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onceuponatyme

Joined Nov 2006

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onceuponatyme

09-17-2008 at 09:13 PM.

Quote from bigauditone

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Also here is a list of eligible FSA expenses - batteries for hearing aids are included
https://www.fsafeds.com/fsafeds/eligibleexpenses.asp
I do FSA and it saves me loads of money. .

Nice list.

Quote from sbhiggins

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FSA programs differ from company to company. Anyone who's starting out with it will need to check and see how their company deals with it. For instance, I know that if you work for a Catholic school, for example

they won't reimburse for birth control.
We have one of those debit card things for our FSA, which is awesome. No submitting receipts at all.

FSAs are regulated by the IRS. They can not differ from one company to the next as long as the account is funded fully by the employee. So, regardless of where you work, they have to reimburse you according to the list bigaudit posted.
However, if the plan is employer funded (MRSA), then they can control it how they wish. At that point, it's not a true FSA, because the deductions are not coming out of your paycheck

Quote from Jen2882

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For those of you with flex accts.....i know you pick an amt at the beginning of the year...like 1500....then is that amt divided by the # of checks you get each year and thats how you pay it out???

That's correct. However, your employer will set a cap of say $1500. You can withhold up to that amount. Then as you said, the amount you elect is deducted, pre tax, into equal amounts out of each paycheck.
The amount of your election is available to you on the first day of the plan year (which can be different from employer to employer). If you incur an expense on the first day of the plan year, the employer is required to reimburse you the entire amount of your expense, up to your annual election. Even though you have not had any money withheld from your paychecks.

Quote from doublesided

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check first on the FSA-only some companies allow rollover to March 31, some still make you submit by 12/31

DS is correct, every group has their own plan year. You can only come onto the plan during open enrollment. And you cannot make changes outside of open enrollment unless you have a change in status (marriage, divorce, birth of child, etc).

Quote from teri037

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That's how mine works Jen, but do check into it first. They've made some changes. Used to be if you didn't use it all w/in the year, you lost it. Now it rolls over. At least mine does. It's a good program but it pays to study up on it first.

All FSA plans are "use it or lose it." Some employers have adopted an extension of 90 days which allows you to incur expenses 90 past the end of the plan year. However, this is not standard, and don't assume that is in place. If you have not incurred your expense and have receipts dated before the end of the plan year, you will lose any extra money in your account.
There is also a HSA, which is a little different. You must have a high deductible health plan in order to set up a HSA. The amount you contribute is pretaxed but that will roll over from year to year.
Hope that answers some of your questions. PM me if you have more specific questions. I have been dealing with FSAs as part of my insurance group for more than 10 years.

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