What does 'Tax Advantage' mean when shopping for a health plan?

The Tax Advantage label identifies plans that may allow the employee-paid portion of your premium to be paid with pre-tax dollars when eligibility requirements are met.
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​What does “Tax Advantage” mean when shopping for a health plan?

When shopping for health insurance through Take Command, you may see a Tax Advantage label on certain plans.

Any premium amount that your employer contributes to your HRA is always tax-free. However, you may be able to pay your portion of the health insurance premium with pre-tax dollars through your employer, when certain requirements are met. The opportunity for pre-tax treatment is available when you enroll in the off-exchange version of an eligible health insurance plan.

Whether the Tax Advantage applies to you depends on how much of your monthly health insurance premium is covered by your employer HRA allowance. Tax Advantage” does not apply if your HRA allowance fully covers your premium.
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Scenario 1: Your employer HRA allowance covers your full health insurance premium
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If your monthly ICHRA allowance is equal to or greater than your monthly health insurance premium, you don't have a remaining employee health insurance premium to pay.
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Example:

In this example, your employer HRA allowance covers the full health insurance premium, so there is no employee-paid portion to receive pre-tax treatment. The “Tax Advantage” benefit would not be applicable.
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Scenario 2: You have a remaining health insurance premium to pay

If your monthly health insurance premium is more than your employer HRA allowance, you'll have a portion of the premium left for you to pay. When you enroll in the off-exchange version of an eligible health insurance plan, this employee-paid portion of the premium may qualify for pre-tax treatment through your employer’s Cafeteria Plan.
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Example:

In this example, you have $200 of employee-paid premium that may qualify for pre-tax treatment through your employer’s Cafeteria Plan when the applicable requirements are met.
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When you select a health insurance plan with the Tax Advantage label, Take Command will first attempt to submit your application for the off-exchange version of the plan when applicable (i.e. directly to the carrier and not via healthcare.com or state exchange). This gives you the opportunity to receive available pre-tax benefits through your employer’s Cafeteria Plan.
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In some cases, an insurance carrier may not allow us to successfully complete the off-exchange enrollment. This could happen because of a carrier limitation, application error, or another enrollment issue.
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If we're unable to successfully submit your application off-exchange, we may submit your application for the corresponding on-exchange version of the plan instead (i.e. submitted via an exchange).
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Our priority is to help ensure your application is successfully submitted, and your health insurance coverage can become active. If an issue prevents us from completing the off-exchange enrollment, using an available on-exchange option may help prevent that issue from delaying your coverage.
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Yes, the off-exchange and on-exchange health insurance plans have the same insurance coverage and benefits. When we need to use the on-exchange enrollment path, we'll work to submit an application for the corresponding on-exchange plan whenever available.
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The primary difference between off-exchange and on-exchange plans is how your application is submitted and how your portion of the premium (if applicable) may be treated for tax purposes.

No additional action is typically needed while we attempt to submit your application as a result of the Tax Advantage label. If we encounter an issue that requires information or action from you, we'll let you know and provide instructions for what to do next.

If your health insurance plan is an extra step or self-enroll plan, you do have additional steps required of you that are not related to any tax advantage benefits.
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Our goal is to provide you with the best available enrollment experience while protecting the most important outcome: getting your health insurance coverage successfully submitted and activated.
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When applicable, we'll first try to enroll you through the off-exchange path to provide the opportunity for pre-tax benefits. If that path isn't successful, we'll use the available on-exchange path when appropriate to help prevent enrollment issues from putting your health insurance coverage at risk.

The bottom line: The Tax Advantage label identifies plans that may offer an opportunity for pre-tax premium treatment. Whether you receive this benefit depends on your circumstances and how your enrollment is completed.

Tax Advantage Label Rev. 10/13/26