The Individual Coverage HRA (ICHRA) health benefit allows an employer to reimburse their employees for qualifying medical expenses; this includes qualifying individual insurance premiums and may be expanded to include other out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Step 1: Getting Access to PeopleKeep
The first step to getting access to the benefit is logging into PeopleKeep. New employees will receive an invitation email (titled: "Welcome to your health benefit powered by PeopleKeep") which prompts them to log in to their new account. Plan administrators can resend a missed email.
Once your profile is set up you can access your account through the following URL: https://app.peoplekeep.com/login
Step 2: Getting Qualified Individual Insurance Coverage
As its name suggests, the Individual Coverage HRA requires that participating employees have a qualifying individual health insurance policy. These are major medical insurance policies that meet the government's minimum essential coverage (MEC) requirements and also aren't employer-sponsored group health insurance. In general, you have up to 60 days from your HRA benefit eligible date to enroll in insurance. This is considered your Special Enrollment Period (SEP).
Step 3: Understanding Premium Tax Credits and Affordability
Some employees may qualify for the government's advanced premium tax credits (APTC), also referred to as an insurance subsidy. The ICHRA changes how employees interact with the government's insurance marketplace and their ability to qualify for these subsidies. Understanding how to properly navigate the government's regulations around tax credits/subsidies is critical to successfully using the ICHRA.
Step 4: Opting-in or Opting-out of the ICHRA
Once an employee understands their premium tax credit/subsidy situation, they're then prepared to take the next step: deciding whether to opt-in or opt-out of the ICHRA. The opt-in/out decision is selected once-per-year and will determine if the employee gets a company-funded health reimbursement benefit for the entire year.
Step 5: Attesting to Your Individual Coverage
Employees who opt-in to the ICHRA must attest to having qualified individual coverage. This attestation occurs both at the start of the benefit year and again each calendar month. Employees who fail to attest won't be reimbursed for any expenses incurred during that month.
Step 6: Get Reimbursed