAs are thinking that the traditional TPA core service of claims processing is getting to be more and more trouble [and yet they] find an ever-growing array of services & programs employers or individuals want. These include such things as a wide range of wellness offerings, investment and other assistance for the growing HSA market . . . ." (Society of Professional Benefit Administrators)

HRAs Replace Traditional Retiree Health Benefits as Employers Scramble to Reduce Costs
Excerpt: "The number of employers that offer health benefits to retirees has been declining steadily since the early 1990s. While many employers have eliminated those benefits completely, others see retiree health coverage as a way to recruit and retain employees . . . . The cost of maintaining traditional retiree benefits, however, has become prohibitive." (AISHealth.com)

HSAs and HRAs Not As Alike As They Sound
Excerpt: "Even though 61 percent of workers polled in a recent Fidelity Investments survey said they have a good working knowledge of their health care benefits, more than half did not know what HSAs or HRAs are." (Houston Chronicle)

Text of Aon's 2007 Year-End Checkup for Benefit Plans (PDF)
15 pages. Excerpt: "This Alert will help identify general year-end administrative and planning issues that could lead to compliance or employee relations problems if not addressed before, or early in, 2008. In addition, we have highlighted recent legislative or regulatory developments that may require plan design or documentation changes, particularly in response to the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), final Internal Revenue Code (IRC) §409A regulations, and the re-proposed IRC §125 regulations." (Aon)

Health Care Debit Cards Remain Convenient Tool Despite High-Profile Exit of American Express
Excerpt: "Despite American Express Co.'s decision to stop offering its health care-related debit cards at the end of the year, other major issuers will continue offering the credit cards to pay health care bills using employees' health savings accounts and health reimbursement arrangements." (Workforce Management; free registration required)

Opinion: AHIP's Deceptive Release on CDHC
The target page presents excerpts from HealthDecisions.org and HealthPartners and is followed by comments from Don McCanne. Excerpt: "The real issue is that high-deductible health plans are replacing more comprehensive coverage, and these deductibles are making health care access less affordable. Hiding behind the rhetorical diversion over health savings accounts, to which two-thirds of employers don't even contribute, hardly advances the cause of affordable, comprehensive health care for all." (Physicians for a National Health Program)

Individual Health Policies Using a Health Reimbursement Account and Premium Reimbursement Plan
Excerpt: "With the increase in individual plan offerings throughout the country, and the tacit approval in most states that they can be offered through employers, we wanted to share a mechanism for employers and employees to save money when utilizing these plans." (Kushner & Company)

Health Insurance Terms Key to Choices at Work
Excerpt: "When it comes to your health insurance, can you define a flexible spending account, a health reimbursement account or a Health Savings Account? If you can't, you're not alone." (The Dallas Morning News; free registration required)

IRS Explains -- Diet Foods, Meal Replacements, and Dietary Supplements Are Not Code Section 213(d) Medical Care Expenses
Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: The information letter is consistent with prior IRS guidance . . . . However, dietary supplements and special foods may constitute medical care when a medical practitioner recommends them to cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent a specific medical condition." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)

New Products that Combine an HRA with an HMO Are Gaining Traction in California
Excerpt: "Since being launched in June, a product that pairs an HMO with a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) has been gaining sales traction in California, according to Health Net of California, Inc. The managed care company's Optimizer HMO is among a growing number of products that combine the features of an HMO or point-of-service (POS) plan with a health account." (Inside Consumer-Directed Care via AISHealth.com)

Brief Notes on the Health Reimbursement Arrangements' Beneficiary Issue
Excerpt: "On August 14, 2006 the IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2006-36 to clarify the beneficiary status of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA). The Revenue Ruling indicates that HRA reimbursements, whether taxable or not, may no longer be made to non-spouse or non-dependent beneficiaries. Plans have until December 31, 2008 to comply with the ruling; there are no consequences for reimbursements to such beneficiaries prior to that date." (ICMA-RC)

HSAs, FSAs, HRAs -- A Comparison of Health Care Arrangements
The target page includes a chart of the general compliance requirements of the three arrangements. (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)

Another Question is Answered in the Consumer-Driven Healthcare Reimbursement Accounts (HSAs, HRAs, Archer MSAs, Medicare MSAs) Q&A Column
What are the requirements to make a tax free Qualified HSA Distribution (rollover from a Health FSA or HRA to a Health Savings Account)? (BenefitsLink.com)

Opinion: Federal Bills Offers HRA Tax Parity, End to Beneficiary Problem for Non-Dependents
(Temporary link.) Excerpt: "Today's call-to-action asks that you urge your Representative and Senators to support a bill that would provide tax parity to non-spouse/non-dependent individuals who qualify for and receive employer-provided health plan benefits. . . . Both bills contain a provision that would reverse the Treasury's Revenue Ruling on Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA), which stated that whether taxable or not, reimbursements from HRAs may no longer be made to non-spouse or non-dependent beneficiaries." (ICMA-RC)

IRS and Treasury Officials Provide Informal Views on DCAP Elections, HRA Forfeitures, and Other Issues
Excerpt: "The Joint Committee on Employee Benefits (JCEB) of the American Bar Association has posted a report on the May 2007 Q&A session between JCEB representatives and officials from the IRS and Treasury Department." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)

The links shown above have been gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com. Each article's publisher is shown above in parentheses. Opinions expressed in each article are those of the article's publisher, not necessarily those of BenefitsLink.com, Inc. or any web site that displays these headlines in a "frame." You should contact the listed publisher for copyright information about any particular article or to inquire into the right to use the article in any manner.