DOL releases ERISA enforcement results for 2023  The U.S. Department of Labor released the results of the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s enforcement actions for fiscal year 2023.  Through its enforcement of ERISA, EBSA oversees approximately 2.8 million health plans, 765,000 pension plans and 619,000 other welfare benefit plans. According to the audit, these plans cover 153 million workers, retirees and dependents.  In FY 2023, EBSA recovered over $1.4 billion for plans, participants and beneficiaries. Other key enforcement results include:  EBSA closed 731 civil investigations. Of these, 69% resulted in monetary results for plans or other corrective actions.  EBSA referred 50 cases for civil litigation and closed 196 criminal investigations.  EBSA’s criminal investigations led to the indictment of 60 individuals for offenses related to employee benefit plans. This included plan officials, corporate officers and service providers.  EBSA’s enforcement webpage outlines ERI

Health reimbursement arrangements are employer-funded accounts that reimburse employees for their eligible out-of-pocket medical expenses on a tax-favored basis. This allows employees to enjoy significant tax benefits while covering their healthcare expenses. Although HRAs provide significant tax benefits, they are subject to strict plan design rules. The different types of available HRA plan designs are: HRAs integrated with group health plans; Individual coverage HRAs; Excepted benefit HRAs; Qualified small employer HRAs; HRAs that only pay excepted benefits; and Retiree-only HRAs. For a complete overview and comparison of the types of HRAs, view our Compliance Overview . For more information about  employee benefits, our services and products , contact HANYS Benefit Services by  email  or call 800.388.1963. This is not intended to be exhaustive nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as professional advice. © 2023 Zywave, Inc. All rights reserved.

If you are an employer considering implementing health reimbursement accounts or high deductible health plans with HRAs, you should consider several things first, including your objectives and possible plan designs. Below are questions to think about. Determining company objectives Evaluate your objectives for your benefits package and how HDHP/HRAs contribute to your goals. Is your primary goal to save money on health costs or to move toward employee-driven healthcare decisions? What is your strategic timeline for making these changes? Do you have existing educational resources to help employees understand the effects of healthcare premium costs on your business? How will your choice of healthcare plans affect your employee recruitment and retention efforts? What is your corporate culture today and how well does your organization embrace change? Company characteristics that influence the ability to introduce HRAs include a paternalistic culture, high turnover, communication ability an

Health reimbursement arrangements are employer-funded accounts that reimburse employees for qualified medical expenses they’ve paid for out-of-pocket. Employers set up an HRA, determine the amount of money available to each employee for a coverage period and establish which expenses the funds can be used for. But there’s a lot more to understand when it comes to HRAs , like: what are the benefits; who is eligible; how contributions and distributions are made; and what medical expenses are eligible? Download our recent Know Your Benefits articles Understanding an HRA and Examples of Eligible Expenses to get all the answers and more. For more information about  employee benefits, our services and products , contact HBS by  email  or call 800.388.1963. These Know Your Benefits articles are provided by HANYS Benefit Services and are to be used for informational use only and should not be construed as professional advice. © 2022 Zywave, Inc. All rights reserved.

  What are HRAs? Health reimbursement arrangements are employer-funded programs that reimburse employees for certain medical expenses. Typically, an employer can only offer an HRA to employees with a group health plan, often a high-deductible health plan. Your employer determines the amount of money available in the HRA, which is typically an amount less than your annual health plan deductible. Why an HRA? HRAs provide a tax-free, employer-funded amount of money for healthcare expenses. These arrangements are a great way to pay for out-of-pocket qualified medical expenses while working to meet your plan deductible. There are many advantages to HRAs including: tax savings; out-of-pocket expense reduction; and accrued balance. How do HRAs work? You can use your HRA funds to get reimbursed for your own eligible medical expenses, as well as your spouse’s and dependents’ eligible medical expenses. Eligible medical expenses are unreimbursed medical care expenses, as defined under Section 213