A healthcare flexible spending account (FSA) allows you to pay for qualified out-of-pocket medical expenses on a pre-tax basis. Money deducted from an employee's pay into an FSA is not subject to payroll taxes, resulting in substantial payroll tax savings.

Click here for a standard list of eligible items and services.

Ineligible expenses include the following:

• Cosmetic surgery and procedures
• Expenses for services rendered outside the coverage period
• Expenses reimbursed by an insurance provider or another health plan
• Herbs/Vitamins/Supplements/OTC medications used for general health
• Insurance Premiums
• Family or Marriage Counseling
• Personal Use Items (e.g., toothpaste, shaving cream, cosmetics)
• Dental Whitening

Once you make your annual election during open enrollment, your employer will fully fund your account at the beginning of the plan year with your total election amount. Your employer will then deduct the election amount from your paychecks in equal amounts throughout the year.

It depends on how your FSA plan has been defined. Please log in to your account to determine if you can carry over up to $500 of unused FSA dollars or have a grace period in which to spend your remaining FSA dollars.

Click here for tips and links to tools that will help you consider all your potential expenses when deciding how much to contribute to your FSA. The "use-it-or-lose-it" rule is a provision in the IRS Regulations. Under this provision, all money contributed to a FSA must be used to reimburse qualified expenses incurred during that plan year. Money not used to reimburse eligible expenses is forfeited. The unused portion of your healthcare FSA may not be paid to you in cash or other benefits, including transferring money between FSAs. To reduce the risk of forfeiture, it is critical for you to be conservative when choosing your annual election amount.

Our online savings calculator can help you estimate your annual expenses.

Your election is irrevocable for the plan year unless you have a change in status or other qualified event as defined in the IRS Regulations and your plan permits such qualified changes.

You will be reimbursed for any eligible expense incurred before the date you retire or leave the company. Under IRS regulations, any remaining funds in the account must be forfeited. Any expense you incur after the end of your employment is not eligible for reimbursement.

WageWorks takes its duty to protect your privacy seriously, and as a result we have a strict policy in place to safeguard your account and private information. While you can grant your spouse and dependents and those eligible to use your account limited access, you as the accountholder are the only one with full access and rights to your account and account settings. Please see the "Authorized / Unauthorized Caller Allowable Information Chart" for more information.

An FSA account can only be used to pay expenses of a qualifying child or qualifying relative (as such terms are defined in Internal Revenue Code Section 152).
At this time, a domestic partner is not considered a spouse under federal law, so a domestic partner's medical expenses cannot be reimbursed under a health FSA unless the domestic partner is a "qualifying relative" of the participant. A qualifying spouse must be legally married.

The IRS has changed mileage reimbursement rates for medical care effective based on the date the service is incurred. Mileage for travel to / from eligible healthcare–on or after January 1, 2018 is $0.18 per documented mile.

Please include the following information with your mileage claim:

• Date of Service
• Type of Service (doctor visit, trip to pharmacy, etc.)
• Actual Mileage and rate (16 miles round trip @ $0.18/mile)
• Total amount being requested (16 x .18 = $2.88)
• Submit the claim for mileage along with a Pay Me Back claim or with the Explanation of Benefits (EOB). Claims will need to match the mileage reimbursement to a service and its date.
• Many online mapping services will detail your route and mileage from home to service provider. This is helpful (but not required) in submitting mileage reimbursement claims.

Yes. However, because of the 2011 Health Care Reform Law, you will need to submit a doctor's statement with your reimbursement request verifying that the patient's diagnosis is obesity and that the OTC was prescribed to treat obesity.

Keep in mind, an FSA will not pay for the cost of food supported by a weight-loss program that substitutes normal nutritional needs.

The IRS requires that medical expenses reimbursed through an FSA must be primarily for the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease.

For example, your doctor may prescribe a vitamin to treat your medical condition. Because vitamins are generally considered an ineligible expense, you will need a letter from your medical provider detailing the type of service rendered and the treatment necessary.

Download the Letter of Medical Necessity form here

You can submit a reimbursement request at any time during the same plan year when the expense was incurred. You can also log in to your account at any time to see how long you have to spend or claim your funds.

Five pieces of information are required to help ensure the approval of your claim. They are:

• Patient: Person who received the service or who the item is for. For retail store purchases, this may be excluded.
• Provider: Who delivered the service or if a purchase, where was the item purchased.
• Date of Service: Date services occurred or date item was purchased.
• Type of Service: Detailed description of what service or product was paid for. Bag Tag is sufficient for prescriptions.
• Financial Responsibility: The amount paid for the service or product and/or the portion not reimbursed through your insurance carrier.

Please ensure that your documentation contains all the above information when submitting a claim. Review the Claim and Card Use Verification Checklist.

You may download claim forms online from here.

Some doctors’ offices, hospitals, and dentists perform services which would be considered ineligible for certain accounts.

Because the IRS requires us to obtain 100% verification of Healthcare Card transactions, we ask for itemized receipts for all transactions which we are not able to automatically approve. This is called Card Use Verification.

Learn more about Card Use Verification