At Sterling Benefits, we are proactively working with multiple resources to dissect the various facets of the law and to understand the guidelines and timelines it presents to our clients. You can expect that we will provide ongoing communications and information as interpretation and implementation details continue to unfold from the government.

Our priority at Sterling Benefits is to stay focused on delivering value and quality customer service to our customers as we work together with health care reform. Significant changes will take place in 2014. In the meantime, there are some items that will require attention much sooner. We will keep you posted as details and clarifications from the government are made available. We encourage you to review this information and utilize our office as a resource in addressing questions and concerns.

Friday, April 5, 2013

New fact sheets answer questions about Health Reimbursement Arrangements

An FAQ issued by the Department of Labor on January 24, 2013 stated that stand-alone HRAs used to buy an individual policy is not considered combined employer-sponsored coverage that follows the annual dollar limit requirement. If employees are offered an HRA and employer-sponsored coverage and turn down the employer-sponsored coverage, the stand-alone HRA will violate the law. The FAQ does allow amounts already in a stand-alone HRA before January 1, 2014 to be drawn on after that time if certain standards are met.

Anthem HRA Fact Sheet