Abra Help

Set up a group

Items marked Coming soon are being rolled out and will be available soon. See What's new for 2027.

Group Information

Enter the group's name, tax ID, termination rules and pay periods. Under Enrollment Settings, set the new-hire waiting period: whether coverage starts on the first of the month or immediately after it, and the number of waiting days. Choose display options such as Show Cost Breakdown.

  • New for 2027 A logo is optional. You can create a group without one and add it later.
  • Coming soon Addresses take a separate Apt / Suite line and an optional mailing address.
  • You can type the full address or pick it from the suggestions. Keep the city, state and ZIP in their own boxes: a street line that still contains them can't be saved. If an address saved earlier has them in the street line, Abra removes them when you open it. An unusual-looking street shows a warning but still saves, and a ZIP+4 is shortened to 5 digits.

Locations and Classes

Add each work location and employee class. Each has its own pay period and waiting period, or uses Same as Group. You can't delete a location or class while employees are assigned to it; move them first.

Enrollment Dates

Each enrollment period has an open enrollment window and the date its coverage takes effect.

Coming soon Each period is its own plan year. Elections made in it belong to it, so setting up 2027 never changes 2026 coverage. ICHRA plan years run January to December, so an ICHRA group has one enrollment period per calendar year. Group plans follow each plan's own Plan Year dates.

Here you also set:

  • Non-Responder Action Coming soon: choose what should happen to employees who don't respond by the end of open enrollment: Carry Forward Prior Elections, Waive All Coverage or Notify HR. Your choice is saved now. Applying it automatically when enrollment closes is coming soon; until then, Abra support works through non-responders with you after the window closes.

    Choose it in each period's Enrollment Info. It saves as soon as you pick it. Admins with view-only rights on Enrollment Dates see it but can't change it. The same window shows the Shopping window dates and, on its own line, the date coverage starts.

  • Show Recommended Plans Only Coming soon (ICHRA): set it for each enrollment period: On, Off or Not set. Only On limits employees to their recommended plans and hides More Plans. With Not set, the group works as it did before. When it's On, every location needs a recommended plan list, or employees there can't save a plan.

Admin Users

Add the people who manage the group: search for an existing admin or press Create New.

  • Set each person's contact details, status, and which emails they get, for example when an employee is added or completes enrollment. Coming soon Contact details include an optional phone number.
  • Permissions: a grid of View, Add/Edit and Delete for each area, including ICHRA. For a view-only admin, tick only View.
  • Coming soon An admin can save, approve or send only in areas where they have Add/Edit. Without it, the Save, Approve and Deny buttons are hidden and changes are refused. The ICHRA area has its own row in the grid. Changing an admin's permissions here changes them for this group only.
  • Coming soon Brokers: under Admin type and agent NPNs, mark an admin as HR Admin (the default), or as an Agent with their NPN, license and carrier producer codes. An Agent admin's NPN can then be chosen as the agent of record on applications. Your own NPN as the broker is kept here too.

Documents

Upload brochures, forms and other files for employees. You can link each one to a plan. Notices go on the Notices tab.