Medical Expense Reimbursement Plan: MERPs For Groups
A MERP is a Section 105 HRA Medical Expense Reimbursement Plan.
With a MERP you can deduct 100% of your corporate health insurance
premiums, family health insurance premiums, as well as uninsured
medical, dental and vision care expenses, employee disability insurance,
and term insurance premiums.
MERP Facts:
-MERPSs, employer-funded accounts that employees can draw upon to
pay qualified medical expenses, are usually offered as part of consumer-directed
health plans (CDHPs), a fast-growing marketplace solution to rising
health care costs.
-MERP-based health plans provide employers with an important new
benefits option, one that helps raise consumer awareness of the
real costs of health care while empowering consumers with greater
decision-making control over their health care spending. MERP health
plans usually include a high deductible, and research shows that
total health spending is reduced when consumers bear more responsibility
for their health care expenses.1
-Members of an MERP plan who do not use all of their fund or account
in one year can roll over unused funds for use at a later time for
medical expenses, COBRA benefits, and long-term care or Medicare
premiums.
-MERP-based plans facilitate access to quality care because preventive
care, such as routine physicals and child immunizations, typically
is covered 100 percent and is not charged against the employee's
fund
