Voya Financial Launches New COBRA and HRA Offerings to Expand Its Suite of Workplace Benefits

Thursday, September 03, 2020

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced today its latest expansion of workplace solutions and services that it will offer to its Retirement and Employee Benefits clients to help both employers and their employees with their financial wellness needs — particularly during a time when employees are increasingly looking for health and wealth support through the workplace.

Effective Jan. 1, 2021, Voya is adding the following offerings to its suite of Health Savings and Spending Accounts:

  • Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) — A Voya HRA is a tax-advantaged account that allows both employers and their employees to help save on the cost of health care. For employees, the HRA is funded entirely by the employer, and employees get reimbursed for eligible medical expenses. Since it’s a tax-advantaged account, employees typically don’t pay taxes on the money in the account or when they are reimbursed. For employers, contributions to HRAs are tax deductible; can possibly lower their benefit premiums; and provide a financial incentive to their employees to help control and manage their health-care spending, since the decision about contribution amounts and eligible medical expense reimbursement is made by the employer.

  • COBRA administration — The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) of 1986 requires all businesses with 20 or more employees that provide employee benefits to offer extended coverage to all employees who are terminated or retire or to the beneficiaries of deceased employees. For employers, managing associated compliance requirements and keeping track of changing legislation makes COBRA administration a challenge — especially for companies with a stretched HR staff.

    Voya’s new COBRA administration service will manage everything from enrollment, operating systems and processing payments to help ensure employers have a compliant COBRA program for qualifying beneficiaries. To help enhance the user experience, Voya is launching a new Employer Portal that offers a streamlined design that allows employers to more easily track and manage their COBRA program. Additionally, Voya plans to offer a new COBRA mobile app to make it easier for beneficiaries to view their benefit elections, view communications and set up recurring payments. The newly enhanced user experience for employers and the new COBRA mobile app will be available Jan. 1, 2021.

“During these uncertain times, workplace benefits have never been more important for Americans,” said Rob Grubka, president of Employee Benefits, Voya Financial. “In the midst of a global pandemic, for example, Voya research indicates that nearly 8-in-10 Americans (78%) believe that significant layoffs are likely1 — making the continuation of their workplace benefits critical for those employees who could be impacted. Plus, both employers and employees continue to grapple with how to handle the projected 40% increase in health-care costs over the next eight years in the U.S.”2

“Voya’s new COBRA and HRA offerings can help address both of these concerns and are valuable solutions for employers — especially as their employees increasingly turn to them for help when it comes to managing their financial health and wellness needs,” added Grubka. “It’s the latest example of how Voya is focused on providing holistic solutions and services offered through the workplace to help support the needs of its more than 50,000 institutional clients and their employees.”

Voya’s expanding suite of Health Savings and Spending Accounts

In January 2019, Voya launched its portfolio of Health Savings and Spending Account solutions, which included the following tax-advantaged offerings: a Health Savings Account (HSA) to be used in combination with high-deductible health plans; a Health Flexible Spending Account (Health FSA); a Limited Purpose FSA; a Dependent Care FSA; and a Commuter Benefit Account.

“Since we first introduced our suite of Health Savings and Spending Account offerings, Voya has experienced incredible interest from the market. For example, we’ve received more than three times the number of requests for proposals compared to this time last year,” explained Nate Black, vice president of Consumer Driven Health, Voya Employee Benefits. “When coupled with our high levels of service, technology and educational tools, the addition of our COBRA and HRA offerings aligns with Voya’s ongoing focus to provide employers with the flexibility to choose what best fits their benefits portfolios and the ability to the meet the needs of their employees.”

Voya’s Employee Benefits business offers stop loss, group life, disability and supplemental health insurance products through the workplace, as well as health savings and spending accounts, to employers and their employees. Voya has extensive experience in the design, implementation and administration of employee benefits plans, and it offers a full range of supplemental insurance products that include critical illness/specified disease, accident, hospital indemnity and disability income insurance.

1) Based on the results of a Voya Financial survey conducted through Ipsos on the Ipsos eNation omnibus-online platform among 1,007 adults aged 18+ in the U.S. Research was conducted June 29-30, 2020.

2) EBRI Issue Brief, No. 478 (Employee Benefit Research Institute), March 28, 2019

About Voya Financial®

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13.8 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $7.5 billion in revenue in 2019. The company had $606 billion in total assets under management and administration as of June 30, 2020. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time — Voya’s vision is to be America’s Retirement Company®. Certified as a “Great Place to Work” by the Great Place to Work® Institute, Voya is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible. Voya has been recognized as a 2020 World’s Most Admired Company by Fortune magazine; one of the 2019 World’s Most Ethical Companies® by the Ethisphere Institute; as a member of the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index; and as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” on the Disability Equality Index by Disability:IN. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter @Voya.

Health Savings and Spending Accounts, including Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, Commuter Benefits, Health Reimbursement Arrangements, and COBRA Administration offered by Voya Benefits Company, LLC (in New York, doing business as Voya BC, LLC). Administration services provided by WEX Health, Inc., and Benefit Strategies, LLC.

Insurance products are issued by ReliaStar Life Insurance Company (Minneapolis, MN) and ReliaStar Life Insurance Company of New York (Woodbury, NY). Within the State of New York, only ReliaStar Life Insurance Company of New York is admitted, and its products issued. Both are members of the Voya® family of companies. Voya Employee Benefits is a division of both companies. Product availability and specific provisions may vary by state.

VOYA-EB

Media Contact:
Bill Sutton
Voya Financial
Office: (860) 580-2626
Cell: (315) 373-9685
William.Sutton@voya.com

Source: Voya Financial, Inc.