PeopleKeep, a benefits provider for small businesses, is expanding its product offering with the launch of an individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA) platform.
An ICHRA is a company-funded, tax-advantaged health benefit used to reimburse employees for personal healthcare expenses. The PeopleKeep service will be available for employers to purchase on Sept. 26.
“We believe firmly that employers of all sizes need more options in the health benefits space,” says Victoria Hodgkins, CEO of PeopleKeep.
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The product will expand the flexibility and use of health reimbursement arrangements as well as other plans to provide employees with additional options for healthcare coverage. The offering also will help employers comply with new ICHRA regulations, including a requirement that companies notify their employees 90 days prior to launching the benefit.
PeopleKeep also supplies businesses with a qualified small employer HRAs, but these can come with imposed restrictions that the ICHRAs don't have. For example, the qualified small employer HRA is only available to organizations with fewer than 50 employees. If a company has more than 50 employees then they will be subject to the employer mandate and have to provide a group healthcare benefit.
ICHRA will allow employers with more than 50 employees to meet the mandate through an HRA, Hodgkins says.
“That’s an exciting change,” she says. “It is also compatible with traditional group health insurance.”
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If an employer offers group health insurance to a defined class of employees (hourly, salaried, part time, full time), but they want to offer a different class of employees the ICHRA, that is allowed, Hodgkins says. Whereas a qualified small employer HRA would not be compatible with a group health insurance plan.
As part of this most recent launch, PeopleKeep is building tools to help employers determine which HRA benefit is right for their business and employees. These tools include a guided path platform, which can help employers understand which HRAs would be a better fit for their business. PeopleKeep is also considering a similar tool geared toward employees, in order to help them understand the issues of affordability.
“The continued expansion of health benefit options for employers who want to take care of their people while tailoring their benefits to their business needs, is an important development for our country and economy,” Hodgkins says.
