Tony Novak profile picture
  "AskTony" column archive        


Categories

Most Popular

AskTony Archive

This Web site contains a compilation of more than a thousand consumer finance  columns written by Tony Novak from the 1980s through 2006, updated and reformatted for maximum usefulness today.  New material was added after 2010.

Content is the opinion of the author and does not represent the position of any other person or entity. Information is from sources believed to be reliable but cannot be guaranteed.

The author is paid for product endorsements and has an ownership or other financial interest in the businesses related to the topics covered.

New questions

Submit consumer finance questions at OnlineAdviser.org and health insurance questions at OnlineNavigator.org

Sponsored by:

FreedomBenefits.net Insurance Exchange - your source of valuable information on state and federal health reform benefits.

Core Health Insurance - America's favorite mini-med insurance  with affordable premiums, freedom to choose providers, optional PPO discounts and guaranteed eligibility regardless of medical conditions.

Please support the Web sites that make publication of AskTony services possible.

HSA vs. HRA bank accounts

originally posted: 11/22/2006  reposted: 2/18/2011 This post has not been recently reviewed or revised by the author and may be out of date. If you notice an error or are in doubt, please send a new question by email or ask for an update. Email asktony@tonynovak.com.

Q: I came to your explanation page expecting to find HRA references and an HRA account application, but found discussion only of HSAs. Is the debit card discussion equally applicable to HRAs? Will First American Bank handle an HRA account?

A: No, these are entirely different and there are no common issues with regard to the setup, taxation or administration of HSAs vs. HRAs. "HSA" stands for "health savings account", a program available to individuals and businesses with a certain type of high deductible health insurance. "HRA" stands for "health reimbursement arrangement" and sometimes referred to as "health reimbursement account". HRAs are set up administered entirely within the accounting systems of the employer and an external claims administrator if the plan covers uninsured health expenses. Usually there are no separate bank accounts for employees' benefits, but this is an available option. If a bank account is established it must not be a trust account (as with HSAs) and the account must be owned by the business and listed with the employer's tax ID number. In contrast, HSAs are always opened as a trust account for the benefit of the employee and are never owned by the employer.

Summary

More resources:

healthsavingsaccount-hsa.com