About HRA VEBA 


 

Background

HRA VEBA Trust was created in 1990 to provide provide public employers in the Northwest a method to provide employees supplemental benefits; particularly post-retirement medical savings accounts.

The Trust is a non-profit benefit plan operated for the benefit of public employees in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

The HRA VEBA Trust has provided benefits to over 30,000 employees since its inception.  The Trust pays over 2,000 benefit claims per month.

 

Mission statement

The HRA VEBA Trust provides public employees a tax-free health reimbursement arrangement (HRA), compliant with regulatory requirements, efficient administration, prudent investments, and superb service.

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Service

Daily service is provided to employers and participants by two firms: Meritain Health, HRA VEBA Trust’s third-party administrator, and VEBA Service Group, LLC, local service provider and plan consultant.

Meritain Health is responsible for providing customer service, claims processing, and participant account administration.  Meritain Health is an experienced employee benefits administrator with highly trained staff specializing in health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) administration.

VEBA Service Group, LLC (VSG) provides on-site service to employers, including technical support, plan adoption/renewal assistance, group presentations, etc.  In addition, VSG provides specialized consulting services to the Trustees and coordinates all HRA VEBA Trust activities.  VSG is known throughout the United States for its experience in providing VEBA and HRA consulting services since 1984.

HRA VEBA Trust’s legal counsel, Russell Greenblatt of Katten Muchin Roseman LLP, is nationally recognized as a leader in the employee benefits field of VEBAs and HRAs.  Before joining Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in 1980, Mr. Greenblatt served as an Attorney Advisor with the Employee Plans and Exempt Organizations Division of the Office of Chief Counsel to the IRS (Washington, D.C.), during which time he was the principal author of the IRS regulations on VEBAs.  Mr. Greenblatt’s experience brings employers and participants the highest level of legal expertise to ensure the HRA VEBA Trust and Plan comply with complex federal tax regulations. 

HRA VEBA Trust retained Arnerich Massena & Associates, Inc. in 2006 to become its investment consultant.  Located in Portland, Oregon, the firm assists the Trustees with investment selection, review, and monitoring of the individual fund options and pre-mixed portfolios.  Arnerich Massena currently represents over $8 billion in client assets.

Dwight Asset Management Company in Burlington, Vermont is HRA VEBA Trust’s stable value manager.  Dwight is a highly regarded investment advisory firm which focuses exclusively on fixed income investment management services for institutional clients.  Dwight manages assets in excess of $77.6 billion.

 

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Board of trustees

Trustees hold office until resignation, retirement, or removal.  Replacement trustees are elected by the plan participants in the following public service agency categories: 1. counties, cities, and towns; and 2. special purpose districts.



Special Purpose Districts

Ken Goodwin
Alderwood Water & Wastewater District

Maureen Murphy
Kitsap County Health - Secretary

Wyatt Scheibner
Douglas County PUD - Treasurer


Counties, Cities, & Towns

Doug Detling
City of Medford - Chairman

David Dickman
Tillamook County

Debbie Lund
City of Tumwater - Vice-Chairman



The trustees employ a third-party administrator, legal counsel, and consultant.  The trustees are fiduciaries and have a duty to act prudently and in the best interest of all participants and beneficiaries.

The trustees meet periodically throughout the year with their professional advisors to review plan status, investments, changes in regulations, etc.

Each year the Trust is independently audited by a certified public accounting firm.

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