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HRA and HSA Health Plans for Employers

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Health Savings Account (HSA) and Health Reimbursement Account (HRA)

Shifting behaviors, not costs, to create active participants who are encouraged and rewarded for choosing quality care.

About Consumer-Driven Health Plans

Consumer-Driven Health Plans (CDHPs) give employers the flexibility to combine a qualifying medical plan with either a health savings account (HSA) or health reimbursement account (HRA).

Cigna's Consumer-Driven Health Plans are designed to deliver savings for clients, without shifting costs to customers. Employers can choose to offer one or both of the Cigna CDHP plans. The health savings account (HSA) gives employees ownership of a tax-exempt savings account they can use to contribute pre-tax dollars to pay for covered health care costs.1 The health reimbursement account (HRA) combines a health plan with an employer-funded HRA to help employees pay for covered health care costs.

Typical Plan Structure

With both options, Cigna delivers a one-stop employer and employee experience by integrating administration and any interactions with HSA bank vendors, as well as service and wellness programs.

HRA Plan

  • Employer-owned account. The employer chooses limits on remaining HRA dollars that roll over to future plan years.
  • Most health plans are eligible. Employers choose the underlying medical plan.
  • Contributions are made by the employer. Employers choose how much to contribute.
  • Automatic claim forwarding option to pay health care providers directly from the HRA.

HSA Plan

  • Employee-owned account.
  • Qualified high-deductible plans are eligible. Premiums for these plans are typically lower than traditional medical plans.
  • Contributions can be made by the employer and the employee, up to the IRS limit each year.
  • Preventive prescription drugs can be covered before employees meet their deductible.
  • Optional Limited Purpose Flexible Savings Account (FSA) for vision and dental expenses. This gives your employees the freedom to enroll in an HSA while saving additional pre-tax dollars in a FSA to help pay for eligible vision and dental expenses.2

Benefits of Cigna Medical Plans

  • 24/7/365 live customer service, when and where employees need it
  • Award-winning digital tools for employees, including the myCigna mobile app and cost and quality tool with cost estimates incorporating HRA, HSA or FSA dollars. May vary by plan.
  • Worldwide in-network coverage for emergencies2
  • Most plans offer access to Cigna's large national network of labs, x-ray and radiology offices, and dialysis centers
  • Option for employers to bundle pharmacy, behavioral health, dental, and more.
  • Optional health and wellness incentive programs to encourage and reward employees3
  • Self-funded and fully insured funding options for employers. Options may vary by plan.
  • Dedicated client service team

Components of a Winning Benefits Strategy

HSA and HRA Administration

HRA or HSA plans offer an integrated experience for employers and employees. This makes it easy to implement and simple to maintain.

Services Cigna HSA and/or Cigna HRA HDHP through Cigna with client-specific HSA and/or HRA vendor
ID card
  • Cigna ID card
  • References medical plan and HSA/HRA
 Medical plan ID card with no reference to the HSA/HRA
Web Employees have access to bank account information, HRA account information, Medical and Pharmacy via the myCigna℠ website. myCigna and bank vendor sites are separate. Employees have access to Medical and Pharmacy plan only.
Customer Service
  • Cigna service representatives have access to individual’s medical, HSA and HRA activity
  • Warm transfers from Cigna to HSA vendor as needed for additional assistance.
  • Two customer service phone numbers
  • Cigna customer service cannot answer HSA or HRA questions
  • No warm transfers between Cigna and HSA vendor service operations
Billing Employer gets a single bill from Cigna for medical plan, HSA administration and/or HRA administration Employer gets separate bills for medical plan (Cigna), HSA administration (bank vendor) and/or HRA administrative services (vendor)
Enrollment
  • Cigna facilitates HSA bank account enrollment submission
  • Cigna confirms HDHP enrollment of HSA applicants
  • Standard enrollment materials identify both medical plan, HSA and/or HRA features
  • Cigna does not support bank account enrollment submission
  • Cigna does not confirm HDHP enrollment of HSA applicants
  • Separate enrollment materials for medical plan, HSA and/or HRA
Cigna Health Advisor® Program (not available with all plans) Wellness and at-risk outreach, gaps in care coaching and treatment decision support included Additional cost when added to a non-Cigna plan
Claim processing
  • Medical claims can be automatically forwarded for consideration for HRA reimbursement
  • Single remittance is sent to health care provider and individual showing both the medical claim adjudication and HRA payment
  • Cigna processes medical and pharmacy claims only
  • Individual must submit request for reimbursement from HRA
Contributions Various options are available for the employer to fund the HSA, including bulk funding and employee-directed contributions through deposit or electronic funds transfer (EFT). Varies by plan. HSA contributions managed by bank vendor

Create a sustainable benefits strategy - and improve employees' health

Contact your broker or connect with a Cigna representative to discuss your organization’s unique needs.

1. Certain states require that plans count third party assistance towards an enrollee’s annual deductible and out-of-pocket costs which contradicts IRS rules that prohibit counting such third party assistance before the enrollee’s deductible is met. We recommend making sure that enrollees in states with such laws consult their tax advisor for guidance before taking advantage of third party assistance.

2. For Emergency Services as defined by the applicable plan documents.

3. Incentive programs are funded by the employer and may not be available with all product types.

4. Cigna Corporation. “8th Annual Choice Fund Experience Study.” 2014. The Cigna Choice Fund Experience Study is a multiyear comparative analysis of utilization, claim and cost trend data for two groups of customers: those in traditional PPO/HMO plans (the control group) and those in Cigna Choice Fund CDHPs.