GSA is continually striving to develop benefit programs that are advantageous to both employer and employee. Three such programs that do just that are the Medical Expense Reimbursement Account, the Dependent Care Reimbursement Account, and the Wage Replacement Program (WRP), all of which are:

• Employer-funded through compulsory H&W fringe dollars, thereby eliminating the burdensome “use it or lose it” clause typically found in traditional FSAs
• Financed with pre-tax dollars, saving the individual participant money that is better spent elsewhere
• Ideal for employees seeking more freedom over their own H&W dollars

WAGE REPLACEMENT PROGRAM (WRP)

Yet another new and exciting program offered through the GSA Benefit Trust is the Wage Replacement Program. This program, which is funded through the allocation of SCA fringe benefit dollars in excess of those required to maintain an employee’s Premium Payment Account, is both less restrictive and more generous in its allowances than a standard SUB Plan. The benefits made available under this program provide much‐needed assistance to an employee upon the occurrence of an event that interrupts or impairs the employee’s earning power. The types of expenses of this nature that are permitted include:

• Income maintenance payments in the event of economic dislocation
• Temporary living expense grants at a time of disaster
• Disability payments
• Supplemental unemployment compensation benefits
• Qualified severance payments

By providing your clients with these options, which lend to a distinctive package tailored to their particular needs, you will also give each individual employee greater access to - and greater control over - their H&W dollars.