HEALTH EQUITYTax-Free Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) July 1 through June 30 Employees may enjoy greater benefits, take home more money and pay less in taxes. Use pre-tax dollars for a variety of qualified health care and dependent care expenses. Participation will increase spendable income by reducing your taxes. Flexible spending accounts (FSA) are subject to IRS regulations and one of the most important restrictions is the “Use It or Lose It” rule. This rule means that participants MUST use all the pre-tax dollars contributed to a health care or dependent care FSA for claims incurred during the plan year (July 1 through June 30). After June 30 each year, if there is money in the account(s) that is not reimbursable, it will be forfeited. For this reason, it is essential that participants plan carefully when making elections for Flexible Spending Account. Participants are advised to set aside only an amount which they are confident they will use. You can view a complete list of eligible services at HealthEquity. You can also visit www.irs.gov (IRS Publication 503) or call 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676). REIMBURSEMENT OF CLAIMSThe NU Flex Plan is directly integrated with the Blue Shield medical plan so all medical claims will be submitted to HealthEquity automatically from your health plan. You should retain all receipts for your files. If you are not enrolled on the Blue Shield medical plan you may submit eligible expenses by filling out and signing a reimbursement request form or submitting your claim online. Please include supporting documentation (an itemized receipt or EOB) for the claim with your request.The grace period to submit claims is three months after the plan year ends, or or September 30th. You may contribute up to $2,500 pre-tax annually to the Health Care FSA. A health care FSA is used to help pay for health care expenses that are typically not paid for by your health plan. With a health care FSA, it is important to:
While a health care FSA can help you pay for many health care services, IRS regulations do not allow you to use it to pay for health insurance premiums and cosmetic treatments. Services must be intended to treat or prevent a specific medical condition. Examples of ineligible services include:
The Dependent Care Assistance Plan (DCAP) is an account independent from your Health Care FSA. You may contribute up to $5,000 to your DCAP program. Please not that the $5,000 limit is per family. So, if your spouse has already arranged for a DCAP plan at their employer, the combined amounts of two separate DCAP plans cannot exceed $5,000. You can use the dependent care FSA to pay for eligible day care expenses, such as costs for a babysitter, day camps or child care centers. The dependent care FSA can help you so you can continue to work, while also saving you money. The IRS limits the amount you can contribute to a Dependent Care FSA. Please refer to your employer’s FSA benefit information for specific details. Dependent care expenses must be related to care or services provided to children under age 13, or tax dependents who are mentally or physically incapable of caring for themselves. It is important to know that a dependent care FSA cannot pay for care provided by another dependent. You cannot use FSA funds to pay one of your children to care for another. Examples of ineligible services include:
|