Plans, Products and Services
An overview of Benefit Resource offerings
Click on any of the following to take you directly to that section:
Benefit Resource—what we do
Benefit Resource is a third-party administrator of tax-free employee benefits. We work directly with employees, helping them set up and manage tax-free accounts and save money on health care, dependent day care and certain transportation expenses.
Convenience is the hallmark of Benefit Resource service—from easy debit card transactions to streamlined benefits administration.
Benefit Resource administers the following. Click on any to visit the page where we describe them in full for employers:
The value we add
Tax-free plans provide employees with savings, flexibility and
control. We add problem-solving innovation that
frees employers from the administrative burden associated with
tax-free benefits and gives employees the greatest benefit from
their tax-free contributions. We add security, convenience
and friendly, helpful support. The result is an added
measure of service and ease that differentiates Benefit Resource
in the marketplace.
Employer Services
Continuous innovation yields the highest quality service
Benefit Resource provides employers with a full range of services, including custom plan design and highly effective education and enrollment programs, time-saving technology, guidance and support on IRS compliance along with accounting reports. Ongoing employer administration involves the simple exchange of electronic files— a task that requires minutes each month.
Most importantly, Benefit Resource provides employers with comprehensive administrative support services. When we say our process specialists are dedicated, we’re not just talking just about their work habits, we mean that HR directors work with one person who knows their company.
Employers seeking to attract and retain qualified personnel and contain costs appreciate the Benefit Resource service model. After all, when companies outsource benefits administration, they are handing over care of their most valuable asset—their employees.
Read about critical Executive Management Issues.
See examples of employer tax savings on employee contributions to flexible spending accounts in the right column of this page.
Employee Services
Convenience, security, privacy and caring service
Benefit Resource provides employees with simple debit card access to their accounts, well-designed educational programs and online resources like Tax Savings calculators and worksheets that improve the accuracy of employee spending estimates.
Employees get an accurate picture of their tax-free spending and enjoy easy, online account monitoring and editing capabilities through a secure feature at the Benefit Resource web site. We ensure that all employee tools are tested, intuitive and easy to use. Finally, we provide direct access to helpful benefit specialists, ensuring that employees feel informed and in control.
Try out our handy FSA Tax Savings Calculator and eTRAC Tax Savings Calculator. Download PDFs of Expense Worksheets for Medical FSAs and Dependent Care FSAs. Visit the employee resource page that explains how flexible spending accounts work for employees and how they can sign up.
The Benefits of MasterCard
Access, speed, confidence
Our alliance with MasterCard International assures broad acceptance among service providers and speeds the transfer of funds from customers to service providers. It gives employees easy debit card access to multiple tax-free accounts and adds yet another level of security—cardholders are protected from unauthorized purchase if their card is ever lost or stolen.
Beniversal Flexible Account
Many flexible accounts—just one card
Benefit Resource makes it easy for employees to take advantage of the full array of tax-free options. Employees can use one card—the Beniversal MasterCard—to access their FSA, HSA and HRA medical funds. The Beniversal MasterCard, issued by BankFirst, is a stored value solution that accesses various tax-free medical accounts as employees use the card to pay for services. It’s the ideal companion card to health care insurance cards.
Beniversal MasterCard
eTRAC Commute
The streamlined transit plan
With the eTRAC Commute plan from Benefit Resource, employees can set up Mass Transit Accounts funded by payroll deductions to pay for qualified commuter transit expenses—by bus, train, subway, van pool, etc. And they can set up Parking Accounts to pay for parking near their place of work or near commuter transit centers—although not at their residences.
eTRAC MasterCard
eTRAC MasterCard—instant access to funds
Employees use the handy eTRAC MasterCard, issued by M&T Bank—a stored value solution that reduces balances in individual transit and parking accounts as employees pay for services.
Widely accepted, the card allows employees to pay for qualified expenses at transit centers throughout the U.S. and receive maximum advantage from tax-free benefits. The eTRACMasterCard card increases flexibility for commuters by allowing them to tailor their purchases to fit individual commuting needs.
See how eTRAC Commute
and the eTRAC MasterCard stack up against
other tax-free commuting plans.
Add post-tax dollars for more convenience . . .
The government sets limits on the tax-free contributions employees
can make. However, employees can choose to add after-tax contributions to their accounts, allowing them to easily manage and track all their commuting and parking expenses. Employees can make all their commuting purchases cash-free and voucher-free.
Tax-free Primer
A quick guide to legislation and benefits
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Beginning with the Revenue Act of 1978, the U.S. Congress enacted a series of laws which allow employees—and in some cases their employers—to fund tax-free employee benefit plans. Contributions are made before federal income taxes, Social Security taxes, and most state taxes are calculated.
Using tax-free funds effectively lowers the cost of health care, dependent day care and certain transportation expenses for employees, while reducing their taxable income. Many employees use their tax-free accounts to supplement lower-premium, high-deductible health insurance plans.
And, unlike insurance plans that require consumers to choose among lists of approved services and providers, tax-free benefit plans give consumers more choice, flexibility and control over how their dollars are spent—hence the term consumer-driven benefit plans.
Flexible Benefit Plans
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 125, part of the Revenue Act of 1978, provides for Flexible Benefit Plans, including Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and Dependent Care Spending Accounts.
Often called “flex” benefits, Medical Flexible Spending Accounts are funded by individual employee payroll deductions. Employees set aside tax-free dollars to pay for a wide variety of health care expenses, ranging from co-pays and the employee’s share of group medical insurance premiums to the cost of some over-the-counter drugs.
Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts help
employees pay for dependent care for children age 13 or younger
and for dependent adults who are incapable of self care if that
care enables the employee and their spouse to work, search for
work or attend school full time.
- More time to use funds . . .
Use-or-lose provisions once required employees to forfeit unused dollars in their flexible spending accounts at the end of each Plan Year. However, in 2005 employers were empowered to extend the grace period in which employees can spend yearly tax-free contributions by up to 2.5 months. Contributions don’t technically “roll over” into the following Plan Year, but employees receive extra time in which to spend unused account balances from the previous year. However, employees must forfeit unused FSA balances at the end of the Plan Year and grace period.
- Forecasting how much you'll spend
Although the government places no limits on individual contributes to FSAs, employers may set minimum and maximum contribution limits. Therefore, an important element for employees is accurate forecasting, which is why Benefit Resource provides employees with extensive resources to support accurate forecasting and informed choices. Go back to the section of this page about forecasting tools.
Health Savings Accounts
Health Savings Accounts, HSAs, were created under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2003. Health Savings Accounts, funded by an employer’s tax-free contribution, employee’s tax-free payroll deductions, or both, are used in conjunction with High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP).
HSAs cover “first dollar” medical expenses other than preventative care—payments up to the full amount of an employee’s deductible, before the insurance policy begins to cover expenses.
Employees can also use the accounts to pay for out-of-pocket expenses not covered by their insurance, up to the annual limit set by the IRS. Unlike ‘flex’ accounts, end-of-year balances in HSA accounts can “roll over” into the following year. The accounts are owned by individuals and are “portable,” which means employees can take them along when they change jobs or retire.
Health Reimbursement Accounts
Health Reimbursement Accounts, HRAs, created in 2002, are funded completely by the employer, with tax-free funds. Many employers offer HRAs in conjunction with higher-deductible, lower-premium health care insurance, allowing employees to use HRA funds to pay all or part of the deductibles as well as other eligible medical expenses not covered by insurance.
Balances in HRA accounts can “roll over” into the following year. HRAs can be offered in conjunction with employee-funded Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Accounts, which allow tax-free contributions from both employees and employers.
Benefit Credit Plans
Benefit Credit Plans are a special option of Flexible Benefit Plans. Employers offer “benefit credits” to employees, which employees can use to purchase certain benefits. Benefit credits can be structured so that employees can purchase certain core benefits to deposit into Flexible Spending Accounts or use the credits to buy other insurance coverage or to “buy” cash payments. Benefit Resource specialists consult with employers to set up customized programs.
Qualified Transportation Expense Plans
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) 26 USC Section 132(f) governs commuter benefits. Since the early 1990s, the U.S. Congress has expanded the range of commuter benefits that employers can offer their employees, principally through provisions of The Energy Policy Act of 1992, The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, and The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), passed in 1998.
As a result, employees can use tax-free dollars to pay for qualified transit and parking expenses associated with their commute to and from work. Once again, tax-free accounts allow employees to save 30 to 40 percent on their out-of-pocket expenses for mass transit and workplace parking while reducing their overall tax burden.
Employers reduce their payroll taxes—eliminating FICA—on any dollars that employees set aside in tax-free accounts.
