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Understanding specialty HRAs

What's a specialty HRA and how does it work?

A specialty health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) is an employer-sponsored benefit plan that allows employees to be reimbursed for specific healthcare expenses.

Unlike a standard HRA, which can be used for a wide range of eligible medical expenses, a specialty HRA is designed to cover only certain types of healthcare costs.

Also Known As 💡
Specialty HRAs have the ability to take on different names. For this reason, you might see the following names for a specialty HRA program: Family Treatment Program, IVF Benefit, Infertility Diagnosis Program, etc.

Eligibility

It’s simple! Your employer has to offer the plan, and you must be eligible based on the requirements outlined by your employer.

How does it work?

Employers will set aside a specific amount of money into a specialty HRA for each participating employee. The employer makes all contributions, but employees can use the funds tax-free.

Employees can use the specialty HRA funds to pay for or reimburse themselves for eligible expenses (to the maximum amount specified in the plan).

Eligible expenses

The specific expenses covered by a specialty HRA are determined by your employer and are outlined in your summary plan documents.


Some examples of costs that specialty HRAs are designed to cover include:

  • Fertility expenses

  • IVF

  • Infertility diagnosis

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