The new federal regulations released last month created quite a splash, with most industry commentators—including PeopleKeep—concentrating on the creation of two new health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs).

While the addition of the individual coverage HRA (ICHRA) and the excepted benefit HRA are exciting, we’re also thrilled about what the new regulations do for the existing qualified small employer HRA (QSEHRA).

In this post, we’ll cover how the HRA rule affects the QSEHRA in 2020 and beyond. Specifically, we’ll discuss:

• The new special enrollment period (SEP) for the QSEHRA
• Rules around offering the QSEHRA with other HRAs
• What the HRA landscape looks like now

Let’s get started.

As more businesses become aware of the new individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA), we at PeopleKeep have been flooded with questions about what it is, how it works, and who can offer it.

The ICHRA is a new health benefit created through federal regulation, which allows businesses of all sizes to reimburse employees for personal health insurance policies and other medical expenses.

The ICHRA is a separate benefit from the qualified small employer HRA (QSEHRA), with its own strengths and use cases. When it becomes available January 1, 2020, it will give businesses another solid alternative to group health insurance.

In this post, we’ll cover some of the most frequently asked questions about the ICHRA to help you learn more about the benefit.

Let’s dive in.

Health savings accounts (HSAs) were introduced in 2003 as a tax-advantaged way to save money toward future health expenses. Although they’re opened, owned, and maintained by individuals, they’re also a valuable component of a comprehensive health benefits package.

Many businesses aren’t sure where to start when offering an HSA benefit, though.

In this post, we’ll discuss how an HSA works, the benefits of contributing to employees’ HSAs, how to do so, and which rules you need to follow if you offer an HSA with a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA).

Let’s get started.

We’ve got great news here at PeopleKeep—last week brought a major win for small business health benefits.

After several months of work, the federal government finalized a rule that creates two new health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) and increases HRA flexibility for all businesses.

The highly anticipated final rule, which was released Thursday, June 13, adds two new HRA options for the 2020 calendar year. Beginning January 1, 2020, businesses can offer an individual coverage HRA (ICHRA) and an excepted benefit HRA to their employees.

The new HRAs are available to businesses of all sizes, but we believe the ICHRA will especially benefit small businesses looking for new alternatives to group health insurance.

In this post, we’ll briefly go over the background on the new rule and what it does. Then, we’ll cover how the final rule differs from the proposed rule released last year, what the final rule means for small businesses, and how you can learn more about the ICHRA.

Let’s dive in.

With the new individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA) scheduled to become available in early 2020, you might be wondering if the ICHRA satisfies the employer mandate.

Let’s take a look.