Health Savings Account (HSA)
An individually owned, portable account generally paired with HSA-eligible high-deductible health coverage. Eligibility can be affected by other coverage, and contribution limits change by year.
Benefit accounts and reimbursement arrangements
HSA, FSA, HRA, QSEHRA, and Section 125 strategy without the acronym fog
SSGI helps employers distinguish insurance from the accounts, reimbursement arrangements, and cafeteria-plan rules that surround it. We coordinate plan design, administrator selection, payroll setup, enrollment communication, and renewal review while the employer and its legal and tax advisers retain formal plan and tax responsibilities.
Account comparison
What each arrangement is designed to do
Current federal rules and the governing documents control. SSGI organizes the decision and coordinates qualified administrators and advisers.
Health Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
An employer-sponsored arrangement funded through salary reductions and, if designed, employer contributions. Election, carryover or grace-period, substantiation, and termination rules follow the plan and federal limits.
Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA)
An employer-funded arrangement reimbursing eligible expenses under written terms. HRA designs vary, and coordination with group or individual coverage is central.
Qualified Small Employer HRA (QSEHRA)
A defined-contribution reimbursement path for eligible small employers that generally do not offer a group health plan. Employer eligibility, notice, substantiation, affordability, and Marketplace interactions require careful review.
Section 125 cafeteria plan
The written framework that can permit qualifying employee premium and account elections on a pre-tax basis. It is not insurance, and nondiscrimination, election, and documentation rules matter.
Commuter and other tax-advantaged benefits
Qualified transportation and related benefits may complement the core program. Annual federal limits, eligible expenses, payroll, and local rules should be verified before implementation.
Operations
Implementation details that prevent avoidable friction
The arrangement only works when the plan documents, administrator, payroll, enrollment, and employee instructions agree.
Eligibility and plan-document alignment
Define eligible classes, effective dates, waiting periods, qualifying coverage, reimbursable expenses, election rules, and who has authority to make final determinations.
Payroll and contribution setup
Map employer funding, employee salary reductions, deduction timing, contribution frequency, corrections, and year-end reporting with the payroll and tax teams.
Administrator and substantiation
Confirm claim-substantiation, reimbursement, debit-card, privacy, appeals, data-feed, service, and record-retention responsibilities before launch.
COBRA and leave coordination
Review whether and how each arrangement continues during COBRA, leave, termination, rehire, and other status changes under the plan and current law.
Complete product coverage
Connect the local or strategic decision to the complete benefits portfolio
Medical, supporting benefits, funding, accounts, administration, ICHRA, and leave coordination should work as one program. These hubs carry the product detail so this page can remain focused and useful.
- Group medical and health insuranceTraditional group medical coverage, plan and network design, prescription benefits, employer contributions, renewals, and ICHRA comparison.Explore this coverage family
- Insurance carriers and plan insightsLaura Decker's independent guides compare carrier models, exact networks, employer plan structures, service areas, and implementation questions across SSGI's core markets.Explore this coverage family
- Dental, vision, life, disability, and voluntary benefitsGroup dental and vision, employer-paid or voluntary life and AD&D, short- and long-term disability, accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity.Explore this coverage family
- HSA, FSA, HRA, QSEHRA, and Section 125Benefit-account and reimbursement strategy, including eligibility, employer funding, payroll treatment, employee communication, and administrator coordination.Explore this coverage family
- Fully insured, level-funded, and self-funded strategiesA disciplined comparison of risk, cash flow, stop-loss protection, claims reporting, administration, and renewal mechanics before changing funding.Explore this coverage family
- Administration, enrollment, COBRA, and year-round serviceEligibility, onboarding, terminations, billing, enrollment, employee questions, carrier and administrator coordination, and renewal execution.Explore this coverage family
Product availability, eligibility, underwriting, pricing, networks, funding, and recommendations depend on the employer, workforce, jurisdiction, carrier, and current market. SSGI coordinates with carriers, administrators, payroll providers, and the employer's legal and tax advisers; those parties retain their own responsibilities and authoritative records.
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers before the first employer review
General education only. Plan availability, pricing, eligibility, funding, networks, and recommendations depend on current employer and market facts.
Related guidance
Continue through the SSGI coverage center
Descriptive internal links connect this page to the next useful decision instead of repeating the same content under different URLs.
Educational information only; not legal, tax, accounting, medical, coverage, actuarial, or compliance advice. The public contact form is a HIPAA-compatible general-intake boundary, not a BAA-covered clinical, claims, underwriting, payroll, or account channel. Do not submit health information, claims, Medicare or policy numbers, Social Security numbers, member IDs, financial data, credentials, or employee-level census information.
Sources
- Internal Revenue Service — Publication 969Official federal guidance covering HSAs and other tax-favored health plans.
- Internal Revenue Service — Publication 15-BOfficial federal guide to employer fringe-benefit tax treatment.
- U.S. Department of Labor — Employer's Guide to COBRAOfficial federal guidance about group-health continuation coverage.
Map the medical plan, accounts, payroll, and administration together
Begin with employer size, current medical coverage, existing Section 125 or reimbursement documents, administrator, payroll cycle, and the business objective. Keep employee medical, claims, and account information out of the public form.