HEALTH REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNT (HRA)
Important!
For your convenience, once your Cigna health care claims are processed, your HRA will automatically pay your doctor or other health care professional for your out-of-pocket expenses directly using the money available in your HRA account. If you prefer to manage your own payment options on a claim-by-claim basis, you may set Auto Pay to “OFF," which enables you to pay your doctor or other health care professional directly for your out-of-pocket expenses from available funds in your HRA account at your discretion (available through Cigna's MyClaimPay feature on myCigna.com), or you can use other sources of funding (such as an FSA), to pay your out-of-pocket expenses.
Note:
If a qualifying event changes your coverage tier (i.e., Employee only to Employee + Child) or you adjust your HRA auto-pay during Annual Enrollment, your HRA will reset back to Auto Pay "ON" as of the record change date. You must manually switch it back to "OFF" if preferred.
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.
*Note: HRA pays eligible claims automatically. To update this setting, log in to MyCigna.com. If you experience a life event that changes your medical plan tier, the “auto-pay” function will reset, and you must manually update again, if desired. - You cannot make contributions to your HRA; only Children’s Mercy contributes.
How your HRA account is funded
| CM ADDS Automatic | YOU EARN Wellbeing Rewards | TOTAL Possible | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee Only | $500 | $400 | $1,200 |
| Employee + Child(ren) | $750 | $400 | $1,450 |
| Employee + Spouse | $750 | $800 | $1,850 |
| Family | $1,000 | $800 | $2,200 |
| Complete Activities |
- You can only use your HRA for medical services billed through Cigna. (It does not apply to pharmacy, vision or dental 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 through the Take CARE Wellbeing program, you earn points, which convert to dollars that will be deposited into your HRA in July. You can begin earning rewards for the next program year right away. To earn rewards, you must complete the health assessment and biometric health screening by the communicated deadline. Visit the Wellbeing Rewards page for more details. To learn how to set up your wellbeing account, visit the Wellbeing Rewards page on Scope. To activate your Personify Health account, you will need your date of birth and employee ID number and the passphrase, take-care-rewards-1897. 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 |
| Maximum 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 |
**Children are not eligible to earn wellbeing points.
USING YOUR HRA DOLLARS TO PAY FOR ELIGIBLE MEDICAL 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 medical 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.
Note: Dental, vision and pharmacy costs are not eligible for payment through your HRA.
*Note: HRA pays eligible claims automatically. To update this setting, log in to MyCigna.com. If you experience a life event that changes your medical plan tier, the “auto-pay” function will reset, and you must manually update it again, if desired.