A VEBA or Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association is a tax-exempt trust instrument authorized by Internal Revenue Code through which eligible healthcare benefits can be reimbursed. The City’s VEBA plans have been set up to reimburse eligible medical expenses you may experience in retirement.
Contributions to your VEBA account
While employed with the City of San José, eligible employees will make mandatory ongoing contributions into the VEBA on a pre-tax basis. Reimbursements for eligible medical expenses after retirement are also tax-free.
Contribution rates will vary based on the employee’s bargaining unit and retirement tier. Please refer to the City of San José VEBA Website for information regarding the specific contribution rates.
How your VEBA account works
The VEBA account reimburses eligible medical expenses for individuals who have either 1) terminated City service and have reached the required retirement age based on their retirement system or 2) retired for service, service-connected disability, or nonservice connected disability. If an employee becomes a member of a reciprocal retirement system, the VEBA funds can be accessed after retirement from that system.
The VEBA reimburses qualified out-of-pocket healthcare costs including but not limited to health, dental, and vision insurance premiums, copays and deductibles, prescription costs, Medicare Parts B & D premiums, Medicare supplement insurance premiums, and qualified Long-Term Care insurance premiums incurred by employees, their spouses and qualifying dependents. Voya’s Health Account Solutions team, the City’s VEBA plan administrator, will provide participants with a more comprehensive list of eligible expenses. As a defined contribution plan, the only funds available in the VEBA are the contributions made while employed and any investment returns on those funds. Once the funds in the VEBA are exhausted, the employee will no longer be able to reimburse their eligible healthcare expenses.
You will receive claim filing instructions when your account becomes eligible to make reimbursements.
Management of your account
One of the benefits of a VEBA plan is your ability to manage your account throughout the course of your employment with the City and once you separate from service. Management of your account allows you to determine your investment allocations and to ensure that your eligible dependent information is up to date.
Prior to your separation from service with the City, you can utilize Voya/BPAS’s Participant Portal to monitor your account and to allocate your assets across the available investment options within the plan. To assist employees in their overall asset allocations, the City of San José has elected to mirror the investment options of the City of San José’s Deferred Compensation Plan. For details on the investment options available to you, please refer to the Investment Page of the site.
As required by law, all of the assets in your account are held in trust by the plan “trustee.” Contributions to your account will be held in the plan’s stability of principal investment option until you establish investment allocations for your account.
Accessing your VEBA Account
City of San José 457, 401a or PTC Plan account holders have access to their VEBA account through Voya’s participant website or the Voya Retire mobile app to view your VEBA balance and access the Participant Portal using Single Sign-On (SSO) technology. With SSO, you don’t need to log into the Participant Portal separately. To view your account or to take any action, simply click on the Federated or Sworn VEBA account name associated with your retirement account.
For employees that are not participating in one of the City’s deferred compensation plans, you may monitor and manage your VEBA Plan account online through our Participant Portal. You may access your account by going to voya.com/ws/myHRA and follow the link to "Access Your Account" on the HRA Participant Portal. From this site, you will have full access to your account, and once separated from service, you will be able to use the balance in your account to reimburse yourself for certain qualified health care expenses.
Your account will allow you to make investment allocations, change your username, generate statements on demand, etc. Additionally, the Participant Portal contains links to information you may find helpful when making investment choices including: fund fact sheets, fund performance history, and general market information.
Once you separate from employment
In addition to managing your investment options, your online account offers a variety of tools which allow you to manage your account once you separate from service from the City of San José. In particular, your account provides you with the ability to file claims, upload receipts, view a list of eligible expenses, generate statements on demand, print forms, view your account balance information, view your claims history, view payment history, and much more. Specifically, you may use the balance in your account to reimburse yourself for certain qualified health care expenses that you (and your spouse or dependents, if applicable) have incurred as of the effective date you became an eligible participant in the plan. You will receive a separate Welcome Letter with claim filing instructions and eligible expense information once you become claims eligible.
Plan administration
The City’s VEBA plan is provided by Voya Financial®. BPAS provides third party administration services. Voya provides the investment options and TASC provides plan administration, online participant tools, and claims services for the City’s VEBA plans.
Investment options available through a Health Reimbursement Arrangement are long-term investment vehicles, which allow you to allocate contributions among investment options that have the potential to grow on a tax-free basis. Account values fluctuate with market conditions; when withdrawn the principal may be worth more or less than its original amount invested.
A Health Reimbursement Arrangement is not an insurance policy. It is a tax-advantaged, employer-sponsored, self-insured employee health benefit subject to IRS Code Section 105. This is not intended to be legal or tax advice and you should consult with your own legal/tax advisor regarding your individual situation.
You should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the investment options offered through a Health Reimbursement Arrangement carefully before investing. The information booklets/fund fact sheets/fund prospectuses containing this and other information can be obtained when you access your account on the Voya HRA Participant Portal. Please read the information carefully before investing.
The Health Reimbursement Arrangement is offered through Voya Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company (VRIAC), Windsor, CT. Third party administration services are provided by Benefit Plan Administrative Services, Inc. (BPAS) and, in part, by WEX Health, Inc. Voya Institutional Trust Company holds the Health Reimbursement Arrangement’s assets in a trust or custodial capacity and has engaged Hand Benefit & Trust Company, an affiliate of BPAS, to perform servicing functions on its behalf. If offered, the Voya Fixed Account is available through a funding agreement issued by VRIAC. The Voya Fixed Account is an obligation of VRIAC’s general account which supports all of the company's insurance and annuity commitments. The interest rate guarantees under the contract are subject to VRIAC’s claims-paying ability.
BPAS and WEX Health, Inc. are not affiliated with the Voya family of companies.