2026 Health Reimbursement Account

What's Changing in 2026?

There are no changes to the Health Reimbursement Account in 2026.

Carryover Balance - If you are enrolled in either the CCF or HDHP with HRA medical plan in 2025 and elect either the CCF or HDHP with HRA medical plan in 2026,  then any amount of balance remaining in your HRA account will carry forward and can be  used in calendar year 2026.  However if you enroll in the OAP or HDHP with HSA plan in 2026, then any remaining HRA account balance will be forfeited.

Eligibility and Enrollment

All benefit eligible employees who elect either the Cigna Choice Fund (CCF) Plan or the High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) with HRA option, will receive a contribution from Dartmouth in a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA).

You do not need to enroll in a Health Reimbursement Account or establish an account.  When you elect the CCF or HDHP plan with HRA option as your Dartmouth medical plan, you will automatically be enrolled in an Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) through Cigna, and Dartmouth will fund your account within 7-10 days (Open Enrollment - by January 1st)

ID CARDS

You do not receive an ID card or a debit card for the Health Reimbursement Account.  The account is fully managed by Cigna.  Cigna processes your claims and uses the money in your account to pay your providers directly.

Understanding Your HRA Benefit

Enrolling in a Medical plan that comes with a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) is a way of using non-taxable Employer contributions to help pay down your families annual deductible and coinsurance costs.

Dartmouth Contributions

Dartmouth will make an annual contribution to a Health Reimbursement Account when you are enrolled in either the Cigna Choice Fund (CCF) or the High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) with HRA option.  Dartmouth will contribute up to the following amount:

Employee Only Coverage - $500/year
Employee Plus Spouse - $1,000/year
Employee Plus Children - $1,000/year
Family Coverage - $1,000

The annual contribution amount is prorated during your first year (based on your date of hire).

Your HRA account is front-loaded so you can use the funds immediately.

Dartmouth contributions are excluded from your gross income.

Your annual Dartmouth contribution amount can change mid-year if you add or remove dependents as the result of a qualified life event.

Employee Contributions

An HRA is an employer funded contribution only.  Employees cannot contribute to an HRA.  However, you can contribute pre-tax dollars into a General Purpose Health Care Flexible Spending Account (HCFSA) while you are receiving employer contributions in an HRA.

How an HRA works

HRA dollars spent will count toward your annual deductible and out-of-pocket maximum.

Payroll Deduction - There isn't one.  The HRA is an account that can only be funded by your employer. You do not contribute to a Health Reimbursement Account.

Account is Funded - When you elect the Cigna Choice Fund Plan or the High Deductible Health Plan with HRA option, Dartmouth College puts a set amount of money into a Health Reimbursement Account in your name.  This HRA Account is then managed by Cigna Health.

Incur Eligible Expenses - If you or a family member incur a medical or pharmacy expense under the High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) that would apply toward the annual deductible or coinsurance amount, the provider will submit a claim to Cigna or Express Scripts for processing.

Claims Processing - Cigna (Express Scripts if pharmacy claim on HDHP) will receive and process the claim.  If any deductible or coinsurance are owed by you, the member, Cigna will pull funds from the HRA account and pay the provider directly.  Once the account is exhausted, the provider will then bill the member directly for any remaining balance due. Unlike the FSA and HSA accounts, you are NOT required to save or submit receipts for reimbursement.

Year End - Unlike the FSA and HSA accounts there are no year end claim submission deadlines and there are no tax filing requirements.

Who Can You Cover?

Your HRA dollars are shared across all family members enrolled in your medical plan.  You are not able to choose which claims the money will be applied toward, nor can you save the money to cover a specific claim. Claims are paid in the order that they are processed.

Tracking your Balance

Log in to your mycigna account to monitor your HRA account balance.

Eligible HRA Expenses

Your HRA dollars will only be used to cover medical deductible and coinsurance related expenses that are processed through your Dartmouth CCF or HDHP with HRA medical plan.

Your HRA dollars cannot be used to pay for dental, vision or medical copay expenses.

Your HRA dollars will only cover prescription drugs when enrolled in the HDHP with HRA option.  They will not  cover your prescription copays when enrolled in the CCF medical plan.

Filing an HRA Claim

Because Cigna is processing your medical claims and managing your HRA balance, there is no HRA claim filing required.  If you have a medical claim that is processed and paid by your HRA in error, you may reach out to the Dartmouth Benefits Office and we will work with Cigna on your behalf to get the error corrected.

Making Changes to your Medical Benefits

When adding or removing dependents from your medical plan as the result of a qualified life event, your HRA account contribution may be prorated accordingly.  This will occur when you move from a $500 contribution tier level to a $1,000 contribution tier level or vice versa.  The amount prorates based on the number of calendar months that you are enrolled in the plan as a single versus how many months enrolled with at least one other person on your plan with you.  You can monitor your HRA balance through your mycigna account.

Year End Information

Balance Carryover

If you are enrolled in either the CCF or HDHP with HRA medical plan in 2025 and elect either the CCF or HDHP with HRA medical plan in 2026,  then any amount of balance remaining in your HRA account will carry forward and can be  used in calendar year 2026.  However if you enroll in the OAP or HDHP with HSA plan in 2026, then any remaining HRA account balance will be forfeited.

Year End Deadlines

Unlike the FSA and HSA accounts there are no year end claim submission deadlines with an HRA, because there is no claim submission required.

Tax Filing

There is no year end paperwork or IRS tax filing requirements. Unlike the FSA and HSA accounts, the IRS does not require you to save receipts for the claims paid by your HRA dollars.

Create a mycigna Account

Cigna manages your HRA account. You can use the same mycigna account that you use to monitor your medical and supplemental insurance accounts, to also monitor your HRA balance and expenditures.
If you haven't already done so, you will need to create a mycigna account with Cigna. 

1. Go to mycigna.com
2. Click on REGISTER
3. Make sure you have your Cigna ID or Social Security number available
4. Click START REGISTRATION
5. Enter your Name, Date of Birth and zip code
6. Answer a question about your membership
7. Enter your ID card number or SSN
8. Enter your zip code

To see your current HRA balance and how much you have spent,

1.  From the main dashboard, click on SPENDING ACCOUNTS
2. Click on HEALTH REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNTS
3. If you are enrolled in the CCF or HDHP with HRA option, your Balance will be displayed on the screen.

Leaving Dartmouth

The Account - If you are enrolled in either the Cigna CCF or the HDHP plan with HRA option at the time that you leave Dartmouth, then you would also have an HRA account attached to your medical plan. HRA accounts are funded by and belong to Dartmouth, so the amount that is remaining in the account when you leave, is thereby forfeited and goes back to the College.

Paying Claims - The HRA will follow the run-out period, which for Dartmouth is 90-days after the plan terminates. This means that both in- and out-of-network claims incurred prior to your coverage end date, and received by Cigna within 90-days of your coverage end date can still be paid with remaining HRA dollars.  Claims received after the 90-days will not be considered for payment.