A Flexible Spending Account allows you to reduce your take-home pay by an amount determined by you each Open Enrollment. The FSA will shelter these earnings from taxes in order to allow you to pay for approved medical, transit and/or dependent care expenses tax-free.
Deadline Reminder
The services or expenses that you are claiming for a flex account must occur between April 1 through March 31. Employees have until June 30 to submit claims for the prior plan year.
Employee Funded Health Care Spending Account
A Health Care Spending Account is a pre-tax benefit account used to pay for eligible healthcare, dental, and vision care expenses that aren't covered by your insurance plan or elsewhere. You may reduce your earnings up to $2,750* to pay for expenses.
The services or expenses that you are claiming for a flex account must occur between April 1 through March 31. Employees have until June 30 to submit claims for the prior plan year.
You may roll over up to $500 of your unclaimed funds in a Flexible Spending Account for healthcare into a new account for the next benefit year. (Any amount over $500 will still be subject to the “use it or lose it” rule.)
Example
Meredith set aside $2,700 in a flexible spending account to cover healthcare expenses for herself and her two daughters during the calendar year. For a variety of reasons, her healthcare expenses are much lower than she anticipated and by March 31 she has only $2,000 worth of eligible expenses. In this scenario, Meredith will be able to roll over $500 into a new FSA to reimburse healthcare expenses incurred in the next benefit year and she will forfeit $200.
*Plan limits are established by the IRS annually.