HEALTH REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNT (HRA)
The HRA is a feature of the Blue and Gold Plans. (You are not eligible for an HRA if you elect the Green Plan.)
Here’s how it works.
- Children’s Mercy puts money in your HRA – $500 to $1,000, depending on your coverage level. You can use the money to automatically pay for eligible medical expenses before you pay anything out of your pocket, or you can choose to pay for the eligible expenses out of your pocket and save your HRA dollars for future eligible medical expenses under your Children’s Mercy medical plan. Read more about using your HRA dollars below.
- You cannot make contributions to your HRA; only Children’s Mercy contributes.
- You can only use your HRA for medical services billed through Cigna. (It does not apply to pharmacy expenses.)
- If you have money in your HRA, you can use it to pay for your service, or you can pay out of your pocket and save your HRA dollars for future eligible medical expenses under your Children’s Mercy plan. You will receive an Explanation of Benefits from Cigna, which will clearly state any remaining amount you owe after receiving medical care.
- Any unused dollars in your HRA at the end of the plan year will roll over for you to use in the next plan year. Log in to your myCIGNA account to check your HRA balance throughout the year.
- If you leave Children’s Mercy, retire or discontinue coverage of the Blue Plan or Gold Plan, you will forfeit any remaining dollars in your HRA.
- If you switch from the Blue or Gold Plan to the Green Plan, you will forfeit any remaining HRA dollars. Due to regulations related to high deductible health plans with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), the dollars cannot transfer between plans. If you enroll in the Green Plan and then re-enroll in the Gold Plan or Blue Plan in the future, your HRA balance will start over at $0.
- When you or your covered spouse complete wellbeing activities, you earn points, which convert to dollars in your HRA in July, assuming you complete the health screening and health assessment by the deadline. To learn more, call (833) 724-2453 or visit Virgin Pulse online today. To activate your Virgin Pulse account, you will need your date of birth and employee ID number.
Review the chart to understand the HRA contributions.
| Employee Only | Employee + Child(ren) | Employee + Spouse | Family | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic contribution from CM* | $500 | $750 | $750 | $1,000 |
| Additional contributions when you complete wellbeing activities by deadlines | $400 | $400 | $400 employee + $400 spouse = $800 | $400 employee + $400 spouse = $800 |
| Total eligible contributions | $900 | $1,150 | $1,550 | $1,800 |
*Amounts shown assume medical coverage begins July 1. If your coverage starts after that date, amounts will be prorated.
USING YOUR HRA DOLLARS TO PAY FOR ELIGIBLE EXPENSES
We offer choices for how and when you use your HRA dollars to pay for eligible medical expenses through Cigna’s MyClaimPay tool. This easy-to-use, online bill pay tool works seamlessly with the AutoPay feature, which is the default when your HRA is established. If you leave AutoPay on, any available HRA dollars will automatically be applied to your claims. If you turn off AutoPay, you can choose when to use your HRA dollars. You can pay out of your Health Care Flexible Spending Account and/or your spouse’s HSA, if applicable, or you can pay out of your pocket.
In either case, you will save your HRA dollars for future eligible medical expenses you incur under your Children’s Mercy medical plan.