America's Benefit Specialist December 2023

THE LATEST ON ACCOUNT-BASED PLANS

From NABIP

unused amounts, the maximum carryover amount has been raised to $640 for 2024. The IRS has updated the maximum amount employers may contribute for excepted-benefit HRAs due to inflation. For 2024, the maximum annual amount that may be contrib uted to excepted-benefits HRAs will increase to $2,100, which is a $150 hike from 2023. Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrange ments offer an alternative to traditional group health plan coverage and are tailored to fit a variety of business types and sizes. ICHRAs allow employers of any scale to reimburse employees for qualified medical expenses, including health insurance premiums, on a tax-free basis. The prevalence of ICHRAs has been on the rise since their inception. A study found that U.S. employer adoption of ICHRAs increased by 64% from 2022 to 2023, indicating a significant move toward these arrangements by businesses looking for more autonomy in their health benefits offerings. 2 Moreover, adoption rates among applicable large employ ers, companies with at least 50 full-time employees, have more than doubled between 2022 and 2023. This growth has been described as a 25-fold increase since 2020. The

For Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements, there are several recent developments and regulatory changes. In 2023, the maximum contribution to an HSA was $3,850 for self-only coverage and $7,750 for family coverage, re sponding to inflation adjustments. The minimum deductible for a single person with a high-deductible health plan is $1,500. HSAs continue to grow in popularity, with projections indicating assets surpassing $100 billion in 2023. For 2024, the contribution limits are set to rise again, to $4,150 for self-only coverage and $8,300 for family coverage. In addition, a qualifying HDHP must have an annual deductible in 2024 of at least $1,600 for self-only coverage or $3,200 for family coverage (up from $1,500 and $3,000 in 2023, respectively) and annual out-of-pocket expenses (deductibles, co-payments and other amounts, but not premiums) cannot exceed $8,050 for self-only coverage (up from $7,500 in 2023) or $16,100 for family coverage (up from $15,000 in 2023). 1 For FSAs, the contribution limits for 2023 were $3,050 for healthcare FSAs. However, the Dependent Care FSA max imum annual contribution remained steady at $5,000 per household, or $2,500 if married and filing separately. The FSA contribution limit is slated to increase to $3,200 for 2024. Furthermore, for cafeteria plans that permit the carryover of

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