How does Service 1st Benefits support my business during open enrollment?

We personally manage the entire open enrollment process — from educating employees to handling enrollment forms and answering plan questions. Our goal is to make open enrollment smooth and stress-free for everyone.

Can employees contact you directly for help?

Yes. Employees can reach out to us anytime for questions about claims, coverage, ID cards, or plan details. We act as your team’s benefits partner, not just your broker.

What size businesses do you work with?

We specialize in serving small and medium-sized businesses, typically ranging from 1–200 employees. If you’re growing or planning to expand, we help scale your benefits as your team grows.

Do you handle communication with insurance carriers for us?

Absolutely. We take care of claims issues, employee changes, renewals, and any carrier communication so you don’t have to spend hours on hold.

Do you offer voluntary or supplemental benefits?

Yes. We can provide optional add-ons like disability, accident, or critical illness insurance to enhance your benefits package at little or no cost to the employer.

What types of group benefits do you offer?

We provide comprehensive group health, dental, vision, and life insurance options for small and medium-sized businesses. We help you compare plans, handle enrollment, and manage carrier communication.

What information do you need to provide a quote?

We typically need: Number of employees Basic employee census (age, gender, ZIP code) Current plan (if applicable) Desired benefits or coverage goals We keep the process as simple as possible.

Do you charge fees for your services?

No. Our services — including plan comparison, open enrollment, and year-round support — are provided at no additional cost to your business.

HSA vs. HRA: What's the Actual Difference Between These Two Accounts

Service 1st Benefits

1 day ago

2 min read

An HSA and an HRA both sound similar — both accounts help cover medical costs, and both carry tax advantages. The accounts themselves work almost nothing alike. Here's what actually sets them apart.

Who Owns the Account

An HSA is owned by you personally. It's fully portable — if you leave your job, the account and everything in it goes with you. An HRA is a different structure entirely: it's owned and controlled by your employer. If you leave, the account generally doesn't come with you.

Who Can Put Money In

Both you and your employer can contribute to an HSA, up to the IRS's annual limit. An HRA works differently — it's funded 100% by the employer. You can't add your own money to it, no matter how much you'd like to.

What Happens to Unused Funds

An HSA has no use-it-or-lose-it deadline. Whatever's left rolls over year after year, indefinitely. An HRA's rollover depends entirely on what your employer decides — some employers allow it, but if they don't, unused funds generally stay with the employer at year-end rather than carrying forward to you.

Can It Pay for Insurance Premiums?

This is one of the clearest points of contrast. An HSA generally cannot be used to pay health insurance premiums, with only a few narrow exceptions. Certain types of HRA — specifically ICHRA and QSEHRA — can actually be used to reimburse individual health insurance premiums, something an HSA was never designed to do.

Do You Need a Specific Kind of Plan?

An HSA generally requires you to be enrolled in a qualifying high-deductible health plan (HDHP) — or, starting in 2026, certain bronze or catastrophic Marketplace plans — to contribute to it. An HRA doesn't carry that same requirement. One specific type, QSEHRA, is reserved for small employers — fewer than 50 full-time-equivalent employees — that don't offer a group health plan at all, letting them help employees pay for individual coverage instead.

Final Thoughts

An HSA and an HRA can look like two flavors of the same thing, but the account that follows you to your next job and the account that stays behind are not interchangeable. Knowing which one you actually have changes how you should think about contributing, spending, and planning around it.