Most University of Rochester Employees Have No Idea This Retirement Benefit Exists
You've spent years building your career at the University of Rochester. You've thought about your pension, your 403(b), maybe even when to claim Social Security.
But there's a good chance no one has ever walked you through one of the most underutilized benefits in your entire retirement package, and it could be worth thousands of dollars a year.
It's called a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA), and for UR employees approaching Medicare eligibility, it's a benefit that demands your attention.
The Hidden Cost That Derails Most Retirement Plans
Here's what most pre-retirees don't realize: healthcare is typically the single largest and least predictable expense in retirement. Medicare helps, but it doesn't cover everything. Premiums, copays, deductibles, dental, vision, prescriptions, they add up fast, and they tend to increase every year.
Most people plan meticulously for income in retirement. Very few plan specifically for healthcare costs. That gap is where retirement budgets quietly fall apart.
The UR HRA is designed to help close that gap, but only if you know it exists and understand how to use it.
What Is the HRA and Why Should You Care?
The HRA is an employer-funded, tax-favored account that reimburses Medicare-eligible retirees for qualified healthcare expenses each year. You don't contribute to it. The University funds it on your behalf.
It's managed through Via Benefits, and depending on your hire date, age, and coverage level, eligible couples can receive up to $4,800 per year, every year in retirement. Even as an individual retiree, the annual benefit can reach $2,400.
The funds can be used to reimburse medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision premiums, and since 2023, out-of-pocket healthcare expenses qualify too. Unused funds don't disappear; they roll over to the following year. What you don't use today becomes a cushion for tomorrow.
This Is Just One Piece of a Much Larger Puzzle
Here's the thing: the HRA is a genuinely valuable benefit, but it's also just one component of a retirement picture that's far more complex than most people realize.
Because the questions that actually determine your financial security in retirement go much deeper:
When should you retire relative to Medicare eligibility? Retiring before 65 creates a coverage gap that can be expensive if not planned for carefully.
Are you leaving other UR benefits on the table? The HRA is one benefit. There are others that pre-retirees routinely overlook.
These aren't hypothetical concerns. They're the decisions that separate a retirement that works from one that creates financial stress within the first few years.
What Most People Do and Why It Costs Them
Most employees spend 30+ years building their retirement savings, then spend a few weeks, maybe a few months, actually planning how to use them. Benefits like the HRA go unused or underused. Medicare decisions get made without full information. Withdrawal strategies get improvised.
The result isn't usually catastrophic. It's subtler than that: a few thousand dollars a year left on the table, a suboptimal Medicare plan, a tax inefficiency that compounds quietly over a decade.
That's the retirement gap. And it's almost entirely preventable.
Let's Make Sure You're Not Missing Anything
I'm Sean, a retirement planning specialist who works specifically with people navigating the transition out of careers like yours. I know the UR benefits landscape, and I know how to build a retirement plan that accounts for everything, not just the pieces that are easy to find.
If reading this made you wonder what else you might not know, that's worth a conversation.
I offer a no-obligation consultation for pre-retirees who want a clear picture of where they stand: benefits, Medicare, income strategy, and everything in between.
There's no pitch. No pressure. Just a focused conversation about your situation and whether there are gaps worth addressing.
The best time to find out what you're missing is before you retire, not after.