HRA VEBA Quick Facts
Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA): An HRA is a type of health plan that puts you in control. It’s a tax-free account for your family’s medical expenses and premiums. It’s easy to use, and you’ll pay less in taxes.
How You Get It: You must retire from an employee group that has voted to participate. IRS rules require employees to decide in groups (bargaining unit or non-represented groups). There is no individual choice. A list of participating groups can be found at this site:
How Much You’ll Get: Depending on how your employee group votes, you’ll get either one or both of the following cash outs contributed to an HRA at retirement:
- 35% of your unused sick leave
- 50% of your unused vacation (you’ll get the other 50% paid as regular taxable wages)
Why You Need It: You’ll need money to pay your own medical premiums and expenses during retirement. You might spend up to $1,000 or more per month for you and your spouse. You can use your HRA funds to reimburse these costs. Several common examples are listed below.
How It Works: The County makes contributions to your account. You get to invest that money from the available fund lineup. You can use your funds right away for medical care expenses or save them up for later. Either way, you won’t pay any taxes, and you’ll get to keep a lot more for yourself.
How You Use It: Managing and using your HRA is easy. You can access your account online any time, and there are several ways to get your money out fast.
- Online claims
- HRAgo® (mobile app)
- My Care CardSM (debit card)
- Automatic premium reimbursement
- Direct deposit
Want more information? Have questions?
- Visit hraveba.org or www.kingcounty.gov/audience/employees/benefits/retirement/VEBA.aspx
- Call King County Benefits, Payroll, and Retirement Operations at (206) 684-1556 (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. weekdays)
- Call or email HRA VEBA’s Customer Care Center at 1-888-659-8828 or customercare@hra.veba.org (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays)
This was one of the best bits of information I have received when trying to gather what needs to be done and how for me to go into retirement.
Wonderful! We’re so glad to hear this. 🙂