SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zane Benefits is pleased to announce the launch of its new solution, PeopleKeep Health, now available to all small businesses due to the passage of the Small Business Healthcare Relief Act, included in the 21st Century Cures Act. The law, to be signed by President Obama today, restores a class of stand-alone Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) for small businesses and creates clarity around the issue of tax-free individual health insurance reimbursement.
The Small Business Healthcare Relief Act clarifies how small businesses can use the new HRAs to assist employees with out-of-pocket health insurance and medical costs. Now, small businesses have a simple and compliant option to help employees pay for personal health insurance and out-of-pocket medical expenses through PeopleKeep Health.
Since 2006, Zane Benefits has helped small businesses offer simple, compliant and personalized employee benefits. By streamlining the personalization of employee benefits, PeopleKeep Health enables small businesses to focus on what they do best, running their business. Rick Lindquist, CEO of Zane Benefits, identified the limited access to HRAs due to provisions in the Affordable Care Act, and over the past three years, has been actively pushing for a solution. Through thought leadership and Zane Benefits, he has driven awareness of this problem in order to streamline access to HRAs for small businesses across the country.
“The inclusion of the Small Business Healthcare Relief Act in the 21st Century Cures Act is a huge win for small businesses,” said Rick Lindquist, President and CEO of Zane Benefits. “Under the Affordable Care Act, access to HRAs was extremely limited. Our new platform, PeopleKeep Health, is a private sector solution to this public sector problem.
We pushed for passage of this legislation so that small businesses would have expanded access to HRAs. As of today, small businesses can now set up a health reimbursement plan that complies with the new law, in just a few minutes online. Owners of small businesses deserve the right to simple, compliant and personalized health insurance options, and now they do through PeopleKeep Health.”
An HRA enables employers to make available dollars (up to $4,950 for individuals and $10,000 for families per year) for their employees’ out-of-pocket costs. Employees can then use that money as reimbursement for out-of-pocket health insurance and medical expenses. All reimbursements are tax deductible to the employer and tax-free to the employees. PeopleKeep Health enables small businesses to set a monthly allowance and communicate the benefit to employees. Employees can then request reimbursement online by attaching documentation. PeopleKeep then reviews and verifies the documentation, and the company reimburses employees tax-free.
“With Zane Benefits, we have been able to streamline our benefits process and offer personalized options for our employees and clients,” said Josiah Allis, President and Co-founder of Design Health, a Colorado-based employee benefits advisor and Zane Benefits customer since 2009. “Rick Lindquist and Zane Benefits are the foremost experts on tax-free individual health insurance reimbursement. Zane Benefits’ leadership has been instrumental in making stand-alone HRAs available to small businesses again through the passage of the bill. We are excited for this announcement and the positive impact it will have on our employees and our clients.”
For more information on the Small Business Healthcare Relief Act, click here.
About Rick Lindquist
Rick Lindquist is President and CEO of
Zane Benefits. Lindquist is a frequent speaker and reference for his
expertise on personalized employee benefits, tax and health policy, and
the Affordable Care Act. He is the co-author of The End of
Employer-Provided Health Insurance (Wiley 2014) and has been featured in
numerous publications including The New York Times, Bloomberg, PBS, and
Inc. Rick joined Zane Benefits as its thirteenth employee in 2007 and
took over as President in 2011. Rick received a B.S. in Economics and a
B.A. in Computer Science from Duke University.
About Zane Benefits
Zane Benefits was founded in 2006 with a
mission to personalize employee benefits for small business. We have a
vision for the world where employee benefits are actually beneficial to
employees. "Personalized" is the word we use to describe that vision.
Our software platform, PeopleKeep, helps small businesses hire and keep
their people. PeopleKeep’s HR and employee benefits solutions are
simple, compliant and personalized.
PeopleKeep Health is our employee health benefits solution. PeopleKeep Health automates compliance and simplifies administrative tasks so small businesses can provide personalized health benefits to their employees. With PeopleKeep Health, employees buy their own health insurance and the company makes available tax-free dollars to help with out-of-pocket costs. PeopleKeep Health includes a compliant health reimbursement plan, personalized online shopping assistance for employees, and simple administrative tools. For more information, visit zanebenefits.com.
